Length: 22.4 km (14.5 miles)
Toughness: 6 plus out of 10 mostly flat in the morning, with one steep ascent in the afternoon up onto the South Downs
London Victoria: 09-35 hrs Southern service to Southampton Central and Bognor Regis CJ 09-42, EC 09-53 hrs
Arrive Billingshurst: 10-45 hrs
Return
Amberley to Victoria : 18 mins past the hour, plus 16-50 hrs
Rail ticket: buy a day return to Amberley
Shortly after the start of today's walk you find yourself in a bluebell wood which should be in flower even though its full carpet effect might not be for a further week or two - but it should still be nice. After this wood the walk continues over fields and through farms and a vineyard to the hamlet of Nutbourne, where you find the excellent Rising Sun pub, a favourite of mine. Booking ahead is recommended for an indoor table, although its outdoor seating in its rear pub garden is very pleasant. Your e.t.a is 1 pm 01798-81219.
Leaving Nutbourne the walk's tease soon begins. Directly ahead of you, you have the South Downs. They don't seem to get any nearer as you plod on, skirting a golf course then an airfield (glider flying) until you reach the outskirts of the village of Cootham. You then walk due south along Clay Lane which takes you - eventually ! - to the foot of the South Downs. You now have a steep ascent - today's hard work - but take it steadily and you will get to the top. From here you enjoy lovely panoramic views as you continue along the South Downs Way ridge path. For a softer tread you can take the permissive way over grass through the Springhead Estate. You drop down to pass a farm before taking a path downhill through light woodland to a road above Amberley. You can if you wish take the road down to Amberley village, with its tea options, but most tend to head down High Titten (road), which takes you out onto the main road to turn left to Amberley railway station and Houghton Bridge. What should be a pleasant tea stop at the Riverside Tea Gardens is spoilt by the managers closing - at tea time - darn annoying or what ? ! So it's the Bridge Inn, just below the railway station, if open.
This is a long but rewarding walk.
T=swc.8
Walk Directions are here: L=swc.8
3 comments:
n=5 on the walk. 4 stopped for lunch at The Rising Sun while 1 continued on, not to be seen again.
The weather was w=sunny-windy on the downs
At the airfield we had to be on "high alert" (their words) crossing the airfield to avoid being trampled by horses taking part in the Parham Point to Point.
The GPS track is significantly off at certain points and should be reviewed.
2 started the walk from Pulborough having failed to notice the train stopping at Billingshurst. We joined the posted route at Nutbourne but were ahead of the Billingshurst starters. After looking into the Rising Sun we carried on to Nutbourne Common and woods where found a sunny bench to sit and eat our sandwiches. Onwards through a golf course and the airfield which was being used as a racecourse where a point to point was taking place. The racecourse crossed our path and we had a close up view of four horses thundering past. Our route took us through a field full of cowslips. Up on the downs the strong north easterly wind was at our backs. We reached Amberley around 4.45pm.The Bridge cafe had closed by the pub was open and we had tea before heading to the station for the 5.18 train. We met one of the Billingshurst starters on the platform. He reported 4 had started from Billingshurst making a total of n=6 on the walk. Three had gone to the pub for lunch. A pleasant walk through beautiful countryside in w=warm-sunshine-with-a-cool-breeze
Correction n=7 altogether
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