REDUCED TRAIN FARES FOR 18 YEAR OLDS
Eighteen-year-olds are now be able to buy half-price train tickets for most rail services. It’s an extension of the 16-17 Saver railcard which currently expires when the holder turns 18.
From 17th August, they will be valid for a full year from the date of purchase. It means 17-year-olds will be able to buy the railcard up until the day before they turn 18, making it valid until the day before they turn 19.
GATWICK AIRPORT EXPANSION
With the government announcement that the second runway will go ahead, the campaign to stop Gatwick extension might appear to be lost. But GACC, the campaign against airport expansion, is not giving up.
They are running a fund raising walk around threatened areas in the vicinity of the airport on Saturday 12th September to raise awareness and money for a further legal challenge. Email gatwickwalk@proton.me for more details.
FLIGHT FREE SCHOOLS
If you are involved in education you may be interested in this campaign to discourage schools from flying on school trips.
INTERRAIL
Instead of using Gatwick you can buy Interrail passes enabling you to travel on most of Europe’s trains. Travelman asked regular Interrailler Kevin Moore for some tips on using the passes. Below is what he wrote:
“Interrailing is not just for youngsters these days. In fact there is a special price for the over 60s. (See Interrail or Rail Europe websites for costs). It’s a great way to travel around Europe by train and enjoy the people and the countryside rather the joyless experience of flying.
We bought two 5 day passes for the over 60s in the sale last year for £220 each. That’s £44 per day. We used them for a three week trip to Greece, (via Paris, Milan, Bari in Italy for ferry to Patras (Greece) also included in the pass) then Bulgaria and Romania and back via Budapest, Munich, Stuttgart, Paris.
In total we paid out £428 each (including the cost of the pass) for our three weeks of travel (excluding cabins), not bad for 22 rail/bus ferry journeys from the Ionian to the Black Sea, the Bulgarian mountains and the Romanian Banat.
From our experience here are…
10 things that make an Interrail pass worth it
- Free trip to London St Pancras and back at peak times (usual cost £39 from Lewes)
- Eurostar for £33 even at short notice
- Most trains (including fast ones) in Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Benelux, Norway, Finland are free of compulsory seat reservations (but do book seats on busy trains for a few pounds). Some ferries are included.
- In Sweden, Greece and Eastern Europe seat reservations are often required but they are very cheap or free
- Fast Western European (France, Spain, Italy) trains do cost around £10-£28 for compulsory seat reservation but can often be made at short notice giving you flexibility to change
- The pass means there is flexibility to change any journey should something crop up
- You can buy a flexible or continuous pass for 4 days and above to run over one or two months
- The pass is a bit cheaper for people under 28 and over 60
- Interrail often have a sale – buy it when you can, you have a year to activate it
- The Interrail app is very easy to use (but paper version also available). Check journey times on the app. It tells you if seat reservations are required (or advisable because train is busy). Buy a pass and load onto app. Save journeys to a trip. Activate the pass and journeys when ready to travel. Save as many journeys on the app as you want. Just activate the ones you want on the day. Buy seat reservations separately.
(But note: point to point rail tickets booked well in advance will usually be cheaper. And point to point tickets in eastern Europe are always cheap, so usually not worth using the pass there. Also cabins and couchettes are extra.)
Finally a positive word about trains. Almost all our trains were on time despite the very hot weather and most had good air conditioning!’
In the autumn Europe is not so hot and the crowds are reduced. A good time for a trip.
THE TRAIN AT LANDPORT
With all the excitement of our very own train derailment by the Landport Estate, it is worth pointing out that while 2 people were seriously injured in this incident, 29,911 were killed or seriously injured in road traffic accidents in 2025, the most recent year for which figures are available.
BETTER SEATS ON THAMESLINK
The government has announced that, from 2027 to 2029, it will replace the seats on Thameslink trains from Brighton to London and beyond. The current seats are famously hard. There is no news as to whether wifi, currently missing from Thameslink trains, will be introduced. Nor is there any announcement about Southern trains, which currently consist of some hard and some soft seats.
CYCLING TO NORMANDY, VIA PORTSMOUTH
Donald Hirsch, who created a Dieppe to Paris cycle route long before the Avenue Verte, has no created some routes from the terminal of the Portsmouth- Caen ferry, which form circles round western Normandy. You can find them here. To get to Portsmouth you could take the train or cycle the Under the Downs route from Lewes.
CAR CLUBS IN LEWES
These are offered by Co-Wheels. Details here. They have upped their offer since Travelman last looked.
PATH OF THE MONTH
[Folkington to Abbots Wood- the old road to Hailsham.]The old road from Folkington to Hailsham.
For a map see here
This is part of an old road from the Folkington area to Hailsham that was added to the rights of way map as a byway following an application to add it made by Travelman. The application was made on the basis that it was once a public highway and that it had never been stopped up.
It forms a useful link between Abbots Wood and the Downs.
The northern section, north of cycle route 2, can be muddy after rainfall, but the remainder is much better. It just needs more people to know about it.
