Short stay in Crawley

After my first assignment in London, on the way back to airport, my cab driver asked if I would like to return to UK. I said yes, but not to London - I want to go somewhere else more remote.

I couldn't have asked for a better place when I landed in Crawley, though my feelings were very mixed initially. First few days I found the place more relaxed and laid back, but also got slightly bored of the slow pace. For someone who is used to extend office hours and after work hangouts, this place takes some getting used to. It didn't take long to get acquainted though, and soon I started appreciating its advantages🧐.  

Tourism: Crawley itself is not a touristy place, however it is very well located with many good places to visit less than 2 hours of train/bus ride away. With Metro voyager pass, I took bus to towns like Horsham, East Grinstead, Royal Tunbridge wells and even to Brighton. There are also good train connections from Crawley, Three Bridges and Gatwick train stations - London is less than 40 mins away from Gatwick. From Crawley station, I traveled to Portsmouth and Arundel. Although public transport is well connected to most places, I felt best way commute around is to drive. There is a castle I wanted to visit but couldn't because I didn't find direct public transport connections to those areas😟. 

Transport: While houses in Crawley are spacious and surrounded by woods giving a calming peaceful feeling, bus schedules are often irregular. There are instances when I end up waiting for more than an hour for a 10 min bus ride😤 - cancellations are quite common and frequency is less during non working hours. Metrobus is the mode of public transport and their mobile app is best way to purchase the tickets. Cash payment to driver require exact change or a contact less card. We can purchase 1,2,3 days, weekly or monthly passes and more the duration, more economical the prices get. Also there are location based options. Metro voyager gives longer stretch and I often take 1 or 2 day Metro voyager pass on weekends to visit surrounding towns. 1 day pass costs 7 GBP per person and 10 GBP for 2 adults. If you are travelling with a friend, its almost same price as Crawley day pass. There are Cab services which are not so economical as public transport but they don't break wallets either🤑.

views from double decker bus

Accomodation: I changed my initial accommodation from Holiday Inn to George Hotel after learning its historic significance. Located right in the middle of London and Brighton, Crawley is where travelers used to stop during their journey. George hotel served as pit stop inn and the current car park area used to be resting place for horses and carriages.  This hotel is located in high street of town center with good connectivity. Moreover, there are rumors of hauntings in this hotel🧟‍♂️, though I didn’t experience any 🤭. For longer stay, I choose spare room site which offers lots of options for singles for short term as well as long term stays (there is also short stay uk for service apartments, but I never explored it). 

MamaMia screening next to George hotel     

Town Center: High street lined with restaurants, pubs and (mainly grocery) stores and is older part of the town center. It starts with a church and ends with Crawley museum. Along the town center is George hotel, few pubs and a board showing all the prominent points. To the right of high street  is Shopping center with conventional stores, salons and restaurants. Fountain area surrounded by cafes and shops opens to County mall and Memorial gardens. Central bus station is adjacent to the mall and delays in bus schedule is not so boring in the evenings as I could use the time to shop and eat - only most stores close by 7 PM and my connecting bus is at 6:55 PM with next bus 50 mins later. In case I miss the bus after stores closed, I used to walk around Memorial gardens which isn't huge but have good enough space to walk, few seating areas and a tiny playground for kids.  

Memorial Garden

Harry potter stationary in Wilko

Tilgate Park: The very first weekend, not able to go to London and, unable to stay at hotel, I set out to explore Crawley. After quenching the nostalgic thirst for favorite shops on Saturday, I ventured further on Sunday to the famous Tilgate park. I knew parks in England are quite vast, but this is beyond expectations. At the entrance, there is a restaurant and down to the left is huge open area overlooking equally big lake. There is a place to hire rowing boats and kayaks🚣‍♂️, walking path used for strolling as well as jogging/cycling🚴‍♀️. Little walk up on the other side, there is children's park, few crafts outlets and an animal center which have an entrance fee. There is also a small café in the garden adjacent to the children play area. 

Further down seemed more and more like a jungle with tall trees. 

At the beginning there is an adventure sports area but as we go in, it gets more deserted and more dense. Somewhere along the way is a memorial, where name plates of passed away locals, who loved the park, are placed. 

Walk trails, bike trails, gardens and forest area, adventure sports & water sports - this park seems to have it all. 

Apart from Tilgate, Crawley have few other parks - not quite as big and mostly for walks and relaxing on lazy days.

Grattons park and Worth park

Museum & Watermill: Crawley museum and water mill are ran by volunteers. Both are very well maintained, considering no entry fee is charged for the visitors and meagre contents in donation boxes. The museum  is right at the town center and open all days. It hosts lots of artifacts related to the town history and significant people from the place. 

There is also an arts and crafts place for the kids. The volunteers are very friendly and one of them suggested I could enroll to volunteer as well - if only my stay was longer, I would have gladly done so🤷🏻‍♀️. Watermill is slightly far away from town center and open only one Sunday per month - time table is available in the museum. I reached little earlier than opening time and used the time to roam around the water pond adjacent to the mill. 

Though a residential area, there is quite a lot of space for walking and I strolled till railway track before heading back. The water mill is a 4 storied structure - the small seating arrangement on the top have a tv playing the history of the mill and remaining floors have the equipment with volunteers explaining their functionalities. The water mill was set for demolition when its good days were over, but the town people took it on themselves to restore and maintain it. They also sell few souvenirs to support the funding, however I believe most of costs are covered by locals. It is quite impressive how the people, not only took initiative to protect a piece of their town's history, but consistently investing their time and effort to maintain it🙌🏼.

Hawth Theatre: when it comes to art, my preference is classic to contemporary. UK being epitome of theatre, its a shame I didn't get a chance to visit one in London. Hawth theatre is listed as one of the attractions in Crawley and when I came to know that a play from my favorite author, Mousetrap, was on, there is no excuse not to watch. The theatre is of size of a medium multiplex, which I believe is perfect - I am not sure how the stage is visible in bigger theatres. Prices vary based on their position and I managed to get the last one of the best ones. I wish I visited more theatres in UK. 

Overall, I am quite content with my stay in Crawley. I am tempted to wish my next trip is bit more conventional, but not on a work trip, I prefer mainland metros🏙 - facilities take precedence over interests when working around limited resourcing and stringent timelines⏳.