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Balcombe to East Grinstead Walk

Gentle wooded hills, Wakehurst Place Gardens (NT) and a reservoir

Garden Weald West Sussex
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Wakehurst Place, Priest House & Weir Wood

Length 17.06km (10.6 miles), 5 hours. For the whole outing, including trains, sights and meals, allow at least 9 hours.
Toughness 5 out of 10 (more when muddy).
OS Maps Explorer 135 or Landranger 187. Balcombe, map reference TQ 306 302, is in West Sussex, 7km south-east of Crawley.
Features

This walk has a fair number of relatively gentle uphills and downhills, but is well worth the effort. After periods of heavy rain some paths can be very muddy or even waterlogged, so stout walking boots are recommended - or even wellingtons during a wet winter.

It starts in the old village of Balcombe, passes Balcombe House, and then goes through the woods and by the lake of Balcombe Estate (which you can swim in), up to a farm that can be extremely muddy in wet weather, to reach the National Trust gardens and Tudor mansion at Wakehurst Place around mid-morning. Wakehurst has a manor house and large lanscaped gardens. Free entry for NT and RBS members, the flowers are best in spring.

From there the route passes through further woods to the Priest House Museum, Norman church and the lunchtime pub in West Hoathly, the second highest point in Sussex.

After lunch, the route is through Giffards Wood then past the Stone Farm climbing rocks (sandstone rocks formed from the bodies of plants and invertebrates, and used as shelters in mesolithic and neolithic times), leading to the shoreline of the Weir Wood Reservoir (which you cannot swim in - enforced) and nature reserve (home to the great crested grebe, heron and osprey) – the very energetic could at this point detour to the National Trust estate at Standen – finally reaching the station via a walk along a stream and through potentially very muddy fields that mark the outer edges of East Grinstead.
Walk Options 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.
History

The poet Shelley lived for a time in Balcombe's Highley Manor. The present queen was a bridesmaid at a wedding in Balcombe Church before the war. Balcombe House, privately owned, was part-gutted by fire in 1995.

Wakehurst Place (tel 01444 894 066) dates from Norman times, but the Tudor manor house with its sandstone walls was built in 1590 by Sir Edward Culpeper, a distant relative of Nicholas Culpeper who published the famous herbal compendium in 1651. Wakehurst is leased from the National Trust by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. The gardens are divided into geographical themes, such as Himalayan, Chinese and North American. Wakehurst is the World's largest seed conservation project and by 2010 it had conserved seeds from 10 % of the World's known plant species. Admission (2024) is £16.50, or £ 8.50 after 3.30 pm - concessions and annual tickets also available. National Trust members have free admission to the gardens, but pay for car parking. Opening hours are March to October 10am to 6pm daily, November to February 10am to 4.30pm daily (but closed December 24th & 25th).

The timber-framed Priest House Museum in West Hoathly is managed by the Sussex Archaeological Trust. Admission (2024) is £6.50, with gift aid optional. 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. Temporarily closed for maintenace summer 2024, due to reopen mid-September 2024.

St Margaret's Church in West Hoathly has a magnificent coffin-shaped chest, probably thirteenth-century, which was used to collect money for the crusades; it also has a brass memorial to Ann Tree, the last woman to be burned at the stake in England. There are fine views from the terraced churchyard which is worth visiting.

The Cat Inn (see below) once had a tunnel under it, which a past murderer is said to have used to reach the pub for refuge. There is a well under one of the rooms, which can be seen through a circular glass panel in the floor.
Travel

Take the train nearest to 9.40am from London Bridge Station to Balcombe; journey time 40 minutes. On Sundays the service is from Victoria ; journey time 50 minutes. Trains back from East Grinstead go to Victoria and are half hourly; journey time 50 minutes. Rail ticket : the cheapest option is probably a Thameslink single from London Bridge to Balcombe, with railcard, then a separate off peak single from East Grinstead to London Victoria (or to East Croydon if you hold a railcard). You can try to get away with a Balcombe return (any route permitted), by showing your ticket to the station staff at East Grinstead and asking them to let you through - you might be lucky - but if you have your ticket rejected at the station barriers, in all probability you will be required to buy a single ticket to East Croydon.

