Walk 34 : Balcombe to East Grinstead

You can swim in the first lake, but can't swim in the resevoir.

The best place for tea seems to be a Starbucks in Sainsburys supermarket (closes 4pm on Sunday).

The walk goes through Wakehurst Place (National Trust and RHS). This is a pretty landscaped garden. The flowers are at their best from April onwards.

Length: Replace with 17.3km (10.7 miles).

Toughness: Suggest changing to 6 out of 10. [The walk is average length, quite hilly but with no steep climbs; 7 seems too much.]

Features: The Bluebell Railway (tel 01825 723 777) is nearby, and it would be possible to combine the first half of this walk with a trip on a period train hauled by a steam locomotive. You would need to take a taxi to Horsted Keynes for the train journey to Kingscote Station. The company is planning to restore the final section of line to East Grinstead, but at present there is a bus service (sometimes a period omnibus) to convey passengers into the town.

Shortening the walk: There is a bus service (not Sundays) about every two hours from the shelter outside the Cat Inn in West Hoathly to East Grinstead and (in the other direction) to Three Bridges station, which is on the same line as Balcombe. [The Bluebell Railway is not really a way of shortening the walk as such, but it could be a feature when combined with the first half of the walk-see above]

History (Wakehurst Place): Admission (2006) is £8.50; £8 concessions. National Trust members have free admission to the gardens. Opening hours are March to October 10am to 6pm daily, November to February 10am to 4.30pm daily (but closed December 24th & 25th).

History (Priest House Museum): Admission (2006) is £2.90. The house and garden are open from March to October, 10.30am to 5.30pm Tuesday to Saturday (also Mondays in August and Bank Holidays), noon to 5.30pm Sunday.

History (Cat Inn): There is a well under one of the rooms, which can be seen through a circular glass panel in the floor.

Saturday Walkers' Club: Suggest train nearest to 9.30am (trains are at 25 past; this just makes it clearer to catch the earlier train). Journey time is 56 minutes.

On Sundays, the service is from Victoria; journey time 51 minutes.

Trains back from East Grinstead go to Victoria and are half-hourly (hourly on Sundays); journey time 55 minutes.

This walk is not recommended for car drivers unless you are prepared to take a taxi back to your car, as there is no convenient public transport link (train or bus) from East Grinstead back to Balcombe.

Lunch: The Cat Inn serves good but fairly expensive pub food.

If you are visiting Wakehurst Place, you could have lunch in their restaurant.

Tea: The café at East Grinstead Sainsbury's is a Starbucks. There were no published opening times; the store closes at 4pm on Sundays, but the café was still serving at 3.30pm when checked.

Walk Directions:

Note: What follows is a long list of changes to the book's Walk Directions, but it is by no means complete. As a result of a couple of walk checks in October 2006, I have a document with suggested changes to almost every paragraph. It is difficult to know what to put on this Updates page. I have chosen to concentrate on sections where the meaning is ambiguous or not as easy to follow as it could be. This has led me into rewriting some quite large chunks of text. For the most part, I have not included here changes which are just minor corrections to distances or compass bearings, or notes about whether gates or stiles are missing or have been repaired, etc. SON

p 272, col 1, para 3: Replace "you take the footpath to the left" with: "you take the footpath sharply to the left"

p 272, col 2, para 1: Replace "the farm's private lane for a kilometre" with: "Woodward farm's private lane for 400 metres" [according to the OS map, the footpath rejoins the private lane much sooner than indicated in the book directions]

p 272, col 2, para 2: Replace para with: "The main suggested route is over the stile and along the left-hand field edge. In 200 metres you come to a fieldgate and stile on your left, with a two-armed footpath sign. Go over the stile, your direction due north, and up past the large cow barn on your left-hand side. Go over the stile and turn half-right [*], following the footpath sign, with the field hedge on your right-hand side, your direction 50 degrees."

p 272, col 2, para 3: Replace start of para with: "In 300 metres a farm lane joins from the left and in a further 150 metres you come to a T-junction. Turn right on this road and in 10 metres go over a stile on your left to continue down a signed footpath...", etc.

p 273, col 1, para 3: Replace "...National Trust gardens...between high electrified..." with: "...National Trust gardens). The public footpath, which is clearly signed, crosses a gravel path and comes in 200 metres to another wire-mesh kissing gate. The path now climbs steeply and at the top goes between high electrified...", etc.

