8 turned up for today's walk in sunny and humid weather with autumnal colours carpeting the ground and saturated fields pooling in places to cover boots. There were some lovely views along the way and despite the soft ground the mud factor was not that bad. The pre-lunch stretch felt long and 3 of the group felt they'd had enough exercise by the time they reached the pub and caught a bus to Crowborough . The pub staff were very accommodating and allowed us to eat our sandwiches in their garden which 7 of us did while the 8th dined inside. The bus to Crowborough turned out to be a bad option as it did not go to the station and involved a long walk along a busy road to get there. We three caught the 15.44 train back from Crowborough. The 5 completists carried on to Buxton and I'm sure their walk was a lot pleasanter than ours.

Change of train details. There is no direct train to Buxted. Take the 9.50 train from Victoria to Oxted arriving 10.31 and change to the 9.36 train to Buxted arriving11.16.

If you want to travel from London Bridge you will need to take the 9.40 train to East Croydon and change there for the 10.10 train to Oxted, changing again for the above 10.36 to Buxted

#7 plus one well behaved canine. # mix sun and cloud with spot of rain . This is a very quiet rural part of East Sussex, magnificent trees, green fields, sheep, a few horses and posh houses with oast towers attached. The Crow and Gate was ominously uncrowded and was not serving food, a few bought a drink and the rest found a discrete table in the large garden to eat their packed lunches. Not that anyone seemed to notice, trying to order a few coffees required calling out, banging on the bar and eventually phoning to summon the bar maid. Somehow the locals seemed to know there would be no food as very few other customers appeared. Fortunately most of the usual diners had emergency rations and overall it was a very enjoyable day out in a very beautiful area. Thanks to Wanderer for moving to Thursday.

4 off the train and one car driver with dog set off from Buxted, catching up with two earlier starters during the morning making 7 on a sunny occasionally cloudy day which felt warm while walking but cool when we stopped. Lots of woods strewn with shriveled leaves, the trees still holding onto most of their still green leaves. Only the oak leaves seemed to be crumpling into autumnal shades. There were some nice views from higher ground and some attractively restored houses with landscaped gardens. Legs were stretched by high stiles missing top or bottom steps. The lunch pub was not serving food and was unattended at one point but 3 stopped there for coffee while 4 carried in after eating their sandwiches. 5 had time for a drink in the Buxted inn before 4 caught the 16.37 bank to London.

Three of us took the alternative route at the end and got slightly lost. We left one chap on a hillside to fly his drone that he apparently carried with him in his rucksack. Two of us found our way back to Buxted with plenty of time for refreshments. Sarah

15 off the train on a delightful sunny day. Plenty of mud. Good service at lunch & not crowded despite the website saying full. The afternoon has the best views & around 8 of us got the 1637 with 5 minutes to spare, without rushing.

Thank you for scheduling, Walker.

Not me: Brian. He chose the walk and provided all the info.

I'm starting two hours earlier to do some birdwatching.

I hope to meet you all en route. just

I'm starting two hours earlier to do some birdwatching.

I hope to meet you all en route.

3 at the station met 16 off the train and set off in socially distanced groups under warm blue sunny skies with occasional cloud across a very pretty part of East Sussex where farmers were busy harvesting hay and barley ("that's the thing about summer" someone commented "it smells so good.")

The lunchtime pub, the Crow and Gate, was reached shortly after 1pm, and 6 walkers had reserved a table - reports on food awaited. Sadly, those hoping for just a drink were turned away as the pub was "at capacity." The afternoon produced a mixture of fine panoramas and meanders through sun-dappled woodland to arrive back at Buxted in time for a drink outside the Buxted Inn after which some went off to explore the White Hart. A very pleasant day's walk in excellent company.

19. (The system does not add up all the n= numbers, Brian: it just takes the highest one.)

As one of the lucky diners I can confirm that the food was Gastro excellent as was the service. Despite the pub and garden being empty with many spare tables it appears that if you arrive late for your booking on the terrace and the legal maximum of diners/drinkers has been reached you will be denied boarding even for a drink as bar service is banned. Sandwich eaters please note for this and future bookings at other venues so make sure you bring plenty of water and a flask of coffee/tea to last the day! We actually managed 7 dining at 2 tables and were glad not to be turned away. Many thanks to Brian for the table reservation as it was his pod who arrived too late even for a drink so I understand.

16 off the appointed train with a n= 17 th catching up at lunch time. A warm sunny sometimes cloudy day. Not a lot in flower - some pink stuff (campion) some white stuff (hawthorn, if I remember right) and a few orchids in the woodland. Plenty of stiles for any trainee ballet dancers, including one example made out of string (sadly, though, my ballet dancing days are over). Navigation through the golf course was a challenge for some (but not an insurmountable one). The Crow and Gate has a “we welcome muddy paws and boots” sign outside and seemed to please at lunch time. Back in Buxted, some sat out by the Buxted Inn for a refreshing blast of car-fumes to clear all that horrible fresh air out of their lungs. One walker got a rather nice looking dessert (sadly, only one spoon). Others went to the White Hart where there was a garden to sit in. There, they were told of a farm tea-shop not 15 minutes walk away that also does “pick your own fruit”. Some speculated that maybe the walk could be diverted to go past it. I said they’d have to talk to the walk’s author about that, but I will put details of Oast Farm on the comments page.

