Distance: 11.8 Miles 19.0km
Difficulty: 4 out of 10
Train: Take the 10.05am from London Bridge (stopping
at East Croydon at 10:19), arriving at Haywards Heath at 10.53. Return trains
from Haywards Heath are very frequent…. Buy a day return to Haywards
Heath.
Ticket: Buy a day return to Haywards Heath
This walk explores the low hills on either side of the Ouse valley on the
southern edge of the High Weald. It passes through two nature reserves: one (the
Scrase Valley Local Nature Reserve) en route from Haywards Heath and the other
on the outskirts of Lindfield. You may also spot the Bluebell Railway running
its holiday service in the afternoon. You can find more information about the
walk and download the walk instructions here.
Lunch is at the Sloop Inn (01444-831219) at Freshfield Bridges (5
miles/ 7¾ km from the start) with food served until 2.30pm . Tea and other
late afternoon refreshments can be had at various establishments along the
attractive High Street in Lindfield (see walk notes for suggestions).
Back in Haywards Heath, you can get tea and
cakes in the Waitrose near the station and nearby pubs for the stronger stuff.
T=SWC.141
1 comment:
We have not had the best of weather on Saturday walks lately (the Folkestone walk three weeks back notwithstanding). Today was no exception. “Meteorological autumn” the BBC Weather forecast calls it. With w=grey-cloud-and-rain, it felt like it.
The rain was fairly heavy before lunch, otherwise drippy. But it never seemed to entirely go away. In woods there was a fair bit of mud underfoot (remember mud?).
Six emerged from the London Bridge train and outside the station we met one who had come from Victoria, so seven in all. We set off but were soon down to six again when one dropped out due to feeling unwell (hope you feel better soon/didn’t give us anything).
I don’t remember lots about the morning. It was damp and leafy. It brought us to the Sloop Inn, which is a lot different from how I remember it. A bit gastro these days, except its menu was frankly not that thrilling. Only two of us had meals here and two had soup. The latter was supposed to be leek and potato, but turned out to have ham in it. Turned out they had served the (pea and ham) “velouté” instead. What is a “velouté”, I hear you ask. “It is French for a kind of soup.”
We were joined by another walker here, bringing us up to n=8, or rather 7 minus the absent invalid. In the afternoon we crossed the Bluebell Line where a gaggle of enthusiasts were waiting to photograph the next train. We would have waited too if it had not been heritage diesel gala day. As it was we heard one pass later on: an impressive gargling noise from the engine but lots of stinky fumes.
In Lindfield we went to the Lindfield Coffee Works - a nice modern cafe with some partially outside seating. I had a very nice Oreo cookie (that is to say, a cookie with an Oreo biscuit crumbled on top of it).
After tea it was suggested we try another route into Haywards Heath to avoid repeating the morning route. Not a bad idea but at one point it involved the use of “informal paths” (trespassing, in other words) and later opinions differed about the correct path in a wood.
Miraculously we all got to Haywards Heath together. There the Waitrose cafe had “technically just shut” (though would have served us hot drinks), while the Burrell Arms across the road turned out to be a blokey sports pub that did not quite chime with our cultural preferences, shall we say. So we got a bottle of red and took a Thameslink train home.
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