Walk 5 : Wadhurst via Bewl Water Circular

11.1km (7 miles)

5

Apart from at the very end, this is a completely different route from the Wadhurst short and main walks in Time Out Country Walks Book two. It follows the Sussex Border Path to the large reservoir of Bewl Water, and then follows its banks back to Wadhurst village for tea. This is beautiful country, full of hidden valleys and picturesque farms. Being the Weald, the route is almost never flat, but the gradients on this route are always gentle.

A Longer Alternative : You can combine this walk as far as Bewl Water with the Wadhurst Long Walk route also available on this website (see Book 2, Wadhurst, Updates). On reaching Bewl Water, turn left rather than right along its shore, and in 2.6km (1.6 miles) you get to the Bewl Water Visitors Centre, You can then follow the Wadhurst Long Walk instructions. It is 8.7km (5.4 miles) from the start of this walk to the Visitor's Centre and 18km (11.2 miles) from there to Robertsbridge, making a total walk of 26.7 km (16.6 miles). You can shorten this by 2 miles (3km) by finishing at Etchingham Station, but then there is no tea option.

The walk starts and ends at Wadhurst station, on the Hastings Line, served by trains from Charing Cross via London Bridge.

For the normal walk, the train nearest to 10.10 from Charing Cross. For the longer option, the train nearest to 9.10

The Old Vine, Cousley Wood, East Sussex, TN5 6ER (01892 782271), 5km (3 miles) into the walk serves food from 12 to 2pm daily. This is the recommended lunch stop on the regular walk

The Look Out Restaurant, Bewl Water Visitor's Centre (01892 890171) www.bewl.co.uk serves food from 10.30-5pm daily from April to October, and on Saturdays and Sundays only from November to March. This is the recommended lunch stop on the longer walk

Wealden Wholefoods Cafe, High Street, Wadhurst, TN5 6AA (01892 783065) www.wealdenwholefoods.co.uk provides a fine tea with an interesting range of cakes from 9am-4.45pm Monday to Saturday. This is the recommended tea stop

White Hart, High Street,Wadhurst, TN5 6AP (01892 782878) is an alternative tea stop if you don't get to the Wealden Wholefoods Cafe in time.

The Ostrich pub in Robertsbridge (see Lunch and Tea Places for the Robertsbridge Walk in Time Out Country Walks Book 2) is the suggested tea stop on the longer walk option