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

On days when it is open, you could have brunch at the Balcombe Tea Rooms (open from 10.30am Tuesday to Saturday) near the start.

You could stop at Wakehurst Place, about 5km (3 miles) from the start: the Seed Café is in the Visitor Centre while visitors to the gardens also have the choice of lunch in the Stables restaurant.

The suggested lunchtime stop, 8.4 km into the walk, is the Cat Inn (tel 01342 810 369) in West Hoathly, a 16th century freehouse with lots of atmosphere, which serves top quality food from an extensive menu. The pub is open for lunch (2024) from Wednesday to Sundays only, between 12 noon and 2 pm Wednesday to Saturday, and 12 noon until 3.30 pm on Sunday. This is a very popular pub, walker friendly and dog friendly, and booking ahead is essential on all days, and several weeks in advance on Sundays. We suggest SWC walk posters 'phone at least two weeks ahead of their planned walk to make a reservation with provisional numbers, and confirm numbers on the day by 'phoning from Balcombe. You are welcome to call in off chance without pre-booking and the staff will do their best to accommodate you in the pub's covered "tented area" at the back, with gas heaters to keep you warm in winter - or in the garden in summer - but it is very unlikely they will have a table indoors for you.

Tea

The suggested tea stop is The Old Dunnings Mill pub (tel 01342 821 080), about 2km before the end of the walk. Allow 30 minutes from here to reach the station.

Near the station is the Starbucks at East Grinstead Sainsbury's (tel 01342 303 167).

There is a pub in the town centre, about 300m beyond the station - go right on Station Approach at the roundabount just before the station.
Updates

Pub update August 2024. Last full book check and walk update October 2020.

Book
Out of date!

This walk was originally published in Time Out Country Walks near London volume 1. We now recommend using this online version as the book is dated.

The book contained 53 walks, 1 for every week of the year and 1 to spare. Here is our suggested schedule

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By Train

Out (not a train station)

Back (not a train station)

By Car

It is not easy to return to the start by train, as the stations are on different rail lines.

Start Map Directions Return to the start:

Finish Map Directions Travel to the start:

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Start walking Using GPS data Large print

National Rail: 03457 48 49 50 • Traveline (bus times): 0871 200 22 33 (12p/min) • TFL (London) : 0343 222 1234

Version

Dec-24 Marcus

Copyright © Saturday Walkers Club. All Rights Reserved. No commercial use. No copying. No derivatives. Free with attribution for one time non-commercial use only. www.walkingclub.org.uk/site/license.shtml

Walk Directions

The directions for this walk are also in a PDF (link above) which you can download on to a Kindle, tablet, or smartphone. The [numbers] refer to a sketch map in the book.

