SWC Walk 68 and 313: Rowlands Castle Circular t=swc.313
Distance: Something for everyone – From the Grand
Circular of 23 miles/37 km to the Petit Circular of 10 miles/15 km with various
options in between. SWC walks 68 and 313 are both circular routes from Rowlands
Castle and share a lunch pub (except the shortest SWC 68 option) – so it is possible
to mix and match the routes to create a walk of desired length.
Difficulty: 12 out of 10 for the full Grand Circular; 7
out of 10 for the main SWC 68 walk (3 out of 10 for the shorter walk and 8 out
of 10 for the extended walk)
Train: For those aiming for the Grand Circular, take
the 8:00 AM Portsmouth Harbor train
from London Waterloo, changing at
Haslemere (arriving 8:53 and departing 8:57) to arrive at Rowlands Castle at 9:23. All
others can take the 9:00 AM Portsmouth
Harbor train from London Waterloo, changing
at Haslemere (arriving 9:53 and departing 9:57) to arrive at Rowlands Castle at
10:23.
Return trains from Rowlands Castle
are hourly at 28 past the hour until 20:28; then 21:45 and 22:46. Buy a day return to Rowlands Castle.
There are very few walks in the SWC SE repertoire that have over
1000 meters of ascent and the RC Grand Circular is one of them – so perfect for
those aspiring to reach the summit of Munros on the upcoming Scottish trip. However,
others should not despair, as there are plenty of options between the two Rowlands
Castle walks to devise a walk of desired length. For example, you can do the
longer morning of walk 313 with the shorter afternoon of walk 68 OR start with
the shorter morning and do a longer afternoon. I will note though that the longer morning of SWC 313 covers some terrain not visited on other SWC walks -- so is worth an exploration.
All the routes cover a lovely section of the western
part of the South Downs with undulating hills and great views far and wide. You can find more information about the walks and download the walk instructions here (SWC 68) and here (SWC 313).
The recommended lunch spot is the Royal Oak (01243 535 257) in Hooksway (8
miles/13 km into the SWC 68 walk and 11 miles/18km into the SWC 313 walk) which
serves food until 2:00pm – so do keep an eye on the time. Tea and other post walk refreshments can be
had at the Castle Inn -- a stone’s
throw from the train station.
Enjoy the walk (which ever route you choose)!
3 comments:
Six emerged from the early train (which was about 10 minutes delayed) and quickly dispensed with formalities to promptly set off knowing they had a long way to go before lunch. The route begins in familiar territory but soon branches further afield towards Stoughton and Kingly Vale -- through stunning rolling countryside -- looking really fab -- a solid show of bluebells, several oilseed rape fields in blossom, trees just leaving out -- a riot of spring color! At the Devil's Humps we spent some time enjoying the fine views far and wide before we traveling on to Hooksway for lunch, arriving as planned about 1.45pm and at exactly the same time as two others from the later train, making for n=8 in total. After an enjoyable lunch, the two from the later train continued on the route 68 main walk and the remaining 5 pub lunchers plus 1 picknicker continued on the Grande Circular route. The afternoon route was also very enjoyable with fine views and woods awash in wild garlic, some of which was just starting to flower. The 5 lunchers stopped at the Red Lion for some much-needed rehydration (some with puddings) before the final push back to Rowlands Castle -- arriving about 8pm -- time to gather some provisions and a quick drink in the pub before catching the slightly delayed 8:28pm! A fine grande day out in great company and w=mostly-sunny-conditions.
I should have realised you were the SWC group, sorry. I was in the red jacket on the same train home when one of you spoke to me. Inspired by this SWC walk for the day, I did 15 miles starting at 12.30. fantastic day, but I had few words at the end.
hi anonymous, glad you enjoyed the walk, hope you can join us on a future walk.
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