Haywards Heath X
Like Haywards Heath, Balcombe gained fame through the London-Brighton railway which required a viaduct to cross the River Ouse Valley. The viaduct, completed 1841 in Italianate style, has 11 million bricks which were carried by barge along the Ouse from Scaynes Hill. Dan Foden and I enjoyed our visit which took in the dizzying sequence of support arches. What a surprise - a railway carriage stranded in the woods! It is at West Grinstead on the Downs Link, a long distance path open to walkers, horse riders and cyclists following an old railway line that closed in the 1960's. The path links the North Downs Way in Surrey to the South Downs Way north of Shoreham-by-sea. We found it a great place to walk just 20min drive from Haywards Heath to the free car park on the A272 past Cowfold.