  1. Note: There is a quiet, rural route at the outset to avoid walking along a main road, but this involves going down some steps, which are very slippery in wet weather - and some of the handrails are currently missing. If you would rather avoid these steps, leave the station by the main, eastern exit and turn left on to the main road, heading north; in 350 metres turn right into Bramble Hill and continue the directions at [*] below.
  2. For the main route: [1] Coming off the train from London at Balcombe Railway Station, go over the footbridge and down the platform on the other side. Exit to the right just before the tunnel, then go through the car park, due south. In 100 metres, where this approach road meets the B2036 road, take the signposted footpath to the right, downhill and heading south-west. In 15 metres cross a stile, go down over a small field and in 20 metres cross another stile to go down a flight of steps (which are very slippery in wet weather, so make use of any handrails on your left), to come out on to a lane at the bottom.
  3. Turn right on to this tarmac lane (Rocks Lane), and head steadily uphill through a woodland strip, due north initially. Continue along this lane for 600 metres, back past the station on your right-hand side, under the railway bridge and finally quite steeply up to the main road.
  4. Cross diagonally left over the B2036 London Road and [*] continue straight on up Bramble Hill, as indicated by a prominent white finger signpost for Balcombe Village, Tea Rooms, Pub and Shops, your direction 40°.
  5. Go up into the village, past the Balcombe Tea Rooms on your left, to the crossroads. Take the second turning on the left, passing first the Half Moon Inn then The Balcombe Stores and Post Office on your left-hand side. In 30 metres, at the end of this road, you come to the gateway with white gateposts to Balcombe House.
  6. [2] Here turn right along a signed footpath, down a tarmac drive, your direction 60°. In 70 metres, as the drive swings to the right towards a wooden fieldgate, and by a three-armed footpath sign, turn left through the rusty metal kissing gate on your left-hand side and take the path ahead, your direction initially 10°, with Balcombe House to your left. Go down the field (which can be soggy or waterlogged in winter), staying close to the left-hand field edge, in 65 metres passing either side of a large oak tree in the middle of the field and later following the grassy way down into an overgrown (and often muddy) area (if you stray to the right here, you will eventually come to a corner of the field with no exit).
  7. At the end of the field, by a two-armed footpath sign, go through a wooden kissing gate and continue ahead and down into the woods. After 100 metres, you come to a path junction marked by a three-armed footpath sign and turn right, your direction 120°. Follow the footpath signs, ignoring other turn-offs. You are walking parallel to a stream below you and in quick succession you cross three wood plank bridges with wooden handrails and one two plank bridge over a small stream or muddy areas. Follow this clear, undulating path as it meanders through woodland, muddy in places, latterly with Balcombe Lake glimpsed below through the trees. Soon you are walking near the edge of this lake (which connects with Ardingly Reservoir). The path swings round to the right to head due south.
  8. Leave the edge of the lake by passing through a metal kissing gate to come out into a field. Follow its left-hand edge with the tree-line on your left-hand side and an open, grassy field on your right. In 100 metres, by a two-armed footpath sign, turn left , over a stream on planks then through a metal kissing gate, into a field, and keep directly ahead, keeping close to its left-hand edge, gently uphill, your direction 70°. In 90 metres at the far side of the field, by a four-armed footpath sign, go through a metal kissing gate, a metal fieldgate to its right, and turn left on to the tarmac lane, to immediately cross a bridge with brick headwalls, with Balcombe Lake on your left-hand side and a stepped waterfall on your right, your direction 60°. The lake, which belongs to the Balcombe Estate, is said to be good for fishing: pike and bream in winter; carp, bream, tench and roach in summer.
  9. Carry on along this farm lane, steadily uphill, initially through a woodland strip, then between hedges. Some 400 metres beyond the lake, just after the lane has swung to the left, you come to a two-armed footpath sign on your left-hand side (which may be part hidden in the hedge). Here [!] turn right to cross over a stile, with a metal fieldgate to its left, and head down the left-hand side of a field, with a high hedge on your left, your direction 100° (for what can be an extremely cow-churned muddy stretch in wet weather).
