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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.

Saturday 28 September 2024

Saturday Walk - Lewes Priory, Swanborough, the South Downs Way, Black Cap (hilltop) and Lewes Old Racecourse

Length: 23.3 km (14.5 mi)
Ascent/Descent: 527m 
Net Walking Time: ca. 6 hours 
Toughness: 6 out of 10
 
Take the 09.24 Eastbourne train from Victoria (CJ 09.31, EC 09.40), arrives Lewes at 10.26. 
From LBG , take the 09.15 Brighton train and change at Haywards Heath (09.59/10.08). 
Return trains: xx.25 and xx.55.
 
From the blurb:

“If you thought you knew Lewes and the surrounding South Downs, this walk may surprise you. It follows a Book 2 alternative walk as far as Swanborough, then climbs up to the Downs by a track called Breach Road. It follows the South Downs Way (SDW), more North than West, as far as Black Cap. Be warned that on a windy day there is little shelter – the descent to Housedean Farm offers some respite, but not for your ears, as you have to cross over the A27. A late lunch is possible by descending again to Plumpton, an optional loop which is included in the distance. The approach to Lewes is via the old racecourse, using a bridleway which is still popular with horses today.” 


Walk Options: 
·        From Housedean Farm on the A27 you can catch a Bus 28/29 (the Regency Route) which runs regularly seven days a week between Brighton, Lewes and Tunbridge Wells. 
·        Cut out the loop down to the lunch pub, cuts 3.0 km and 130m ascent. 
·        After lunch you could catch a train from Plumpton. For this option, go on the footpath from the top corner of the pub’s garden and it will take you all the way to the station.
 
Lunch: The Half Moon in Plumpton. 15.7 km into the walk, open all day, food served all day. 
Tea: Plenty of options . See webpage or pdf for details.
 
For walk directions, map, height profile and gpx/kml files click here . t=swc.407

1 comment:

PeteG said...

N=11 on this new walk for most of us, on a wonderful w=sunny day, with the walk author to keep us on track. A new route out of Lewes for me and the walk was generally thought to be a good addition to the Lewes options. Some surface mud in places, but generally good walking. We did have a lot of bikes on the South Downs Way, on some kind of event, plus the odd group of runners on another. Four of us did the loop down to the pub. Five got the 1655 after beer or cake. The rest presumably an earlier train.