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About Haywards Heath
Haywards Heath is situated in the centre of the Mid Sussex District in the County of West Sussex, with the green sweeping hills of the South Downs to the south acting as a dramatic backdrop to the town. Eastward lies the Ashdown Forest and to the north, the High Weald. Between these areas the whole town is surrounded on all sides by the lovely Sussex countryside, which is less than a five-minute drive in any direction from the town centre. Haywards Heath has a population of approximately 23,000, though this is due to rise in the immediate future with the development of 1,000 new dwellings.
The town is conveniently situated some 12 miles from Brighton and about 40 miles from London by road. It takes only 45 minutes by fast train to London, where a large number of residents choose to work. Others take advantage of local employment both in the town and in Brighton, Crawley and Croydon and of course at Gatwick Airport, which is only 1 5 minutes away by train.
With Newhaven on the doorstep and other channel crossing points, including the Channel Tunnel, within a couple of hours drive, the continent is easily accessible via the M23/M25/M20. Eastbourne, Hastings and the Cinque Ports to the East and Worthing, Littlehampton, Chichester and Portsmouth to the South/West are all within easy reach, making Haywards Heath an ideal stopover centre for the tourist. A truly well placed town by any standards.
In the immediate vicinity are several lovely Sussex villages like Balcombe, Cuckfield, Lindfield, Staplefield and Slaugham, each having their own old world country public houses, full of rustic charm and warm Sussex welcomes.
There are also numerous places of interest within a short distance of the town, including the famous Bluebell Railway, Wakehurst Place (Kew in the country), Ardingly Reservoir, Borde Hill Gardens and the South of England Showground, where various and varied events take place throughout the year. Many more little Sussex villages in the Weald and those that lie in the folds of the South Downs, are all well worth a visit.
Significant changes to the town took place in the 1960/70s when there was a marked increase in house building. Large tracts of farm and woodland were turned into housing estates to provide homes for families seeking to live in the countryside and yet still be within easy reach of London.
As it became apparent how good the train service was between Haywards Heath and London, more people moved down from the outskirts of London to the town to snap up the newly built homes.
At the same time the commercial element of the town began to gain momentum with many new office developments to house the service industries such as insurance and finance that were also moving out of London.
In 1980 a new shopping precinct was opened, originally called Priory Walk but within two years was renamed "Orchards". It now has many individual shops as well as popular chain stores like Marks amp; Spencer, Next, New Look and Superdrug, to name but a few. It has recently been taken over by a new management and just undergone a more mordern type facelift.
The main shopping area, South Road, runs through the centre of the town, which again is a mixture of individual independent shops and chain stores.
At either end of South Road are the secondary shopping areas of Sussex Road and The Broadway. Whilst Sussex Road has a good mixture of shops from furniture to flowers, The Broadway has become well known for its wide range of restaurants covering the culinary delights of many nationalities. The restaurants are interspersed with individual shops and businesses.
The Broadway has a special ambience about it, with its tree-lined pavements together with hanging baskets and flower-filled tubs. Many of the restaurants spilling out on to their forecourts, add a continental flavour to the street scene giving every day a holiday feeling to the area. Once a year a French Market is held here when the road is closed to traffic allowing people to wander safely and at ease through the colourful stalls. In recent years all day music festivals are held within a closed off road.
From the Broadway down Perrymount Road, where the main office development is situated, the road leads into Commercial Square, where again various shops, restaurants, local small businesses and the District's Civic Hall can be found. Here too is the mainline station. On the other side of the station the Sainsbury's Superstore can be found.
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