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This Week's Walks - Archive

Please see the Saturday Walker's Club This Week's Walks page.

This is an archive of walks done by the Saturday Walker's Club. You should only need to use this page if the SWC website is down.

Wednesday 25 May 2016

Midweek day walk - Balcombe Circular

Balcombe Circular via Ardingly Reservoir

Two interlocking walks in a figure of 8 around Balcombe (one for Summer, one for Winter), taking in Ardingly Reservoir, the Ouse Valley Viaduct, and fine Weald territory

Book 3* Walk 22    * online only

Length :  20 km or 12½ miles ( A shorter 16 km / 10 mile variant is possible if the weather is inclement)

Toughness :  8 out of 10  ( 4 out of 10 for the short 'un )

Getting there :  Catch the 9:42 am Brighton train from London Bridge to Balcombe (9:56 am from East Croydon if you're travelling from Victoria or Clapham Junction )

(From Horley catch the 9:45 am Horsham train to Gatwick Airport and change there catching the 10:12 am Brighton train to Balcombe)

Meeting point :  Balcombe Station at 10:22 am

Tickets :  Buy a cheap day return to Balcombe

Brief Description

The trains to Balcombe are hourly (some walkers may recall that one failed to stop there on one occasion!) so a slightly earlier start today.  The Ouse Viaduct carrying the London to Brighton Railway is a spectacular engineering achievement and worth a photo or two as you walk underneath.
Ardingly Reservoir and the Weald also make for great scenery and there's a chance to visit the National Trust's Wakehurst Place for an afternoon cuppa with the Millennium Seed Bank adjacent.
Mike from Vancouver may join us on this walk. If he does, please make him feel welcome.

As usual, you may find full details of this walk here and a PDF here

Suggested Lunch stop

The Ardingly Inn t: 01444 892 214

Those with a packed lunch may enjoy eating by the side of the reservoir.

Suggested Tea stops

Wakehurst Place (mid afternoon)
The Balcombe Tea Rooms  t: 01444 811777 closes at 4:30 pm
The Half Moon Inn   t: 01444 811582

Maps

OS Explorer : 135

Return train times

Trains return from Balcombe to London Bridge at the following times 15:22 | 16:29 | 17:28 | 18:22
Change at East Croydon for London Victoria.

4 comments:

Mike A said...

Apologies for Southern Train services.
The 9:42 became initially delayed then mutated into a "fast" service to Brighton.
The next train was at 10:42 but there was no guarantees that wouldn't suffer a similar fate.
In many ways the Southern Staff "sicknesses" are worse than a strike - at least with a strike the you know for certain your train will be cancelled!
In the mean time I'm going to avoid posting any more walks using this train service until Southern Rail resolves this conflict.
On a final note, I find it reassuring to have a guard/ticket inspector on longer journeys, what do you think?

Anonymous said...

it was jinxed because you posted a pre 10 o'clock walk start Arthur !

Anonymous said...

n=5 w=overcast-cool-breeze

Chris L said...

When the 9:42 became a "fast" service, Thameslink heeded a protest from one walker at East Croydon and got the next Brighton-bound train to make an unscheduled stop at Balcombe. Two walkers who stayed on the original train were able to change at Gatwick and join two others who boarded the later train at East Croydon, thus starting the walk only half an hour late. Unfortunately others must have given up at London Bridge without waiting for news of the alternative service. A fifth walker coming from the south coast caught up with the rest during the morning. All did the longer "summer" version of this lovely walk in perfect walking conditions and most got back to Balcombe for the 16:29 train home.