Worth Way (Sussex)
A 7-mile path in West Sussex, the Worth Way follows a disused railway line from Crawley to East Grinstead. With map, statistics, and GPX route file.
Statistics and Files
Grid Ref: TQ 287 370
Distance: 7 miles (11 km)
Time: 3–4 hours
Duration: 1 day
Ordnance Survey Explorer Maps (1:25,000):
OL34 Crawley and Horsham
135 Ashdown Forest, Royal Tunbridge Wells, East Grinstead, Haywards Heath and Crowborough
Summary
The Worth Way is a 7-mile (11 km) footpath and bridleway linking the West Sussex towns of Crawley and East Grinstead via the village of Crawley Down. It serves as an important wildlife corridor. The Worth Way follows for much of its route part of the course of a dismantled railway—the Three Bridges to Tunbridge Wells Central Line—which opened in 1855 and closed in 1967 as a result of the closures put forward by East Grinstead resident and British Transport Commission Chairman, Richard Beeching.
By 1977, West Sussex County Council had purchased almost four miles of the line, mostly in the parish of Worth, and on 10 July 1979 much of the route was officially reopened as a footpath and bridleway. The reopening came too late for two sections of the route lost to development: a small commercial and residential development over the former Grange Road railway station in Crawley Down, and a reused landfill site near Compasses Corner. Minor diversions also occur near Rowfant railway station. (Source: Wikipedia)