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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, 25 February 2023

Saturday Walk - South Downs and Heathlands: Amberley to Pulborough (Long or Short Walk)

Length: 25.7 km (15.9 mi)
Ascent/Descent: 558/556m
Net Walking Time: ca. 6 hours
Toughness: 7 out of 10 
 
OR
 
Length: 19.9 km (12.3 mi)
Ascent/Descent: 414/412m
 Net Walking Time: ca. 5 hours 
Toughness: 5 out of 10
 
Take the 09.35 Bognor Regis & Southampton Central train from Victoria (CJ 09.41, EC 09.53), arriving Amberley 10.58. The train splits at Horsham, you have to be in the Bognor Regis part! 
From London Bridge, take the 09.35 Brighton train (Thameslink from Bedford) and change at Three Bridges (10.10/10.14). 
Return trains: xx.24 and xx.55 (80 mins journey time). Buy an Amberley return
 
The route follows the South Downs Way out of the scenic Arun Valley along some steep chalky tracks high up onto Bignor Hill for some magnificent views along the ridge, out to sea and across the West Weald. You leave the South Downs Way and pass Glatting Beacon with its transmission masts to then gradually descend from the ridge – not without a few short re-ascents up Farm Hill and Barlavington Down – past a few hanging woods into the Rother Valley
Pass the quaint setting of Duncton Mill and head for The Cricketers pub for lunch. Onwards you go through the magnificent Burton Park with its ponds, before you walk through several idyllic commons, part wooded, part sandy heathland, and eventually cross the Rother River and progress to Pulborough along a westerly route familiar from other walks, past the picturesque Stopham church and medieval bridge.
 
Further Walk Options:
A Shortcut from Bignor Hill, through hanging woods to the quiet villages of Bignor and Sutton, cuts 5.8 km/3.6 mi and 144m ascent, resulting in a 5/10 walk. 
Bus line 1 (Midhurst – Worthing via Pulborough Station) calls Fittleworth at 15.57, 17.02, 18.12, 19.22 and 19.52; and Stopham Bridge 3 mins later. 
 
Lunch: The Cricketers Inn (13.0 km/8.0 mi, food served all day) in Duncton or – on the shorter walk – The White Horse (9.6 km/5.9 mi, food to 14.00) in Sutton. 
Tea: The Swan Inn (5.3 km/3.3 mi from the end) in Fittleworth (this supposedly re-opened last July under new management (same as The Hollist Arms in Lodsworth) but I can’t find a website or definitive confirmation) and The White Hart (2.3 km/1.4 mi, open all day and now a ‘gastro pub’ apparently) in Stopham. 
 
For walk directions, maps, height profiles, photos and gpx/kml files click here. T=swc.39

1 comment:

Thomas G said...

14 walkers off the slightly delayed train set off in half-blue skies with fast moving clouds and a very fresh breeze. Mud was almost non-existent, even in the riverside meadows along the Arun. 4 fell a bit behind on the final bit of the first ascent to then take the shortcut and 3 others then also took the shortcut (the old main walk) via Sutton. Of those 7, only one lunched at The White Horse ("excellent though pricey"), the rest picnicked. 2 of the 7 then went straight for the 16.24, the other 5 paused at The White Hart in Stopham.
The group had been 'accompanied' by two glider planes most of the time while on the Downs, and that continued to be the case for the 7 main walkers. Skylarks were out in numbers, snowdrops looked a bit past their best, while crocusses and daffs were rare and not at their best yet. On the approach to Barlavington Down, we saw a large herd of deer crossing an arable field in flight mode and also heard some shots being fired, but none of the deer keeled over...
At Duncton Mill then, there were hundreds of trout in the millpond (used as a nursery maybe before setting them out in the commercial fishery ponds?).
The Cricketers had free tables and 6 of us lunched, with the 7th joining for a coffee.
On then through Burton Park and the various small heaths, with 2 walkers taking the bus from Fittleworth. Of the 5 remaining walkers, 4 went into The White Hart, while 1 marched on to catch the 17.55, claiming an important football game needed to be followed online.
A later report just in said that 1 early starter did the full walk and overtook one or more of the short walkers at Stopham. All in then: n=15 in weather w=from-mainly-sunny-to-all-grey-skies-always-with-a-cold-breeze-and-dry