Crawley Down
It might be apocalyptically dry but the butterflies are still ripe for counting. So it was that I took another route, in and away from a couple of survey areas, on the William Robinson Estate. Guided in my enforced meditation, I was forced to convene with patch of thistles going to seed and to be guided only by the flutterings of winged insects. My return to Balcombe was a little more conventional, along the quiet lanes and over the sandstone of the High Weald Landscape.
Crawley Down can be made with a train to Three Bridges and then a 272 bus eastward. Return is on the same train line but further south.
From the war memorial go immediately south on Station Road and then on to Burleigh Lane. This doubles as the Sussex Border Path. At Burleigh House Farm, take the path to the left that continues. At the fork in the footpaths, bear right and at the next marked junction, turn left and follow this edge of the field, as directed, beyond a small pond and on to Fen Mill Place. Here was the first mill on the Medway and Fen Place was once home to an iron master and later, a cornmill. In truth, the other footpath is probably more attractive as it walks between the lakes. However, persist and bear right to cross the Medway on the footbridge. Everything was quite dry. At the edge of the field, there is a permissive path that takes you over it, as an alternative to the footpath. Check this out and rejoin the path going south.
Join the Turner Hill Road and take the footpath off to the right to Tickeridge Farm. Go to the right of the barns and over Vowels Lane. Join the bridleway opposite and you are now within the William Robinson Estate. A few paths are marked for your walking pleasure. Here I wandered Minepit Wood and the fields near the Lower Lake. You can do as I did but I hope you have snacks. I ate my satsumas in the shade.
Otherwise, take the footpath marked with the red arrows and High Weald Landscape Trail. This joins the green path, crosses Vowels Gill and emerges at a road where you turn right. This is the blue route past Home Farm. Shimmy left beyond Gravetye Manor and take the path to the far side of the Lower Lake. Continue south on the High Weald Landscape Trail but leave it abruptly on the footpath on the right. You will walk across a field overlooking the Manor.
Ignore the first footpath off to the left but take the next through to Duckyls Farm, a residential care home for adults with learning needs. Should you follow the former path, you will find a sandy outcrop of stone. Instead, press the button to exit the farm gate onto the road. Annoyingly, I'd thought you could take the drive to Stonelands but you can't. Walk the mildly dodgy Selsfield Road south and then take the next footpath you can on the right. Follow the track, signs and the field edge to cross the main drive and continue round to a narrow hedge-lined footpath. Keep on until you reach Ardingly Road.
Turn right and then left at Old House Lodge. It's sleepy lane walking time. Go between some ponds and past a redundant gateway to stay with the footpath. Curious to know if this is related to an 'old house'. This area was once the industrial heart of the local iron industry and great deal more watery to cater for the furnaces. Just keep ambling west and then as it veers south. You'll do the Strudgates, Great and Little as the route follows a ridge and through the Paddockhurst Estate.
At Paddockhurst Lane go south and then take Boundary Lane on the right. The footpath takes you through the Warren and forks left on the edge. At the next fork, enter Walk Wood and use the boardwalk to traverse the wet wood and into Balcombe. The field beyond the wood has some fine mature trees looking down towards Balcombe Lake. It can get very muddy on the corner and I see an oak had fallen. Go through the gate along the field edge, at the far corner and onto the Haywards Heath Road. At the junction, I visited the Half Moon Inn for refreshment. The bar lady was denying the terrible heat and bemoaning the negativity but having walked through it, my over all feeling was of how miserably dry and spent everything is, so early in the year.
After, join the Broadway and Bramble Hill to cross London Road and go south. At the station and bus stop, you can step down to the platform for your return.
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