- Jul 5, 2013
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At @Wombles suggestion (or coercion) I am looking to organise a rally down South. Where better than next to one of the stations on the Bluebell line, which runs for 11 miles through the beautiful and peaceful Sussex countryside. The Bluebell line was one of the first preserved heritage lines in the country when it opened in 1960. It has one of the largest collections of working steam locomotives and carriages in the country.
We will be staying next to Hortsed Keynes station which has been restored to the 1920s Southern Railway period. The station is surrounded by beautiful countryside with lots of walks and cycles rides if you are feeling active. By bike you can visit the National Trust's Wakefield Place or Standen, the town of Haywards Heath and the Ashdown Forest AONB, which used to be a royal hunting ground, like the New Forest. For those of you who are less active a 10 or 15 minute walk will get you into the pretty village of Horsted Keynes with its lovely village green overlooked by a couple of pubs.
From Horsted Keynes station you can catch a steam train South to Sheffield Park station, which is a short walk away from the National Trust's Sheffield Park House and Gardens. Sheffield Park Station is restored to the Victorian period of the London Brighton and South Coast Railway. You can also catch a steam train North up to East Grinstead station, from where you can, if you want, catch a (electric I am afraid) train all the way up to London (London Bridge or London Victoria). East Grinstead itself is a nice little town complete with a Sainsburys (next to the station), an Aldi, and a Waitrose (for you Hymer and Carthago owners
). It also has a Wetherspoons as well as lots of other cafes, pubs and restaurants and some nice shops There are 7 trains each way on the Saturday and 6 on the Sunday.
There will be room for at least 30 or 40 units on a slightly sloping field. We may be able get a few more in, but parts of the field slope a bit too much I suspect. Costs are likely to be about £20 per person for the whole meet (not per night), and that will include unlimited hop on and hop off use of the Bluebell line railway all day Saturday and Sunday. That is a good price considering the unlimited train fare alone costs £19 per person per day before any camping costs!
In addition, we may also be able to have a tour of the wagon works on the Saturday, but I am not sure if that will be at an extra charge.
At the moment I am just canvassing interest for this, which will probably be in June or July 2019. I am hoping to fix a date that does not clash with any of the shows. Arrive Friday afternoon and leave Monday morning. Facilities will be clean water and toilet waste dump, plus you can use the toilets when the station is open. No showers or EHUs are available I am afraid.
Can you please let me know if you are interested using this thread This will not be an official list, but, if there is enough interest, I will post a further thread in the Autumn/Winter giving more details including firm dates and costs and starting an official list. Before doing that I will PM everybody who has expressed an interest here to warn them, so they can be first in the queue if they are still interested.
We will be staying next to Hortsed Keynes station which has been restored to the 1920s Southern Railway period. The station is surrounded by beautiful countryside with lots of walks and cycles rides if you are feeling active. By bike you can visit the National Trust's Wakefield Place or Standen, the town of Haywards Heath and the Ashdown Forest AONB, which used to be a royal hunting ground, like the New Forest. For those of you who are less active a 10 or 15 minute walk will get you into the pretty village of Horsted Keynes with its lovely village green overlooked by a couple of pubs.
From Horsted Keynes station you can catch a steam train South to Sheffield Park station, which is a short walk away from the National Trust's Sheffield Park House and Gardens. Sheffield Park Station is restored to the Victorian period of the London Brighton and South Coast Railway. You can also catch a steam train North up to East Grinstead station, from where you can, if you want, catch a (electric I am afraid) train all the way up to London (London Bridge or London Victoria). East Grinstead itself is a nice little town complete with a Sainsburys (next to the station), an Aldi, and a Waitrose (for you Hymer and Carthago owners
). It also has a Wetherspoons as well as lots of other cafes, pubs and restaurants and some nice shops There are 7 trains each way on the Saturday and 6 on the Sunday. There will be room for at least 30 or 40 units on a slightly sloping field. We may be able get a few more in, but parts of the field slope a bit too much I suspect. Costs are likely to be about £20 per person for the whole meet (not per night), and that will include unlimited hop on and hop off use of the Bluebell line railway all day Saturday and Sunday. That is a good price considering the unlimited train fare alone costs £19 per person per day before any camping costs!
In addition, we may also be able to have a tour of the wagon works on the Saturday, but I am not sure if that will be at an extra charge.
At the moment I am just canvassing interest for this, which will probably be in June or July 2019. I am hoping to fix a date that does not clash with any of the shows. Arrive Friday afternoon and leave Monday morning. Facilities will be clean water and toilet waste dump, plus you can use the toilets when the station is open. No showers or EHUs are available I am afraid.
Can you please let me know if you are interested using this thread This will not be an official list, but, if there is enough interest, I will post a further thread in the Autumn/Winter giving more details including firm dates and costs and starting an official list. Before doing that I will PM everybody who has expressed an interest here to warn them, so they can be first in the queue if they are still interested.
