Forest Row to Eridge walk

Forest Row to Eridge

Distance: 10.9 miles.
Time without long breaks: 5 1/2 - 6 hours (add time for pub break).

Terrain: Flat throughout. Some rough ground at Harrison's Rocks.
How to get there and back: Train to East Grinstead, then a No 270 or 291 bus to Forest Row. Train back from Eridge (also see below).
Pub breaks: The Anchor and Hay Wagon at Hartfield. The walk ends at Eridge station which has a pub next door, The Huntsman.
More information: Buy a return to Oxted and then two singles from Oxted to East Grinstead and Eridge to Oxted. You may have to change at Oxted on your way back. If doing the walk at weekends or on school holidays, it may be possible to catch a train from Eridge on the Spa Valley Railway and then return from Tunbridge Wells.

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Starting at the village of Forest Row, this walk largely follows the route of an old disused railway line which now forms the Forest Way Country Park (so-called because it runs across the top of Ashdown Forest). There are two detours off the track. The first takes you to Hartfield, which has two pubs (see walk 29 for a route through Ashdown Forest that ends here). The second includes a section of the Wealdway long-distance footpath and follows the River Medway past oast houses along the Kent/East Sussex border. The final part of the walk takes you past a rocky outcrop to the Huntsman pub and Eridge station, a terminus on the Spa Valley Railway, a heritage line that links Eridge to Tunbridge Wells.

Catch a bus from East Grinstead station (Stop A) to Forest Row. Buses take apx 15 mins. Alight at the Brambletye pub in the heart of Forest Row village. Walk down from the bus stop towards the church and then take a left at the mini-roundabout down Hartfield Road. At the junction with Station Road, you will see the village green on your left. Cut across this, passing a skate park, and follow the path between the trees to reach a recreation ground. Head straight ahead to reach Forest Way Country Park. Then turn right to follow the path of the old railway line. The broad track is well-used by walkers and cyclists, but has a lovely peaceful feel.

Turn right and proceed down the road. You will shortly come to the turning for Church Street on your left and the Anchor pub. Further down is another pub - the Hay Wagon – and beyond this, Pooh Corner tea rooms (Hartfield was the home of A. A. Milne, the creator of Winnie-the-Poon - see walk 29). Turn down Church Street. On your left you will come to the church lychgate This has unusually been incorporated into a half-timbered house, dating from the early 1500s (the upper story has been built above the gate). Go through the gate to reach St Mary's Church. Leave the churchyard from the other side to the lychgate, following the path as it passes a school to emerge at the village green.

The path cuts across a field and enters some trees. Go over the stile and proceed along the river. The path climbs a bank and runs alongside a wooden fence. It then continues up some steps before running between hedges. Ignore the stile on the left and go through the gate on the right to join a lane at the hamlet of Summerford. The lane passes a three-cowl oast house on the right and a barn conversion before emerging at a road. Cross over and continue via the metal gate opposite. Follow the path through the field, with the winding river away to your right. The path swings left to go over a bridge across a stream and then crosses another bridge and emerges through the trees at a large field.

Once over the bridge, go across the field and then over another bridge. It becomes a track that runs past Ham Farm on your left. Keep going straight ahead until you reach a road. Cross over onto the grass verge and turn right. Just round the other side of the bend, you will come to a track on the left. Turn down this to rejoin Forest Way. Follow the old railway track, initially through trees and then with views across the Weald opening up to your right. When you reach a road, cross over and continue on the other side. The track swings left to go under a railway bridge and then turns right before emerging at a lane on the edge of Groombridge.

The track emerges from the woods and swings left through bushes, crossing a small wooden bridge and then running alongside the Spa Valley Railway. Passing a sign for Harrison's Rocks on your left, you will soon see the sandstone rocks themselves (and almost certainly some climbers). The landscape here is quite different to the rest of the walk, and has an almost prehistoric feel to it. The rocks were once used as a setting for an episode of Doctor Who. Carry on along the path and go through a wooden gate with the railway tracks now down below to your right.

When the lane meets the main road, turn left to reach Eridge station. Just beyond the station entrance, you will find the Huntsman pub, which is a great place to have an end of walk drink or meal if you have to wait for a train (or even if you don't have to wait for a train). Eridge was formerly a major junction of rural branch lines and is now the terminus station for the Spa Valley Railway that runs to Tunbridge Wells West via Groombridge and High Rocks. It tends to only operate at weekends or on school holidays, so do the walk then if you want to travel on it or see some heritage trains.

