I was thinking of joining this one on Saturday, SWR permitting, but I'm struggling to understand the map. Is the purple line the short morning and long afternoon? Sorry if I'm being dim.

Yes. The purple line is the short morning and long afternoon and the green line is the “main walk”

17 on this walk, I hear, with 3 doing the longer afternoon. If anyone who was on the walk wants to post a more detailed report, please do

Didn't do a count up at the station but 17 sounds about right. Initial sunny spells becoming more overcast as the day progressed with a chilly breeze.

The Chequers Inn Hotel the recommended lunch time stop looked somewhat forlorn when I walked in: just one other customer tucked away in a side room, no one behind the bar and a sprinkling of Halloween decorations trying their best to brighten the place up. An overheard conversation between the owner(?) and a subsequent customer suggested that it had been without a chef for a while and had only recently started serving food again. That said, the veg lasagne I ordered from the specials menu was very good, though it bore more resemblance to a ricotta filled cannelloni (also on the specials menu) covered in a tomato and béchamel sauce, and the salad it was supposed to come with never appeared.

While I sat waiting for my food I saw half a dozen of our number sandwich eaters I think pass on the other side of the road, never to be seen again, at least not by me. The main contingent of our motley crew arrived some time later, bringing some much needed life to the pub, but by that time I had finished my meal (and a very nice pint of Harveys) and was keen to be on my way.

Two of us left the pub together and save for passing one late (or early?) starter encountered no other members of our group on the walk back to East Grinstead. On reaching the centre she stopped of for some retail therapy whilst I pressed on for the train, stopping at the Bluebell Railway buffet carriage (very cosy looking) next to the station for a takeaway tea and cake.

As to wildlife, Walker will no doubt be interested to know that it was limited to the odd buzzard, jackdaws, pigeons, cows (various), sheep and some fine saddleback and British Lop(?) pigs in a barn behind the farm shop and café just outside Forest Row.

Not a walk that I particularly enjoyed, though that probably had more to do with my mood and the weather than any shortcomings in the route. On which subject …

… the fenced orchard referred to para 42 of the instructions as being "to your right" in in fact to the left. And in a similar vein, in para 123 the instruction to "Veer slightly left across it [the field], to exit it in 130 metres by its far left hand corner." should read "Veer slightly right across it to exit it in 130 metres by its far right hand corner."

I was in the "main contingent" and the group on the longer afternoon. Not much to add though, we went slightly astray near the phone mast in the morning hence the late arrival at lunch; I agree the proprietor of the Chequers only just seemed to be holding things together. Also agree that the walk wasn't a classic but the encroaching gloom didn't help. The three of us got to East Grinstead just before 5, failed to find an open tea shop and resorted to a swift half in the Ship before a surprisingly long walk back to the station; still got the 1736 though.
Trail notes the stiles at the start of paras 181 and 182 are now solid metal gates and the field is a vineyard. Follow the left hand edge to get to the second gate.

15 on this walk: more possibly set out for it and got stymied by the closure of Victoria tube station due to "passenger action" in the half hour before the train was due to leave. As it was, two managed to catch up the original 13, having been forced onto later trains.

It was not quite the blazing hot sunny day forecast, but actually the bright cloud with some sun, combined with fresher temperatures than of late, was perfectly pleasant. At Standen four peeled off to make a detailed visit to the National Trust house and gardens. I got separated from the rest at this point when I stopped to wait for one of those who had missed the train, so I hope the others enjoyed the rest of the walk (feel free to file your own report). The two of us had a lovely day, with beautiful buttercup meadows, pleasant sits to enjoy views, and one or two butterflies.

While most lunched at the Chequer's Inn, we tried the Java and Jazz Pizzeria which did very nice pasta, served quickly. We just arrived at Standen too late for tea but this also had the good effect that we went up into Old East Grinstead where CJ's Cafe Bar which has been recommended to me before but which I have never tried proved an excellent tea stop. It has a good cake selection and an upstairs terrace with a direct view out over the churchyard.

It seemed too nice an evening (and time of year) to rush home, so we walked up the old railway line to the west of East Grinstead station for a short walk to listen to the evening birdsong. Then the 9.07 home.

26 on this walk on a day of lovely sunshine and sun through high cloud. A beautiful day out in lovely company, but OK, OK, OK, the new "winter" morning route did not quite make the grade. Quite large bits of it were firm and dry, but where it crossed fields there was a tendency for boots to sink down 6 inches into the gloop. Luckily this was mitigated by frozen or part frozen ground in lots of places, but in our new "normal" 13 degree winter temperatures it would have been distressing.

Having said this, am I allowed to say as the walk author, that I thought the new morning route delightful, and I think it will make a lovely spring, summer or autumn route? At least two people took advantage of the fact that it passes the National Trust property at Standen early on to visit that house another big advantage of the new route.

Our experiment with untried pubs in Forest Row was also mixed. The Swan was comfortable and pleasant, but its food was priced at the gourmet end and then turned out to be more of corner cafe quality. You don't expect to get cheap MacDonald's style fries with a £15 fish and chips, nor pre sliced factory bread with a pub sandwich. Either food quality or the price points need to change. Ho hum.

These minor niggles were shrugged off in a very nice afternoon, largely firm underfoot, when the sun, which had been a bit hidden by cloud around lunchtime, reappeared. A few gloopy fields towards the end were thankfully freezing solid by the time we crossed them. We got to East Grinstead just in time for dusk (always nice to feel one has made full use of the day). Some of us tried a new tea place in the centre called Agora, but I found it a bit pedestrian. It is not often you find me wishing I had gone to Caffe Nero....

12 sunny warm
I'm not entirely sure how to add meta data to this comment! Anyway, on the East Grinstead Circular there were 12 people. The walk poster had promised it would be dry underfoot, however, it was actually quite muddy in parts. This was the first time I had done this walk and was presently surprised how pretty it was. The reservoir looked particularly attractive in the sun. One walker asked, with impeccably good manners, whether we could have tea and cakes in the National Trust property and they thankfully said yes. All in all an enjoyable walk with good company. Thank you 'Walker' for posting it before the mud builds up to such an extent, to make it, shall we say, challenging!

9 w= dull with light rain . 7 men and 2 women. The other chap first walked with NA 25 years ago! Weather disappointing and by the afternoon we had a light drizzle for the rest of the day. Still we had an excellent days walking and we all did the longer tour around the reservoir.(You could take a path on the other side of the reservoir where you are much closer to the water and thus avoid a lot of road walking so if you have a map this could be worth checking out.
The path across the first fields you enter are now enclosed (fences put up 6 weeks ago) so no problems there with direction finding. On other sections of the walk you have to pay attention with some stiles well hidden.
The Chequers Inn was virtually empty (Is it long for this world?) but there are other options on the High Street in Forest Row with the Swann a fairly posh looking place near the church a possibility.)
Refreshing tea at Standens and then the 5.12pm train home

In fact 7 women & 2 men!

Thanks. I really must check my posts before hitting send!!