[This slot swapped with Stargazer vs 22 April]
Length: 27.5 km (17.1 mi) [shorter walk possible,
see below]
Ascent/Descent: 516/529m
Net Walking Time: 6 ½ hours
Toughness: 8 out of 10
Take the 08.50 Portsmouth Harbour train from
Waterloo (CJ 08.57, Woking 09.19), arrives Petersfield 10.13.
In Petersfield, take the 10.32
bus line 67 outside the station (Stop E), direction Winchester,
arrives West Meon/The Thomas Lord at 10.53.
Return trains: xx.17, xx.39. Buy a Petersfield
return.
From West Meon take the Meon Valley Trail (a
disused railway) to link to the SDW and turn left to Old Winchester Hill, then
over Salt Hill, Hyden Hill and Tegdown Hill. Continue over Butser Hill, the
highest point in the South Downs National Park, and enter Queen Elizabeth
Country Park. Leave the SDW to head north along the Hangers Way through the
park and through Buriton village to Petersfield.
Check out the route map here.
Shorter Walk: take a bus
back to Petersfield, either the 69 from East Meon Church (12.58
or 15.58 are the relevant departures), or the 37 from QE Country Park
(on the A3, 16.39 or 18.15).
Lunch: Picnic lunch or Ye
Olde George Inn (food to 14.15) or The
Izaak Walton (food to 14.00), both in East Meon (after 11.6
km/7.2 mi, off route: adds about 3 km to the walk).
Tea: The Sustainability Centre’s Beech Café in
Leydene Park (13.3 km/8.3 mi, open to 16.00); the café at the QE
Country Park Beechwood Kitchen (19.2 km/11.9 mi, open to 17.30); The Five Bells or The Nest Hotel &
Restaurant (the former Village Inn), both in Buriton. Plenty
options in Petersfield.
For summary, map, height profile
and gpx/kml files click here.
t=swc.183
5 comments:
Can take a short cut from Butser Hill directly to Petersfield, missing out crossing the A3 to Queen Elizabeth Park and Buriton. Its shown on the OS map page.
But you still have to cross the A3 which seemed far too dangerous when I tried it. There is a tunnel about 1km south of the route marked on the website map
It's just a dual carriageway crossing, like several others we have on the website, with a safe space between crash barriers in the middle.
The tunnel route adds too much distance and is all tarmac, was discounted on those grounds
8 off the train plus 1 car driver, ie n=9 walkers.
Fog had been around all along the train journey, until - in Haslemere - we finally saw some blue sky, as was forecast for the day. The connecting bus arrived on time in West Meon and off we went. Some mud on the dismantled railway line (a bridleway), but it could always be skirted. None really on the SDW, and even later near Petersfield in those notorious fields, it was almost dried out, the mud was.
Fantastic views from the tops when we got onto them. Loads of cyclists and families out for the day, from a car park or two. A coffee/tea break at Allan's Coffee Van (or somesuch), in a layby on Hayden Lane just east of Old Winchester Hill, then Picnic on Salt Hill, just over the brow, with views down a grassy valley and out to Sea. Then another stop for liquids at the Beechwood Cafe in the VC in QE2 Country Park. No one took any shortcuts, 1 or 2 were slightly lagging at times, but group cohesion was quite high.
Celandines and anenomes, primroses, mossy trees, fungi, lots of wild garlic, and the good bluebell wood in the valley between Buriton and P'field had about 5% of them fully out.
Skylarks up on the downs, loads of other songbirds, red kites hovering over the cafe in the VC (no doubt out for easy pickings), 2 deer in the wood in QE2 Country Park, then 2 more off to the right in a field at the northern end of the Buriton to P'field valley.
There were quite a few more clouds up around midday, but all in it was a day for acquiring a bit of colour despite putting sun lotion on: w=mostly-sunny-with-a-cold-breeze
Minor trouble at the end: after a drink at The George, we took 'Live Departures' word for granted that the 18.37 would be 6 mins delayed, but when we got to the station there was no sign of it. But 3 stopping trains in short succession were going the other way, ie earlier trouble on the line. So then, the 19.17 it was for us...
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