Forest Way mostly runs between trees, but there are glimpses of the countryside beyond (look out for alpacas in the fields to your right). After around three miles, and about 150m after a footpath crosses the track via a pair of stiles, you will come to a brick bridge. Just after you pass under the arch, take the path on the left by a bench that heads up the bank to the top of the bridge. Turn left to cross over and enter a field via a wooden gate. Follow the bridleway across the field and carry on straight ahead into the next one by an oak tree (ignoring the turnings on the left). At the end of this field go through a metal gate and then follow the track past a sports ground on your right to emerge at Hartfield village.

Bear left across the green, heading diagonally for the road junction and a small wooden gate. Cross over and head down Edenbridge Road straight ahead. Just after the road swings left, you will see the old Hartfield station straight ahead. Take the path to the left by the sign for the country park. The old railway line continues down a track that comes off on the right. After half a mile, a footpath crosses the track (you will see a wooden bridge on your left). Ignore this, but about 1/4 mile on, turn left on to the Wealdway via a stile by a gate (look out for the WW sign). Proceed down the path, crossing over the River Medway via a bridge.

Still on the Wealdway, follow the path along the edge of the field and then cross over a bridge into another similar large field. You will soon come to a turning for a footpath which goes over a wooden bridge on your left. Ignore this, but instead head diagonally across the field at an angle of about 2 o'clock, aiming for a bridge across the Medway (when we last did this walk the path had been completely ploughed over and was impossible to spot. If you are wary about walking across the crops, the only other option is to head back to the start of the field and then follow the path along the riverbank until you come to the bridge).

Turn left and then follow the road down to a junction, where it bends right. Passing some houses and an oast house, you will see a school straight ahead. Take the path that runs alongside the right-hand side of the school. The path goes over a railway bridge, crossing the Spa Valley Railway, before running between hedges. It emerges via a metal gate at a lane. Turn right. The lane leads to the car park for Harrison's Rocks and Birchden Woods, a popular spot for rock climbers and picnickers. Passing the toilet block, head for the bottom left corner of the car park and go through the gap in the trees on your left to join a broad track.

You will soon a reach a gate which leads to pretty Birchden Farm. You pass some barns on your left and then come to the farmhouse on your right. Turn right to follow the farm drive past a weir to reach a railway crossing. Cross over the tracks (this is both the Oxted to Uckfield line and the Spa Valley Railway). The driveway then goes over a bridge before emerging at Forge Lane. Turn left here and head down the lane, looking out for the occasional car as the road can be quite narrow in places After just over half a mile, the lane crosses over a bridge and then passes an oast house.

‘Dr’ Richard Beeching had been living in East Grinstead for five years when, in 1963, he published his infamous report The Reshaping of British Railways. Beeching was a physics graduate who worked for ICI, and his appointment to undertake a review of the rail network raised eyebrows as he had no related experience. His report resulted in the dismantling of 5,000 miles of track and the closure of over 2,000 stations, achieving his aim of making the railways financially viable. The Three Bridges to Tunbridge Wells line, part of which now forms Forest Way, was one of those recommended for closure, despite the fact it would remove a link to the Brighton mainline. Passenger traffic had declined heavily post-war and only around 25 people a day were making the journey from East Grinstead to Tunbridge Wells. Although it was close to his home, if ever there was a branch that was likely to fall under Beeching’s axe, this was it.

There was no room for sentimentality. As Ian Hislop put it: 'Beeching was a technocrat who wasn't open to argument, to romantic notions of rural England or the warp and weft of the train in our national identity'. But he can still be accused of being short-sighted, ignoring the advantages of having a linked-up network. Perhaps the real ire, though, should be directed at the Tory transport minister Ernest Marples (famous for his blue suits, orange shoes and ‘kinky’ lifestyle that ‘made John Profumo look like a choir boy’). Marples had owned a road construction company responsible for building motorways. So maybe Beeching was just the fall guy, naively doing the bidding of a corrupt minister, but the brutality of the cuts means he is still remembered by some as 'Britain's most hated civil servant'.

The Beeching Report is the closing track on the debut album by post-rock band I Like Trains. Early in their career, the group would dress in old British Rail uniforms and perform the song as an encore, inviting members of the audience on stage to join in the chorus's lament – 'You are taking apart what we've built with our hands and our hearts'. KB

Full-day country walks in SE England and beyond

Forest Row to Eridge

Click on the image below to access the full map on plotaroute

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Full-day country walks in
SE England and beyond