At the four way junction in Abbots Wood the path is clearly signed. Follow the signs to the south until you reach the edge of the wood where there is a gate that you must open. The route is then clear along the side of a field until it becomes a track. The track joins the north side of the A27. There is a pavement (sidewalk) on the north side of the A27 from Wilmington to Polegate. The A27 cycle way goes along the south side of the A27. Cross where convenient.
You cannot go on the track almost opposite to the path because it is now a private entrance to Folkington Manor. But you can go a little further along and go up a road shown in yellow to the map and to the south of the A27. This leads you to the quiet downland hamlet of Folkington.
You pass through the grounds of Wootton Manor. To find out about the fascinating history of this and Folkington Manor see here
If you come across any problems on the road email rightsofway@eastsussex.gov.uk
(in mid 2026 there was no sign where the route meets the A27. It is, nonetheless, a right of way.
BUS ROUTE OF THE MONTH- THE 123 etc.
The 123 bus runs from Lewes to Newhaven via the Ouse Valley villages, including Kingston. Some services continue to Denton.
Monday to Saturday services are run by Compass Bus. Timetable here
Sundays are a bit more confusing. Community Transport Lewes Area departs Newhaven at 9.42 and travels up the valley to Lewes labelled 123. The bus returns at 14.10 from Lewes. In between times it runs a Sunday shuttle around Lewes estates providing a Sunday service around town. Timetable here
But the bulk of the Sunday services are provided by Cuckmere bus, which provides 3 return trips. Timetable here. These services are badged 23. They continue to Chailey, Newick and Sheffield Park as service 21. Through fares are available.
You can use the services to visit Lidl or Sainsburys in Newhaven, have lunch at the Abergevenny Arms in Rodmell, visit Virginia Woolf and Leonard Woolf’s house in Rodmell, or stop off for riverside or downland walks.
To plan a journey by public transport visit http://www.traveline.info ( web site only at present. App planned. Covers all of England, Wales and Scotland, so you can plan from your house to a friend’s house in John O’Groats. This site does not sell tickets.
To find live running times for trains or buses use UK Bus Checker app for Android or Apple.
CYCLING ON FOOTPATHS
Please don’t.
Imagine that you are confronted with a convoy of cars on the A27 cycleway or the Egrets Way (or even just one).
You would rightly be angry and concerned about how to navigate them.
That is how walkers often feel when encountering cyclists on footpaths, particularly if the path is narrow.
Before the Egrets Way was built travelman often got cyclists trying to push their way past him on the narrow embankment top by the river. They were often aggressive when told that this was only a footpath.
It is perhaps not surprising that in rambling communities there is quite a degree of hatred of cyclists. Given how many people hate us already that is a serious problem. We need all the friends we can get, particularly if we want to increase the routes available to cyclists off road.
There are also attempts by cycling organisations to get unsuitable ways opened up to cyclists. Walking and equestrian organisations generally consider a width of 3 metres as a minimum for a safe bridleway. Where a new bridleway is created we usually ask for a width of 5 metres to allow for subsequent overgrowth. I suggest that this should be a minimum to allow everyone to enjoy the route.
Leaving aside public roads, there are three types of public highways, footpaths, bridleways and byways. On Ordnance Survey maps footpaths are shown on as short dashes (in green or red, depending on the map scale). Bridleways are shown with longer dashes. Byways are shown with longer dashes with additional green or red linies coming out of the sides.
Cyclists are not allowed on footpaths
On bridleways cyclists are allowed but must give way to walkers and equestrians. We cannot expect the route to be adapted to our needs (so if reporting a defect, think about how it would affect walkers or equestrians).
On byways of either type we have the same rights as any other user. (a legal electric bike does not count as a motorised vehicle) So you can report problems which affect you as a cyclist.
So please
1) Don’t cycle on public footpaths
2) Do report issues you find with rights of way to rightsofway@eastsussex.gov.uk The more reports they get from different people the more likely they are to make repairs- hence the recent improvement in the bridleway through Abbots Wood.
THIS MONTH’S WALKS
Paths less travelled- Ringmer to Berwick
A traverse of the lonely Laughton levels. Savour the joys of solitude and a surprising variety of scenery. 13.34 Km / 8.29 miles on level ground,
The Lavender Line Walk, Isfield
3.8miles 6.2km. This walk offers a short and level rural ramble through the fields and woods of Isfield and also offers you the chance to visit the Lavender Line, one of the more intimate and uncrowded preserved heritage railways
Mr Van Hoogstaten’s Walk, Uckfield
A 9 mile ramble through the undulating low Weald Countryside from Uckfield, featuring the footpath which was the cause of the famous battle between the Ramblers and Mr Van Hoogstraaten. Various shorter alternatives. You need not worry. There has been no history of any problem with the famous path for many years.
PUBLICISE TRAVEL LOG LEWES
Travelman would really appreciate it if you are able to help spread the word about Travel Log Lewes. You could do this by:
1) copying the newsletter to your friends.
2) Displaying a poster in your window. There is a link to some suitable posters here.
3) Placing an article in the newsletter of any group or organisation to which you belong.
Email travelman@travelloglewes.co.uk and I can send you something tailored to your group.
PLANNING SUPPLEMENT
The latest edition of the government’s national planning framework can now be found here It represents the government’s latest thinking on the planning process. All district or other local plans must confirm to it, or at least not contradict it.
