SWC walk 40 - East Grinstead Circular (Weir Reservoir Circular option)
Length: 20.6km (12.8 miles) - short walk visiting Standen also possible: see below
Toughness: 5 out of 10

9.53 train from Victoria (9.59 Clapham Junction, 10.10 East Croydon) to East Grinstead, arriving 10.48

For walk directions click here.

Back in 2015 I created a new morning route for this walk - rehashing some old elements, introducing some new ones - hoping it would be less muddy in winter. It was tried in January 2016 and proved just as muddy as the old route.

Since then it has languished in obscurity, so it now gets its first spring/summer outing. Mud will be no problem at this time of year and the route takes you past Standen, the National Trust property, mid morning. If you fancy doing a proper visit to this (after all, it is bank holiday weekend) see the Tourist option below.

The walk document contains two interlocking East Grinstead circulars, and in the morning we will be doing is the Anticlockwise walk - page 4 of the directions. This gets you to lunch in Forest Row in 9km (5.6 miles). The Chequers Inn is the obvious choice here: last time some of us tried the Swan but I don't remember being that impressed: there is also the Brambletye Hotel and the Java and Jazz Pizzeria, so you won't starve.

After lunch I propose switching to the clockwise walk - see paragraph 37 on page 13. This is the former "longer afternoon" of the East Grinstead walk, which takes you around the Weir Wood Reservoir, with some nice views, and then back to Standen, which you might just get to in time for tea. There is some slight overlap with the morning route, but only for a short section. Other tea options are the Old Dunnings Mill pub, or - less romantically - the Starbucks in the Sainsbury's by the station. Instructions are also included to take you up into the old centre of East Grinstead for more tea options.

Trains back from East Grinstead are at 07 and 37 past until late

Tourist options

If you want to make a proper visit to Standen, several options are outlined on page 3 of the walk document. Option i) uses the out and back routes of the anticlockwise and clockwise walk to make a 7.2km (4.5 mile) circular walk and ii) simply involves doing the anticlockwise morning, with a Standen visit in the middle: this is 9.3km (5.8 miles). You then take one of the very regular buses from Forest Row back to East Grinstead: eg at 16.27, 17.04, 17.26, 18.04, 18.35, 18.57, 19.49, 21.14.

You could also do the Standen visit, have tea in Forest Row, then carry on to finish the anticlockwise walk, which is 18.1km (11.2 miles)
T=3.040c

SWC Walk 40 - East Grinstead Circular with NEW morning route
Length: 18.1km (11.2 miles)
Toughness: 4 out of 10

9.53 train from Victoria (9.59 Clapham Junction, 10.10 East Croydon) to East Grinstead, arriving 10.48.

For walk directions click here - you only need pages 1-10 since we will be doing the "winter walk".

The East Grinstead Circular has gained a terrible reputation as a winter walk in recent years due to fearsomely muddy fields near its start. I must be a bit touched in the head because back in the summer I set out to create a new winter start that would be drier underfoot. I stress "drier", not "dry" because this is the Weald and it is January, but I did my best to pick paths that were high and to use tarmac or gravel tracks as much as possible.

Will this actually work? The only way to find out is by giving it a test in full winter conditions. I am "cheating" a bit because if the forecast is right the ground may be partly frozen today. But we shall see.... C'mon. I appeal to your sense of adventure....

The other advantages of this new start is that it is a bit longer than the old one, and you pass the National Trust property of Standen quite early on, which amazingly is open today if anyone wants to visit it. (You could have a look at the house and grounds, have lunch there and then finish your walk in Forest Row, the lunch stop on the main walk and get a frequent bus back to East Grinstead from there: this makes a short walk of 9.3km/5.8 miles)

Lunch is in familiar old Forest Row, but since we are trying new things today, we might eschew the familiar old Chequers Inn and try one of the other pubs in the town - eg the Brambletye Hotel on the other side of the road just down the hill, or the Swan ditto but up the hill.

The afternoon is the familiar afternoon of the East Grinstead walk - I say familiar, but so rarely did anyone stick with this walk to do the afternoon that it might be a novelty to most of you. It has a long dry section on lanes and tracks in its middle with nice views. East Grinstead has nice pub and tea opportunites.

Trains back are at 07 and 37 past until as late as you like.

SWC walk 40 - East Grinstead Circular with alternative afternoon
Length: 11.2 miles (18.1 km)
Toughness: 4 out of 10

9.53 train from Victoria (9.59 Clapham Junction, 10.11 East Croydon) to East Grinstead, arriving 10.48

For walk directions click here.

The standard East Grinstead Circular is a very pleasant walk which has suffered in walkers' perceptions in recent years because of several outings in winter when its initial descent across fields has proved very muddy**. But the fields are dry as a bone at this time of year, and even if we do have some heavy rain this week it should quickly soak in/evapourate (it takes a couple of months for the Wealden fields to build up their characteristic winter squelch).

So this is an attempt to rescue this walk's reputation - long overdue as it has many delights, including a mansion which has been lying in ruins since the 17th century. Those who have done this route previously will also be pleased to hear that the Chequers Inn in Forest Row, the usual lunch pub, has recovered from its deep funk and now seems to be offering a large and varied menu. There are in any case oodles of other options nearby.

This is also a chance to do the longer afternoon route (the 11.2 mile version of the walk: though if anyone wants to do the shorter main route instead I won't tell the teacher). The alternative afternoon takes you to around the Weir Wood Reservoir (though with distant views of it rather than close encounters) and up to Standen, a National Trust property. If you can get here before it closes at 5pm you can have tea in its tea room. If not, the walk offers lots of other options.

Trains back from East Grinstead are at 07 and 37 past till late.

** Out of interest, a completely new winter start to the walk has been researched and will be trialled later in the year. This will also allow one to make a morning visit to Standen in the summer months.