p 273, col 1, para 4: After [4], replace ", when this access road bends sharply left, follow the..." with: " turn half-left onto a wide road, following the...", etc.

p 274, col 1, para 2: Replace para with: "In 400 metres [5], turn right with the bridleway to pass by outhouses and a house, where the path continuing straight on is a footpath. You pass between more houses and come out, slightly left, onto a car-wide lane signposted as a public bridleway, your direction 105 degrees."

p 274, col 2, para 1: Replace last sentence with: "In 70 metres you come to a three-armed footpath sign. Take the right fork, slightly downhill. In another 50 metres again take the right fork, your direction now 40 degrees."

p 274, col 2, paras 2-5: Replace these four paras with: "You now continue gently downhill on this public footpath through Giffard's Wood for over 1km, heading north-east. In more detail: In 500 metres, having ignored any ways off, your path merges with a car-wide earth track from the right.

"[!] 100 metres further on, before this track curves away to the left, fork slightly to the right onto a footpath to resume your original direction, 45 degrees. In 300 metres continue across a car-wide grass track." [the only important direction is joining and leaving the earth track]

p 275, col 1, paras 2-4: After "bridge over a stream" in para 2, replace rest of para and next two paras with: ". Go into the next field and follow the grassy path half-left uphill, heading north-east.

"In 250 metres, at the edge of a wood at the top of the hill, you come to a three-armed footpath sign. [6] Cross over the stile next to a wooden swing gate and head into these woods, your direction 80 degrees."

p 275, col 2, para 3: Replace "In a further 50 metres, follow the footpath sign left..." with: "Ignore a turning on the left into a car park, but when you come to a large gate blocking the road, follow the footpath sign left..."

p 276, col 1, para 6: Replace para with: "About 50 metres before the end of this field [7], where you can see a footpath sign up ahead, leave the Sussex Border Path by forking left on a grassy path towards a gap in the hedge (this little short cut saves you from doubling back slightly at the end of the field). You are now heading away from the reservoir, and 1.5km in this direction (roughly northwards) will bring you to the outskirts of East Grinstead."

p 276, col 1, para 7: You pass to the right of a pylon, not left.

p 276, col 2, paras 3-6: Replace these four paras with: "Enter the wood, following the footpath sign, and in 20 metres ignore a footpath off to the left. In 150 metres go down to a plank to cross a stream and then up steps on the other side to exit the wood through a gate.

"Turn half-right to follow the field edge, with a hedge and later a fence on your right-hand side. In 100 metres the path goes down into a dip and up the other side, then in another 150 metres you go through a wooden fieldgate onto a broad path though a strip of woodland.

"As you leave this wood by another fieldgate, East Grinstead church is visible on the horizon up ahead, slightly to the right. Head slightly to the right of the church to pick up a faint grassy path across the field. In 160 metres you pass a small pond on your right. In another 100 metres go through a wooden gate by a two-armed footpath sign and cross a ditch on a plank."

p 277, col 1, paras 1-3: Replace these three paras with: "In 150 metres you pass under some power lines and through a wooden gate [8]. Do not continue down to the metal footbridge over a stream, but turn left onto a narrow path with a hedge on your left and woods on your right. In 25 metres there is a plank over a ditch and in another 20 metres you have a choice. The official footpath appears to be straight on along the overgrown path, but in practice it is much easier to turn left into the field and take a well-trodden path along the right-hand field edge.

"In 120 metres rejoin the footpath at a gap in the hedge, passing a concrete post. Continue through the woods with a stream on your right. In 40 metres you pass between metal barriers to come out onto a tarmac path, with a playground behind a wooden fence on your left.

"In 160 metres the path comes out onto Dunnings Road, opposite the Old Mill pub. Cross over (slightly to the left) to take a footpath which passes to the left of Dunnings Mill Snooker and Social Club. Follow the footpath sign at the end of the building to pass a car park and then another building on your right, then over a metal stile into a field.

"Continue along the right-hand field edge. In 140 metres cross a stile, then in another 150 metres cross a stream on a wooden bridge. Continue in the same direction (north-west) for another 400 metres, crossing more stiles and eventually passing a duck pond on your left (with some unusual species).

"In a further 100 metres, after crossing a concrete track by some wooden sheds on your right, go over an unmarked stile on your right onto a narrow path, and continue up to the road which you can see ahead (if you miss the stile you will have to hurdle a locked gate to exit the field)."

p 277, col 2, para 2: Before "Sainsbury's supermarket", insert: "Starbucks, in "