Thursday 5th June 2014

Turner's Hill Road B2110: My Dream Drive

A Sussex route for a quiet morning but well worth an early alarm call

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Name: Matt Bird
Where: Turner's Hill B2110, East Sussex
Car used: Alpina D3 Bi-turbo

Empty and scenic? Result!

The route
"Once out of East Grinstead (follow signs for the train station and then take the B2210 to the B2110) the first roundabout on the Turner's Hill Road will point you towards, no surprise, Turner's Hill. At Turner's Hill keep left to stay on the B2110, then when it meets the B2036 don't forget the right turn! It's then a case of following it across the Sussex countryside, through and around such delightfully named areas as Cinderbank Copse, Carroty Wood and Darkalley Gill. It then joins the A281 which can take you a long way further south or back up towards the M25."

Why it's a dream drive:
"It's a beautiful area of the world to drive for a start. Low hedgerows and open plains stretch out into the distance and help with sight lines at points but then other areas are quite deeply wooded, branches overhanging like the Trial Mountain circuit on Gran Turismo. OK, not quite that dramatic but it's still picturesque.

Well if you want a challenge...

"As the road has to negotiate fairly dense woodland in places, it snakes and twists to find the easiest path through and places a real priority on being precise with the car. It exaggerates the sense of freedom on the more open sections too as the rhythm becomes more relaxed.

"I actually drove a few of the other roads close to the B2110 in devising the route and found it similar elsewhere, meaning a fairly short drive can be extended much further in this small cluster of B-roads. The A281 provides a nice contrast at the end, less intense but of course also more prone to traffic."

Highlights and lowlights:
"The first section up to the B2036 is pretty special, combining a tighter woodland part with a more open run at Worth Abbey.

"There's a nice triangle that can be made later on too. Take a left at Handcross for the B2114 towards Staplefield and that will eventually run to a junction at Slough Green for the B2115. A right there will take back to the main route or the B2114 continues for a little longer. As I said, there was a fair bit of investigation done early in the morning!

Stint on the A281 a little less frantic

"The route back from any Dream Drive is always likely to be more tedious but for the Tuner's Hill Road it's especially poor because for many it will involve the A24 or M23 back towards the M25. Not exactly inspirational but probably worth it given the quality of the B-road!"

Sights, stop-offs and diversions:
"Enjoying the B2110 in the early hours of a Bank Holiday meant little time for stops. However, the sheer number of woods, forests and reservoirs proffer plenty of tourist opportunities if you fancy. The route is near to Wakehurst Place, Ardingly Reservoir and Nymans is on the B2114.

Furthermore though they were very sleepy so early in the morning, each of the small villages along the route appeared typically British; that's meant as a good thing! Small cafes, boutiques and pubs lined the high streets and would surely make for a lovely way to wile away an afternoon."

Follow the route here.

 

 

 

[BigI]

Sounds ok, but I have to say you chose to stop in some pretty daft places for the sake of a photo.

[cookie1600]

Good call but watch it in the Winter months as its prone to icing in places and I've seen a couple come a cropper where you are least expecting it.

[JamesHayward]

I do portions of this route every weekend. Good shout Matt, I agree!

[BigBen]

The Handcross to Balcombe was one of my favourite roads when I lived in Crawley, great fun in my mum's 1.3 Metro.

The later Balcombe road to East Grinstead section made up part of my parcel delivery route when I had a summer job for a couriers, really enjoyable even in a Sherpa van

Ben

[Turbobanana]

Looks lovely but isn't it, well, a bit close to home? Assuming that in your dreams, you can do anything you like (steady on...), wouldn't you rather go somewhere more exotic?

[BrightonEd]

Good call on these roads - I know them well - some cracking roads in Sussex, the Devil's dyke road is fun, as are parts of the A272,(as long as you get up early enough to avoid the traffic) - and watch out for bikers coming at you on the wrong side of the road!

[AlpinaB5s]

Nice route..............what about the car? How did it perform?

[WhyOne]

Yep, nice roads but as you suggest, best enjoyed early in the morning.

The Turners Hill crossroads - Handcross section is on my regular route (from West Hoathly) down to Goodwood....which in itself is a great drive, especially at 6am, with something like the Festival of Speed to look forward to upon arrival.

If you pass a funny old blue Honda anytime, give me a flash!

Edited by WhyOne on Thursday 5th June 12:45

[Coddy85]

I work just off from these roads. Good call, even the A22 can be a nice drive, just not at rush hour! Also if you come out of Lingfield and head towards Hartfield and the forest, that's a great road to drive in the summer.

[The Leaper]

I suggest cutting across country from the large roundabout at the southern end of Capel and head for Faygate via Rusper: far better than the A24 etc. Used this stretch of road regularly for 15 years.

R.

[S. Gonzales Esq.]

BigI said:

Sounds ok, but I have to say you chose to stop in some pretty daft places for the sake of a photo.

I'm glad it's not just me - that first picture makes my teeth itch.

[EricE]

Is there a way to import Google Maps routes into Tomtom for iOS?

[cookie1600]

http://youtu.be/iJ-uDdV9DZY

[nismo48]

An awesome drive..
Especially in wet weather..overhanging trees and shade hiding slippery tarmac..
Good fun

[Erdy]

Good roads, used to love a blast from grinstead to the scrappers at pease pottage.

May have joined the ranks of people who stuffed it in the scenery opposite the ww2 museam road

[kimducati]

Agree there are some nice bits along this route but beware the Sussex pothole, which seems to still be proliferating on local roads.
Also please be careful on the stretch past Worth Abbey - there's a school there and a student was knocked down and killed there not so long ago, crossing the road to get to the playing field on t'other side.

Kim

[Jujuuk68]

Also, if you start from A24, and end up in East Grinstead, then turn off onto the A264 and head towards Tunbridge wells - thats a great road too - especially on a motorbike! Some fast straights, some lovely sharpish bends, crests and downhills, through tunnels of trees and occasional views over rolling farmland. Follow all the way to Penshurst for maximum enjoyment.

[zeduffman]

Jujuuk68 said:

Also, if you start from A24, and end up in East Grinstead, then turn off onto the A264 and head towards Tunbridge wells - thats a great road too - especially on a motorbike! Some fast straights, some lovely sharpish bends, crests and downhills, through tunnels of trees and occasional views over rolling farmland. Follow all the way to Penshurst for maximum enjoyment.

I followed that route for a few weeks when I was a student. Awesome stretch of road that, even in a 1.2 Vauxhall Corsa.

[rogerhudson]

The route London - South coast via the easterly route by East Grinstead is so much nicer than the A(+M)23, lots of roads like this.

[Theallotmentman]

Geez, really? I drive this every day and say you need to venture out further. I know your car as I see it daily so respect to you but to be honest I can't think of a worse route! Terrible, absolutely terrible feature!

I say try the A82 from Glasgow to Onich, now that's a dream road through amazing scenery and perfect tarmc with beautiful winding sections.

Edited by Theallotmentman on Thursday 5th June 22:02