  10. In 200 metres in the bottom left-hand corner of the field you come to a metal fieldgate and a stile, by a two-armed footpath sign. Go over the stile, your direction due north, and head straight ahead up and over the middle of a grassy field, to go past cow barns on your left-hand side. At the end of the field, and some 25 metres to the right of the farm buildings, bear right onto the farm access drive, go through an open metal fieldgate, with two-armed footpath signs to your left and right, to go along and up a farm track, earthen with a chalky surface, with a field hedge on your right-hand side, and an open field on your left, your direction 50°. In 260 metres at the top of this track, by a two-armed footpath sign, you go past a metal fieldgate to rejoin the farm lane (now gravel).
  11. Take the lane straight on, gently uphill, your direction 60°. After a bend to the right you come to a T-junction. Turn right on to the road and in 10 metres turn left over a stile, to head down the right-hand edge of a large, open field with treeline on your right, your direction due east, with a fine view over the valley. On the hills beyond you can see a huddle of buildings marking the outskirts of Wakehurst Place.
  12. Keep the fence and a large house on your right-hand side. In 400 metres, [3] at the bottom of the field, turn left, with the edge of the woods now on your right-hand side and your direction 25°.
  13. At a footpath post in 150 metres, go through a wooden swing gate and bear right to go down a gully into Tilgate Wood. In 75 metres the path swings to the left and passes a two-armed footpath sign on your right. Here ignore a turning down to the left and keep ahead , now more steeply downhill, soon with a stream visible below you.
  14. Head down some steps with a handrail on your left and at the bottom of the slope cross two planks over a stream, then a wooden bridge with one handrail and follow the footpath sign up the other side, over more planks with railings over waterlogged areas and eventually you pass through a wire-mesh kissing gate (a deer protection gate) into Wakehurst Place gardens. You come out onto a surfaced estate way, turn right for 10 metres then turn left up a signed public footpath through light woodland. In 90 metres at the top of the slope the path crosses a track (with a footpath sign No 45 on your left) to go up two steps and in 10 metres you go through a wooden swing gate into a large field which once was a deer farm (the deer protection fencing and mesh gates have long gone). Follow the direction of a black arrow on a footpath post up along the middle of this field, steadily uphill, along a clear grassy way, your direction 65°
  15. in 385 metres you go through a wooden swing gate to go along a gravel drive which in 30 metres joins a Wakehurst Place surfaced estate road. On your right you have the signed access road to Wakehurst Farm. Keep ahead on the estate road, gently uphill, with a high brick wall on your right. You pass the new Botanical Gardens Seed Bank building on your left and some 160 metres along this road [4] the road swings to the left and you follow the footpath signs. For those not visiting the gardens or café, the route is straight along the road (North Drive) for 200 metres, then over a cattle grid and, in another 200 metres, reaching the main road (the B2028) by 1 Yew Tree Cottage, where you turn left.
  16. Many walkers with time to spare, however, will be tempted to visit Wakehurst Place or the Seed Café in its Visitor Centre. To do this, continue ahead on the path signposted 'carpark and exit' up to the Visitor Centre, which contains the ticket office and café. Afterwards, rejoin the main walk by going down the car exit road to the B2028 T-junction and turning left, coming in 300 metres to the main walk's exit by 1 Yew Tree Cottage.
  17. Carry on along a grassy embankment to the left of the busy B2028. In 200 metres cross the road carefully just past Beech Cottage and [!] turn right down a clearly signposted bridleway between cottages, your direction 135°, and so into woods.
  18. In 100 metres, with a metal fieldgate and a two-armed footpath sign over to your right, the path turns sharply to the left steeply downhill, now an earthen track with an uneven, stony footbed, which swings to the right to come down after 60 metres to a T-junction with a broad, surfaced drive where you turn right by another bridleway sign, your direction 125°.
  19. In 75 metres, just before entrance gates with "Private - no public right of way" signs on both gateposts, and by a three-armed footpath sign turn left onto a bridleway between ponds, and keep ahead, gently uphill, your direction due east. In 250 metres, a stream tumbles noisily under the path. Continue up this woodland, steadilly uphill. In winter stretches of this path can be waterlogged and or muddy.
