Horsted Keynes and the Bluebell Railway

From the station car park the walk follows Station Approach to the road and takes the path past Great Oddynes farm, west across the fields and over the Bluebell Railway by a bridge. It then turns south and south-east by field paths and a lane to come into Horsted Keynes from the south, by Bonfire Lane and the green. Church Lane leads to St Giles's church, where Harold Macmillan is buried, and a path drops past the lakes below the church and through woodland back to the road near the station.

It is 6.9 km with 114 m of ascent; allow about 2 hours. The grade is Easy: gentle Wealden country with no real hills.

This is clay country: wear boots in the wetter seasons, and expect mud in the farmyard and on the woodland paths. There are stiles. More than a third of the walk is on lanes and village roads, one of them over a narrow bridge, so watch for traffic.

Parking at the station is free. Horsted Keynes is a station on the Bluebell Railway, a steam line between Sheffield Park and East Grinstead; the nearest main-line station is Haywards Heath, about 6 km away. The Crown is in the village, about two-thirds of the way round.

Route drawn by Global Adventurer along OpenStreetMap paths (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), with figures worked out from it. Check the forecast and the ground on the day: paths change.