Went on a long walk yesterday starting from Balcombe station intending to take in the viaduct and the reservoir.
I think we got the scale of the map a bit confused as that walk would have probably taken us about 8 hours.
Once we saw the viaduct off in the distance we realised it was quite a way to walk so we re-adjusted our expectations.
But we did still see the viaduct from up on the hills opposite (instead of walking beneath it) and we saw some amazing bit so of countryside – and amazing houses/halls/gardens. The public footpaths take in quite a few of these places but they also lead you down into a dead end at the reservoir. We had no choice but to wander around the banks of the reservoir which was luckily very low due to the lack of rain these last few months.
We passed through lots of pheasant woodlands where there were lots of tubs of pheasant food and obviously lots of pheasants – so the 2 dogs we had with us were in their element – chasing non-stop for about 4 hours. Luckily the pheasants have the power of flight and managed to escape every time. They certainly do leave it till the last minute though before taking off – I guess they have learnt over time that flying is not usually the way to stay alive.
The only photos I took however where of a boat shed that was jutting out into the banks of the reservoir.

Here is a picture of the route we took – And it took about 4 hours – although we did stop for about half an hour to eat our picnic.

Altogether though this was a beautiful area to walk round – and I would love to go again and manage to get closer to the viaduct this time.