Ashurst to Buxted: 22.1km (13.7 miles) T=3.29
Ashurst Circular: 15km (9.3 miles), 19.5 km (12.1 miles) or 24.3km (15 miles)
9.33 train from East Croydon to Ashurst, arriving 10.08
The above train starts at East Croydon today due to engineering works, but there are connecting trains as follows:
- 8.50 St Pancras Thameslink - 9.05 London Bridge - 9.18 East Croydon
- 9.07 London Bridge - 9.23 East Croydon
- 9.00 St Pancras Thameslink - 9.15 London Bridge - 9.28 East Croydon.
Buy a day return to Buxted, or to Ashurst (Kent) if planning to do an Ashurst Circular option
For
Ashurst Circular directions click
here, for
GPX click
here, for a
map of the route click
here.
For
Buxted Circular directions click
here, for
GPX click
here, for a
map of the route click
here.
**** It would be very useful if you could pre-register for this walk for contact tracking purposes at www.lwug.co.uk: if not, please bring a piece of paper with your email written on it, which will be kept in an envelope and only used if a case of Covid arises on the walk. To let us know if a contract tracing requirement arises as a result of this walk, use covid@lwug.co.uk **** This idea (ie Ashurst to Buxted) was suggested to me a while back by one of our Tunbridge Wells-based walkers. It is based on the fact that the most southerly point of the Ashurst Circular Walk is only 1.5 miles from the lunch pub on the Buxted Circular. By joining the two together you have a gentle climb up, a walk across the heartlands of Ashdown Forest, and then a descent into pleasant countryside that we normally only visit in muddy autumn or winter, due to the shortness of the Buxted Circular walk. Note that the connecting section is map-led, but the path is fairly obvious, a broad track across open heath.
You can of course ignore all this and just do the
Ashurst Circular walk, which comes in three flavours - short, not so short, and long. All three options have extensive Winnie the Pooh associations, which you can read about in the
walk document.
On the Ashurst to Buxted walk, your lunch options are the (usually rather popular) Dorset Arms in Withyham after a paltry 3.6 miles, or holding on till the lunch pub on the Buxted walk, the capacious the Crow and Gate in Poundgate, which is 8.9 miles into the walk. This offers food all afternoon, so a late arrival may help you to get a table. If you wanted to book, I would assume arrival at about 2.30pm. Otherwise, the heathland of Ashdown Forest will offer plenty of places to eat sandwiches.
After lunch, it is just 4.8 miles, a lot of it downhill, to Buxted. For tea, there are two pubs in Buxted, both near the station, and both of which look to be open all afternoon.
On the Ashurst Circular, the only refreshment options after the Dorset Arms (see above) are in Hartfield, only about 5.5 miles into the short walk, 8.3 miles into the main walk. Here you will find the Anchor Inn, and the Pooh Corner tea rooms (ex Piglet's Tea Room, Kanga's Tea Room: if they fancy another rebrand I would suggest Eeyore's Eerie or Tigger's Lair ...) the latter open till 5pm.
Note that it is 3.8 miles from Hartfield to Ashurst station and there is diddly-squat to do in its vicinity if you miss the hourly train: allowing 1 hour 45 minutes at least for this section might be wise.
Trains back are at 48 past from Buxted, 07 past from Ashurst: note that the train in the other, southbound direction leaves Ashurst at much the same time: make sure you get on the right one.