Worth Way
| Worth Way | |
|---|---|
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| Length | 7 mi (11 km) |
| Location | West Sussex, England |
| Trailheads | Three Bridges - East Grinstead |
| Use | Hiking, cycling, horseriding |
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. Mostly following the trackbed of a disused railway the path is an important wildlife corridor. It is part of the National Cycle Network.
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 programme of 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 (6.4 km) of the line, mostly in the parish of Worth. On 10 July 1979 much of the route was officially reopened as footpath and bridleway.
The reopening came, however, too late for two sections of the route which had already been lost to development by 1979. Firstly, a small commercial and residential development was built over the site of the former Grange Road railway station in Crawley Down and the trackbed leading eastwards from there has been built on. To avoid this, for a distance of approximately 1,000 m, the Worth Way travels over local roads within a housing estate from just east of B2028 Turners Hill Road to Cobb Close where it rejoins the former railway bed alignment. Secondly, at Compasses Corner (formerly Compasses Crossing level crossing) on Wallage Lane the trackbed as far as the M23 has been reused as a landfill site, the original railway alignment being marked by a line of trees. Here the Worth Way continues along Turners Hill Road for 150 m before turning off to join a bridleway which passes through a farm to reach a bridge over the M23 which leads into the urban sprawl of Worth, now a suburb of Crawley, following local roads to rejoin the railway alignment near Church Road.
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