A great 16 miles day walk, interesting and with plenty of places to stop for lunch
moderate
Distance 25.6 km
If you want to go out for a whole day, journey through varied and interesting countryside, choose from an excellent selection of lunch stops, why not walk from Hayward's Heath to Lewes. When I did it with a couple of mates, it was early June and the Sussex countryside, intensely green, was really showing off.
The walk as described is 16 miles long and to avoid a walk through the suburbs of Hayward's Heath, we got a taxi from the station to the eastern outskirts of the town. It's a well defined walk initially heading east along the High Weald Landscape Trail before turning south along the South Weald Way.
The walk is flat and if the weather is good, best completed slowly. There are plenty of plenty of shady places to rest and an abundance of pubs to visit. If you like traditional pies than you have to stop at the bakery in Newick (4) complete with a huge and ancient oven. Alternatively, for a really well-kept pint of Harvey's bitter, visit the Anchor Inn (8) which is beautifully located in the middle of nowhere on the banks of the Ouse.
Riverside walks across water meadows (3) and (7) full of cattle enjoying the sun is my lasting impression, but the walk has other, attention grabbing features. For the rail buff it provides a chance to visit the southern terminal of the Bluebell line and have a look at Sheffield Park Station (2) but there is also an old canal (7) near Isfield where the weirs are currently being restored and a whole series of pill boxes dating back to the 2nd World War.
Finally of course the route has a perfect destination, Lewes. It's very accessible, with trains back to London and Brighton, but with a pub as good as the splendid Gardener's Arms why would anyone want to rush.
The walk as described is 16 miles long and to avoid a walk through the suburbs of Hayward's Heath, we got a taxi from the station to the eastern outskirts of the town. It's a well defined walk initially heading east along the High Weald Landscape Trail before turning south along the South Weald Way.
The walk is flat and if the weather is good, best completed slowly. There are plenty of plenty of shady places to rest and an abundance of pubs to visit. If you like traditional pies than you have to stop at the bakery in Newick (4) complete with a huge and ancient oven. Alternatively, for a really well-kept pint of Harvey's bitter, visit the Anchor Inn (8) which is beautifully located in the middle of nowhere on the banks of the Ouse.
Riverside walks across water meadows (3) and (7) full of cattle enjoying the sun is my lasting impression, but the walk has other, attention grabbing features. For the rail buff it provides a chance to visit the southern terminal of the Bluebell line and have a look at Sheffield Park Station (2) but there is also an old canal (7) near Isfield where the weirs are currently being restored and a whole series of pill boxes dating back to the 2nd World War.
Finally of course the route has a perfect destination, Lewes. It's very accessible, with trains back to London and Brighton, but with a pub as good as the splendid Gardener's Arms why would anyone want to rush.
Difficulty
moderate
Technique
Stamina
Highest point
78 m
Lowest point
1 m
Track types
Show elevation profileStart
Coordinates:
OS Grid
TQ 35486 24595
DD
51.004805, -0.070312
DMS
51°00'17.3"N 0°04'13.1"W
UTM
30U 705535 5654444
w3w
///introduce.honey.mural
Coordinates
OS Grid
TQ 35486 24595
DD
51.004805, -0.070312
DMS
51°00'17.3"N 0°04'13.1"W
UTM
30U 705535 5654444
w3w
///introduce.honey.mural
Arrival by train, car, foot or bike
Reviews
Difficulty
moderate
Distance
25.6 km
Duration
6:19 h
Ascent
111 m
Descent
144 m
Highest point
78 m
Lowest point
1 m
Weather at the route's trailhead
Statistics
2D
3D
Maps and trails
- Waypoints
- Waypoints
Distance
km
Duration
: h
Ascent
m
Descent
m
Highest point
m
Lowest point
m
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