  20. In 400 metres [5], you come up to a three-armed footpath sign on your left-hand side. Ignore the footpath turning up to the left, going over a plank bridge and instead bear right with the bridleway, to keep on up the path, soon passing some houses on your left. The path comes out into the open, with a hostel on your right. Here keep slightly left, on to a car-wide lane signposted as a public bridleway, your direction 105°.
  21. In 40 metres you fork left (following another bridleway sign), your direction now 65°. Now follow this lane in roughly the same direction for 1km, gently uphill, between hedges and or treelines, through bends, latterly passing Lambs Philpots Quarry on your left-hand side, to meet Hook Lane at a bend.
  22. Continue straight ahead on Hook Lane to go into the village of West Hoathly. After a bend to the left you pass the Priest House Museum, then several other interesting old houses on your left. The suggested lunch stop, the Cat Inn, is ahead of you, just past St Margaret's Church, which is worth a visit. Threre are some Commonwealth War Graves in the churchyard, from which there are fine views to the east.
  23. After lunch, turn right out of the pub and right again by the bus shelter. Carry on up this tarmac road (North Lane) for 400 metres, your direction 20°, past the village school on your right-hand side and ignoring a public footpath off to the left.
  24. When you come to the main road, cross straight over into the entrance to West Hoathly Garage (with its collection of vintage cars). Go immediately left, following a public footpath sign down a narrow, asphalted lane, with the garage on your right-hand side, heading north.
  25. In 200 metres, the asphalt ends by a garage on your left. Pass through a gravel car turning area and enter a wood on an earth path, gently downhill. In 75 metres ignore a fork to the left and in a further 15 metres go through a metal kissing gate to the left of a wooden gate and keep ahead, now in a cutting, downhill. In 70 metres, with a three-armed footpath sign on your left, ignore the fork left to a stile and keep ahead (slightly right), downhill. In another 40 metres, at another fork, by a three-armed footpath sign,[!] take the right fork, downhill, your direction now 40°.
  26. You now continue downhill on this public footpath through Giffard's Wood for over 1km, heading north-east. In more detail:
  27. In 125 metres cross over a path and track junction and keep ahead, your direction 35°. In a further 375 metres, having ignored any ways off, and just after you pass a two-armed footpath sign on your right, the path comes to a T-junction with a car-wide earth and gravel track, where you turn left .
  28. In 85 metres, as the track curves away to the left, [!] bear right on to a footpath to resume your previous direction, 45°, now back in woodland. In 300 metres go across a car-wide grass track, with a footpath post on your right, and continue downhill.
  29. In 200 metres leave the wood and cross a stile and cross over an open, grassy field, keeping more or less in the same direction, but now 30°, with a line of trees and a stream 15 metres over to your left, and a couple of houses off to the right. Your way bears a quarter right as new houses come into view.
  30. At the end of the field (but to the right of its lower, left-hand corner) cross a stile by a two-armed footpath sign on to a car lane, with the gated driveway to Birch farm on your right. Turn left down this lane and in 90 metres, just after the lane has swung to the left and begins to go gently uphill, with a three-armed footpath sign on your right, [!] turn right down a path with woodland to your left and with a close boarded fence on your right, your direction 20°. In 70 metres cross a two plank bridge with a wooden handrail and in a further 15 metres cross a stile and bear left up the embankment of the Bluebell Railway, to cross over the single track and go down the embankment on the other side. Go over a stile into the woods and follow the path, gently downhill, your direction now 50°, parallel to the stream below you to your right.
  31. In 90 metres exit the wood through a metal swing gate, cross over a chalky farm track and go through another metal swing gate to keep ahead over a grassy field, heading to the right of an electricity pylon 100 metres away. Just before you reach this pylon cross a two plank bridge with a wooden handrail and then pass the pylon over to your left. A few metres ahead by a two-armed footpath sign [!] turn right to go through a wooden swing gate onto a narrow steel bridge with wooden handrails over a stream. At its far end go into the next field and follow the grassy path half-left , heading north-east.
