9.45 train from Charing Cross (9.48 Waterloo East, 9.54 London Bridge) to Wadhurst, arriving 10.50
Buy a day return to Wadhurst.
This walk has been chosen to coincide with the Wadhurst bonfire, a very pleasant village event which nevertheless gives you a big blazing bonfire and fireworks as good as any you might see at a big city event. Tickets cost £10 if booked in advance here but you can usually pay on the day too. So far I have never known this event sell out. The bonfire is lit at 6.30pm (your last sunbathe of the year!), the fireworks are at 7.30pm, and we are usually exiting the ground at about 8pm. Beer, mulled wine, hot dogs and burgers are on sale.
First we have to do a walk, however. This year I thought we might try the Wadhurst Figure of Eight. The morning of this is the short walk of the Wadhurst Circular walk (directions, GPX and map). This gets you to Wadhurst village for lunch in 4.3 miles.
Here the pub choices are the Greyhound and White Hart, while cafes include the Artful Grocers and Jempsons. There is also a supermarket (also Jempsons) and a convenience store.
After lunch you switch to the Wadhurst via Bewl Water walk (directions, GPX and map). You follow the path down to Bewl Water (starting in paragraph 96 on page 7 if using the written directions) and either do the main walk ending (4.7 miles) or the longer ending (6.3 miles), the latter including a longer section along the edge of Bewl Water.
To get from Wadhurst village to the station there are three choices:
- there is a bus (the 1066) from outside the Greyhound at 16.27, 17.12, 18.26 and 20.14, which gets to Wadhurst station in six minutes. This means that the 16.27 and 18.26 just miss a train, so on these buses you could stay on till Tunbridge Wells station 14 minutes later.
- walk down the main road. This 1.4 mile walk is perfectly practical even in the dark, with a pavement all the way: it is just a bit unglamorous. Allow 40 minutes just to be sure of getting your target train.
- by far the best option: walk down the back lanes, following the main walk route. This is 2 miles, so allow an hour to be on the safe side. Every year some of us do this in the dark after the fireworks, which is a magical experience. This year there may even be some moonlight (moonrise at 6.30pm). I know this route well, so if I am on the walk I am happy to guide others along it.
Trains back are at 00 and 30 past to 22.30, and then 23.08
4 comments:
This bonfire event seems interesting. Just wondering how many walkers are interested in staying for it.
Usually some of us do. Several people have expressed an interest in doing so to me this week.
sounds great!
A four-carriage train meant overcrowding and reduced opportunities to socialise on the train down, but n=23 still managed to emerge onto the platform at Wadhurst. As with all groups of this size, we spread out a bit as the morning went on. Some of us even got so engrossed in discussing interpretations of Wagner’s Ring Cycle that we….added an extra loop, shall we say?
The weather was w=mostly-sunny, any remaining cloud clearing by lunchtime. Autumn colours are in their end stage, I would say: nearly all leaves tinted and foliage getting thin. This is a bit earlier than usual. I enjoyed the dramatic scenery on the Wadhurst Circular short cut: always worth doing.
Lunch in Wadhurst was a bit more limited than it might have been. The nearly empty Greyhound said they were “not doing food, only bookings”, so lots of us piled into the more accommodating White Hart. Their menu was steak sandwiches and fish and chips, but the steak sandwich was very nice. There was a limit to their accommodation however, with some late arrivals being turned away and going to the Piccolo and Artful Grocers cafes, The former got good marks from those who went there.
Out again into the lovely low sunshine to walk down to Bewl Water. Water levels here were as low as I have ever seen them. Two or three enterprising walkers took advantage to walk through the great white belt of “chamomile” (mayweed, I think…) near the water’s edge. A good number of us did the longer loop, getting to Wadhurst in the gloaming at about 5pm.
This was too late for tea so lots went to a wine bar called Cellar which got glowing reviews for its Spanish food. The solitary tea addict in the group (me) went to Jempsons supermarket and got a takeaway tea which he consumed in the darkened churchyard.
14 of us by my reckoning went to the bonfire: a fine warming blaze and a good firework display. As the sky sparkled from the latter, a three-quarters moon rose shyly in the other direction. This provided a lovely subtle illumination for the ten of us who walked down the back lanes, a truly magical experience.
We caught the 9pm train and dispatched two bottles of wine, two tubs of houmous, two bags of chips and other comestibles on the way home. Pretty much a perfect day out.
Post a Comment