Please note the vegan menu at lunch pub! The Lunch Monitor .

14 walkers off the train, 1 other an hour behind due to a cancelled train connection. The weather was dry if overcast with a breeze and warm . Around lunch the sun broke through for a short while even. Mud there was some - in the woods, and quite a bit around some field gates in the pastures. Views were surprisingly clear despite the clouded sky, out to the South Downs etc. The pub lunch (one walker had helpfully booked a table) was very pleasant, the pub being part of the Vintage Inns group, who are usually reliably efficient and with quality food. This one didn't disappoint. 1 walker took a bus from the pub after some equipment failure, 9 others got to Buxted with time on hand for a stop at The Buxted Inn before the 16.37. Everyone else probably was on the 17.37.

Woodpeckers were heard, carpets of wild garlic with wood anemones dotted between them dominated the very last wood, but almost all other woods had impressive carpets of bluebells, alas w/o blue bells yet. 15

The relaxed walking group of 4 enjoyed tea and homemade fudge at the excellent pub next to the station and caught the later train. We hope that F made it home OK on the bus after the sole of her trainers disengaged.

This is becoming an increasingly common problem with poor glue adhesion and rubber soles falling apart from footwear components sourced from the far East. I understand that the Clarkes shoe group have offered to replace shoes bought in their stores however old they are!! Anyone else with similar experiences?

is anyone doing this walk? it sounds less strenuous than the other options !

I am aiming to do this walk and judging on recent numbers there are likely to be 15 or so others out

Stephen

In tghe light of the weather I may decide not to go out after all but I daresay there will be some die hards

Stephen

12 off of the train though there could have been a hell of a lot more as reportedly loads ( well maybe 2 ) went to the wrong platform at East Grinstead.

The weather was snowy and grey and misty but not too cold . One walker was in a T-shirt in the afternoon.

The going was as slippery as a Turkish wrestler struggling with a large angry eel with extra slipperyness as one of the walkers ( Turkish ) put it whilst it was as muddy as ( extended simile wanted please - did Blackadder ever do one about mud ? ). It was noted that the walk poster was absent - it would seem that he had far more sense than us. All of the walkers were regulars.

The large pub, part of the Vintage chain, was very friendly and efficient and the food selection was excellent Myself and 2 others of the 8 lunchers had veggie burgers which were very nice, unlike the usual ones these were quite moist having courgette and carrot in them as well as a fair portion of beans / pulses. As we left the barman / manager gave one of the women a card and said that if we got stuck in the awful weather he would come out and rescue us which was very kind of him though it was noted that the men in the group were just asked to fill out an online survey to report how good he had been at hosting us - hmmmm.

Unfortunately there were no cabs available at the pub so we all had to do the walk after the large lunch, even the slacker that didn’t want to.

In the afternoon the scenery was rather Narniaish with a magical misty overtone but the snow stopped shortly after we had left the pub and then gradually disappeared from underfoot and in the end the wind died down apart from occasional noisy gusts.

6 hours after we had started out on this anti-peregrination we arrived back at where we had all started with half the crew popping into the pub by the station for a one hour sojourn.

Warm train and a one hour snooze back to London Bridge - happy

P Harty

The walk poster did NOT have more sense than you: he was merely on another walk (Berwick to Seaford), being bound by ties of guest-friendship to Stargazer - and also wanting to give that walk a check. I was in fact one of the midweek walkers who did Buxted recently, when it was equally bleak - misty and cold, though I don't remember wrestling with any Turkish eels. Nice cosy pub, though, innit?

We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet, For auld lang syne.....looking forward to a wee dram and other Scottish specialties on a Burns Day outing....

19 on this walk including one late starter. Since there was a Scottish theme to the day it was perhaps appropriate that the weather was misty , only lifting to low cloud near the end of the walk. So no views but also less mud than there might have been due to the ground remaining frozen below the surface. Navigation was at time more testing in the mist but there were some magical effect in the woods.

The Cow and Gate (didn't that used to be a brand of baby milk?) proved to be a top hole pub: large, cosy, quick to take orders and swift to serve them. In the afternoon I saw my first bluebell plant shoot, a reminder of happy times to come.

At the end of the walk we gathered in the pub to recite some Burns poetry - thanks to Stargazer for bringing the book. A variety of Scottish acccents were tried, some quite authentic-sounding. One walker also bravely turned out in a kilt.

On the train home Stargazer produced a jam jar of an alarming-coloured liquid that turned out to be a tasty wee dram. We also had some wine and there was even some singing, to the bemusement (or - who knows? - delight) of weary commuters nearby.

21 actually, we thought. marcus, pete and I counted 19 in our corner of the pub, and there were two others sat in another area, and that w/o at least a handful of Wednesday regulars... if this becomes a trend, time for two mid-week walks?

Please. Not two mid-week walks. Choice is great at the weekend, but let's not get silly on Wednesdays. 20 or so is a great number and few pubs are likely to be swamped, surely? Having that number simply means that we are more likely to walk in shifting sub-groups: the SWC way.