  32. In 35 metres go through a gap in the field boundary and continue ahead, uphill on a grassy way. Having passed a three-armed footpath post over to your left on your way up this field, in 250 metres, at the edge of a wood at the top of the hill, you come to a three-armed footpath sign. [6]. Go through a metal swing gate and turn right onto a bridleway, a car-wide earth and gravel track, into woods, uphill, your direction 80°.
  33. About 300 metres along this bridleway, you come to Stone Farm Rocks: soft sandstone used for rock climbing. They are covered with a profusion of climbers' bolts and are lined with rope marks, and provide platforms for fine views of the valley below, including Weir Wood Reservoir away to your left.
  34. From the end of the rocks the bridleway starts to go downhill in a woodland cutting and in 210 metres you come down to a metal fieldgate, which you pass to its left to come out onto a busy car road, with Stonehill House opposite. Cross over this road and turn right downhill, taking care on this busy road. In 35 metres, as the road swings to the right, turn left on to a surfaced lane, which leads down to the reservoir. Head down this lane between hedges and treeline, through bends in the lane.
  35. 350 metres down this lane, you pass under pylons. Ignore a turning on the left leading into a car park, but where you come to a large pair of gates blocking the lane, follow the footpath sign left. You will now be more or less following the side of the reservoir on the Sussex Border Path for the next 1.5km, until your turn-off to the left at [7]. Note: in summer some of the paths can be overgrown. In more detail:
  36. In 110 metres the path turns sharply to the right. In 50 metres turn right to go over three planks over a stream and in a further 10 metres go through a metal swing gate. In 60 metres, by a three-armed footpath sign, you come to a Countryside Commission information panel describing Standen Rocks and Weir Wood (sign broken and on the ground, October 2020). The footpath off to the left takes you to Standen House, but the main walk route continues straight on, going under pylons, with the lake over to your right.
  37. In 80 metres the path turns sharply to the left. In a further 150 metres pass a broken stile to your left, by a three-armed footpath sign and in 5 metres go through a metal swing gate. In 8 metres cross a two plank bridge with wooden handrail and in 10 metres the path swings to the right and in 18 metres go through a metal swing gate to then cross a two plank wooden bridge with handrail to come out into an open field, with treeline to your right. Keep ahead along the right-hand edge of this field, now back on the Sussex Border Path, which swings gently to the left in an arc.
  38. In 300 metres, in the corner of the field, you cross a stile and head back into woodland. Continue along the path (a muddy section), in the next 80 metres ignoring two metal gates on the left leading into fields, going over a three plank footbridge with wooden handrail between the gates.
  39. 150 metres from the second gate, your path bends left to run parallel to the reservoir shore again and passes a wooden bench. In 40 metres ignore a stile on your left. In a further 40 metres go through a metal kissing gate and come out into an open field. Keep along its right-hand edge with hedge and treeline on your right, your initial direction 40°
  40. In 270 metres [7], at the end of the field, by a three-armed footpath post, leave the Sussex Border Path ahead by turning left with the treeline now on your right, up the right-hand edge of the field. You are now heading away from the reservoir, and 1.75km in this direction (roughly northwards) will bring you to the outskirts of East Grinstead at [8]. In more detail:
  41. In 40 metres go through a gap in the hedge boundary and in 20 metres exit the boundary woodland strip and head up a grassy field, aiming just to the right of an electricity pylon, your direction 310°. In 100 metres pass the pylon and keep ahead, slightly right, now along the left-hand edge of a field, with treeline to your left. In 150 metres, at the top left corner of the field, go through a metal kissing gate with a metal fieldgate to its right, with a two-armed footpath sign on your left.
  42. In 5 metres ignore a stile into the wood on your left and keep ahead over the next field, gradually heading towards its left-hand field edge. In 50 metres you pass under overhead wires and in a further 100 metres, now at the field edge, you pass a pond on your left behind the treeline. In another 100 metres, go through a metal kissing gate and enter a strip of woodland.
