Parametric data
- Route name:
- Brighton4
- Start point:
- Brighton.
- End point:
- Croydon.
- This route on OS maps:
- https://explore.osmaps.com/route/21693519/ ...
- Distance:
- 43.2 miles walked, 37.8 miles flown.
- :
- 16.0 hours.[1]
- Ascent:
- 527 metres.
- Stiles:
- 0 (zero).
- Landmark of note:
- The London Road Viaduct.
- Feasible excursion:
- Through Braypool, perhaps. Don't think it would save much/any time.
- Waypoints:
- Round Hill, Preston, Cliveden Close, Withdean, Westdene, Patcham, Braypool, Pyecombe, Muddleswood, Albourne, Sayers Common, Bolney, Warninglid, Handcross, Pease Pottage, Tilgate, Crawley, Three Bridges, Manor Royal, Tinsley Green, Gatwick, Horley, The Acres, Salfords, Earlswood, Redhill, Merstham, Hooley, Coulsdon, Purley.
- Refreshments:
- Cuppa at Nymans garden, Handcross. 'Lunch' from: Costa Horley. Fuel consumption for the whole 43 miles: 1 slice of sponge cake. I only took 0.5 litres of water because I imagined that there would be somewhere convenient to buy more along the way. I was dry by Pease Pottage 🥵
Weather:-
13°C,[2] 🌤️
For a 06:10 start, but it has been very cool of late. Should
do nicely.
-
Avoiding roads: -
Proper footway almost the whole route.
-
Footpath construction: -
A23 tarmac all the way.
-
Footpath condition: -
I begin to think that neglect of the stretch through Bolney
is permanent.
-
Vistas: -
After Sayers Common you can see ahead to the climb up to
Handcross, six miles ahead. Whether you appreciate that
prospect is another matter.
Blackberries:-
Too soon in summer for any pickings now. You don't have time
to stop, anyway.[3]
Route map.
Walk notes.
Of course, it doesn't matter much where you live south of The River these days. Under the New London Plan, they're going to lump all those areas together ... they're going to call them Brighton.
Michael Flanders.
Until now, my previous walk completed in a single day was no longer than 34 miles. This pushes that forward to 43 miles. I don't exclude the possibility of going further, but what I can achieve in daylight at 2.8 MPH is limited. It is over fifty years since I had the puff to run anywhere. An 05:00 departure is necessitated.
For the first time, I take note of the 'Blue Plaques' that you notice behind me inside the station. Both names are ones I encountered during previous walks. The work of John Saxby I saw commemorated on my first Brighton walk. Mocatta Mews is a minor street 500 metres from my home in Redhill. Had no idea of the architectural connection.
The flooded section at Pyecombe that proved such a pain on my previous Brighton expedition is dry today. This seems due to work by the Council to dig out the ditch alongside.[4]
On the long section through Bolney, I observe another example of the sturdy iron fence-work that speaks of a ¢19 estate boundary associated with an owner greatly pleased to let you know that he had a couple of sovereigns to rub together. When I check the map, this one turns out to be Wykehurst Place. Almost inevitably, this was the work of a banker: Henry Huth. However, its history did not end with the ¢19.
The issues I had a month ago with the overgrown stretch of path north of the filling station at Bolney are now utterly unconquerable. Your only option is to walk in the road. Vehicle movements along here are infrequent, but are mainly goods vehicles which use this derelict bit of A23 as a lorry park and handy fly tipping point. I could tolerate it more easily if the weeds were like the ones around Pyecombe earlier,[5] but these are just brambles and common hogweed.
I stop at one of the many seats in Redhill town centre to complete a second change of socks. My apologies to any visitor to the Harlequin Theatre whose evening is spoilt by the sight of two somewhat knackered trotters. Sainsburys is about the last opportunity to 'freshen up' before Croydon. Continuing northwards, this stone claims to be in the 'Parish of Reigate'.[6] The plastic litter is sufficient evidence to place it in Redhill (opposite Ringwood Avenue). Either way, though, it suggests a future stroll up from the south coast 🤔
I arrive at this point in Merstham at 7 pm exactly. My Brighton2 walk required 13 hours and 40 minutes to reach the same location, so I am ahead of schedule today. A finish before dark is not on, though. My average speed is decidedly sub-sonic because walking through town is just one wait after another for lights to change crossing side roads 🥱
I make my only navigational blunder on the approach to Hooley. I cross to the west side of the A23 250 metres too early and soon find myself without a footway. The OS gets it wrong, too, but the fault is mine because I've walked here enough times to know better. Look, it's been a long day.
So, not too long after nightfall, I reach my intended destination: The London Borough of Culture.[7] My day has been a reasonable one because I complete the walk on the same day I left Brighton, the legs are still working, the previously dodgy left knee has been no trouble, and the feet, in the main, are still good. The toes on both feet, however, are wrecked. Thinks: time for bigger boots?
