10.05 Thameslink train from London Bridge (9.50 St Pancras, 9.54 Farringdon) to Balcombe, arriving 10.46. Only the front eight carriages (of twelve) open their doors at Balcombe.
It is the last day of British Summer Time, so here is one last "summer" walk. Actually, it only has that designation because parts of it can be very muddy in winter. If it didn't rain too much during the week, it hopefully won't be too bad yet... This is pretty territory with a plenty of trees to display whatever autumn colours are on show so far.
For a long time this walk has been stymied by the closure of its lunch pub, the Ardingly Arms, but it has now been resurrected and I thought it would be nice to check it out. The Ardingly Cafe next door also seems to be still operating (until 2.30pm) for those that want a lighter lunch.
After lunch you can do the full summer walk (the 12.1 mile option), with the possibility of tea in the Seed Cafe of Wakehurst Place (the last time until spring you will be able to have tea mid afternoon on a walk!) or you can opt for an easy walk along the Ardingly Reservoir instead (= the winter walk afternoon, the 10.9 mile option). Sandwich types can cut out the climb to Ardingly village altogether, have lunch by the reservoir and carry on to Balcombe on the winter route (the 8.8 mile option).
Once in Balcombe the Half Moon Inn usually does tea and sometimes cakes.
The walk down the back lanes to Balcombe station is recommended: very atmospheric in the dusk, as the Great Darkness closes in around you...
Trains back from Balcombe are at 25 and 55 past
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N=16 on this walk, though for a while it felt like just one. I started off in the company of some hares, but mid morning they hared off into the distance. Despite looking back across field and valley, I could see no one behind, so for the next hour or so it was just me, alone in the w=drizzle.
Pretty much the whole group eventually assembled at the Ardingly Inn, however, where it transpired that some had decided to do the winter route under the Ouse Valley Viaduct - and why not? - while others….(I am not sure what the others did). The reopened pub was pleasant and efficient. It had a simple menu of pub classics but they were all nicely done and speedily served. One or two had sandwiches in the garden before coming in for drinks.
After lunch some (I did not count) decided to do the winter ending along the Ardingly Reservoir. This was an understandable choice given that the ground had so far been….soft. Or, to speak plainer, muddy and at times squelchy. Summertime has definitely ended in the Weald.
A fair few of us did the summer afternoon route, however. The drizzle abated and autumn colours were good - unusually so for the time of year, I would say. We saw a flock of (fallow?) deer and heard one barking in the woods.
Six or seven of us stopped at the Seed Cafe in Wakehurst Place, where the vegan chocolate and orange cake was supremely delicious (too good to waste on vegans really…). There was some talk of going into the gardens, the group having the requisite number of Kew or NT memberships to do this gratis. But in the end the desire to finish the walk in the daylight won out.
Approaching Balcombe the setting sun tried to escape the cloud, producing a poignant orange glow to mark the last sunset before the Great Darkness. Some, I guess, hurried on to catch the 17.55 train. Four of us had drinks in the Half Moon and three (minus one car driver) walked the back lanes to the station in the entrancing dark to catch the 18.55.
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