  43. In 25 metres exit this wood by going through a metal kissing gate to the left of a metal fieldgate and head north across a grassy field, gently downhill, towards another metal kissing gate 140 metres away leading into another wood.
  44. Enter the wood, following the footpath sign to head gently downhill. In 20 metres ignore a footpath off to the left, then in a further 80 metres keep ahead (slightly right) at a faint junction. In 100 metres, go down earthen steps to a two plank bridge with wooden handrail to cross a stream and then up earthen steps on the other side to exit the wood through a wooden swing gate.
  45. Turn right to follow the field edge, with a hedge and later a fence on your right-hand side and an open field on your left. In 100 metres, with a gated field entrance to your right, the path goes down into a dip and up the other side, and in a further 130 metres you go through a wooden fieldgate on to a broad path though a strip of woodland.
  46. In 30 metres as you leave this wood by another fieldgate, East Grinstead church is visible on the horizon up ahead, slightly to the left. Aim 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 with a tree surround. In another 115 metres go through a wooden swing gate by a two-armed footpath sign and cross a ditch on planks. Keep on down over the next field.
  47. In 150 metres you pass under some power lines and go through a wooden swing gate on to a woodland path, with a four-armed footpath sign directly ahead of you. [8]. Do not continue down to the metal footbridge over a stream, but instead turn left on this narrow path with a hedge on your left and woods on your right. In 25 metres go down a few earthen steps and cross over a two plank bridge with wooden handrail, go up a few more earthen steps and keep ahead. In 70 metres the path swings to the left, with a mesh fence on your left and woodland strip on your right.
  48. In 120 metres, with a two-armed footpath sign on your left, turn right to drop down to cross a stream, head through the woodland strip, with the stream on your right and in 25 metres turn left through metal barriers to come out on to a tarmac path, with a playground behind a wooden fence on your left.
  49. In 160 metres the path comes out on to Dunnings Road opposite The Old Dunnings Mill pub , the suggested tea place. Coming out of the pub, turn right (Note: the building that used to be the Dunnings Mill Snooker and Social Club has been incorporated into the pub). Go past the path on your left which you came down on, and in 15 metres, with a green footpath sign on a lamp post over to your left [!] turn right into Streatfield Place, a new residential development. The path heads up into this development and at its cul de sac end follow the footpath sign ahead along a path over rough ground, with a close boarded fence on your right. The path swings to the right to pass the pub's car park over to your right. The path now swings to the left , with treeline and hedges on your left and fences to house back gardens on your right.
  50. In 135 metres go through a metal kissing gate and the path now has a mesh fence with open fields beyond on your left and the treeline on your right. Continue along the right-hand field edge. In 140 metres pass to the right of a redundant metal kissing gate and in a further 150 metres go through a metal swing gate to cross a stream on a wooden bridge with handrails. Continue in the same direction, north-west, for another 400 metres, crossing more plank bridges and going through one metal kissing gate and one wooden swing gate.
  51. You pass to the right of a redundant stile and keep ahead, on a grassy path, with back gardens on your right. In 70 metres you cross over a small concrete apron and the path becomes a track which you head up for 80 metres, with a hedgerow on your right.
  52. The track comes out onto a main road (Turners Hill Road) - the B2110 - where you turn right. In 35 metres, at the roundabout, turn left , following the direction of the road sign "London - B2110 (A22)". Keep uphill on this road (Brooklands Way), following it round to the right and all the way up the hill, ignoring turn-offs. Starbucks, in Sainsbury's supermarket on your left-hand side, is the easiest place to stop for refreshment at this point.
  53. Coming out of Sainsbury's, turn right along the edge of the building. At the corner turn right to go along the supermarket's access road. East Grinstead Railway Station is ahead of you, on your left. If by-passing Sainsburys, just keep ahead on up the road to the roundabout, where you turn left towards the railway station just ahead of you and to your right.
© Saturday Walkers Club. All Rights Reserved. No commercial use. No copying. No derivatives. Free with attribution for one time non-commercial use only. www.walkingclub.org.uk/site/license.shtml