Saturday Walk - Woodlands, Heathery Commons, South Downs Views and a Steam Train Line: East Grinstead to Wivelsfield or via Sheffield Park

Length: 31.6 km (19.7 mi) [Much shorter walks possible, see below]

Ascent/Descent: 451/534m

Net Walking Time: ca. 7-8 hour
Toughness: 8 out of 10

Take the 09.20 service from Victoria to East Grinstead (CJ 09.27, EC 09.40), arriving 10.20. From LBG, take a train to East Croydon no later than the 09.17 Caterham & Tattenham Corner service.

Return trains from Wivelsfield: xx.11 and xx.41 (Thameslink), xx.14 and  xx.44 (to Victoria, direct) and xx.25 and xx.55 (to Victoria, change Burgess Hill).
Buy an East Grinstead return, you then will have to buy an additional single from Wivelsfield to East Croydon, if you want to stay honest.

This route in the East/West Sussex boundary lands descends from East Grinstead into the Upper Medway Valley and past Weir Wood Reservoir and then meanders through an undulating landscape of hills, streams, ponds, heaths and mixed woodland, rich in bluebells and wood anemones in season. For the most part, it largely shadows the course of The Bluebell Line steam railway, and lunch is either in tranquil Horsted Keynes or in Scaynes Hill, near the (Sussex) Ouse River. Later you pass through several parts of the large Chailey Common heathlands and continue westbound through flatter ground – mostly pastures with fine South Downs Views – to Burgess Hill (for Wivelsfield station).

An Alternative Finish at Sheffield Park, the terminus of the Bluebell Line, is not practicable anymore, as the line has stopped co-funding the buses that ran from there, but: you could walk out-and-back to the interesting station (adds 5.0 km) and then finish the walk at one of below bus stops for a shorter walk.

Shorter Walks:

·        Start at Forest Row/Brambletye (i.e. opposite The Chequers Inn, route from there described in the pdf, cuts 3.6 km) or even Horsted Keynes/Lewes Road (right on the route, cuts 13.7 km): bus line 270 from East Grinstead (09.13, 10.05, 11.05…) or Wivelsfield (09.03, 10.01, 11.03…) or Haywards Heath/Perrymount Road – by the station (09.18, 10.18, 11.20…);

·        Finish at North Chailey/King’s Head bus stop (cut 7.9 km/4.9 mi) – line 121 at 15.07, 17.07 and 18.07 to Cooksbridge Station and Lewes, or line 31 at 18.02 to Haywards Heath Station;

·        Finish at a bus stop outside Wivelsfield village on the B 2112 (Ote Hall Chapel stop, cuts 2.6 km; lines 33, 166, 271, 272).

For summary, walk directions, map, height profile, photos and gpx/kml files click here.

Lunch: The Green Man (Greene King, food to 15.00) or The Crown Inn (food all day) in Horsted Keynes (13.7 km/8.5 mi); The Sloop Inn in Scaynes Hill  (19.2 km/11.9 mi, food to 15.00).

Tea: The Sloop Inn  (as above), and one pub in Wivelsfield, 600m beyond the station; or The Bessemer Arms (hot food to 15.00) in Sheffield Park. T=swc.27