#11, returning to Amberley: 18.3 km (11.4 miles). Toughness 5/10.
#14b, finishing at Pulborough: 16 km (9.9 miles). Toughness 3/10.
09:35 Portsmouth Harbour train from Victoria (Clapham Jct 09:42, East Croydon 09:53), arriving Amberley at 10:58. Buy a return to Amberley. Your brain will switch into neutral when you hear those irritating announcements† but you should take heed of the ones telling you to be in the front five coaches.
Return trains to Victoria are hourly at xx:58 from Amberley, xx:04 from Pulborough.
These two walks were developed at about the same time and have the same morning route: starting through water meadows beside the River Arun and continuing via Amberley village, Rackham and the grounds of Parham Park to the Crown Inn at Cootham for lunch. Afterwards you can choose between:
- a “long but reasonably well-graded climb” onto the South Downs and back along the ridge, eventually descending to Houghton Bridge and returning from Amberley station. Refreshments are available at either the Riverside South Downs tearoom or the Bridge Inn, but note that both close at 5pm on a Sunday.
- a fairly gentle route to the RSPB Pulborough Brooks Nature Reserve at Wiggonholt, then alongside the River Arun to return from Pulborough station. The tearoom in the RSPB Visitor Centre (open to 4pm) is your best bet for tea; there's a new coffee shop (The Pulbrew) where you enter Pulborough but you'd need a brisk pace to get there before it too closes at 4pm.
Depending on your choice of afternoon route you'll need to bring the directions from either the L=swc.11 page or the Pulborough Circular walk page (click on Option b for the Short Walk starting from Amberley).
† Caesar would have made it snappier: Vidit! Dixit! Fixit!
3 comments:
Nice to see someone has had a classical education, but I feel obliged to point out that “see it, say it, sort it” has exactly the same number of syllables as “vidit, dixit, fixit” - and only uses one more letter!!
Ah, but these are all short vowels, so it *feels* snappier.
[I can't claim that this was original. I saw it in a review of some brilliantly-translated new Asterix books, set in Roman-occupied Gaul. On their high-speed chariot to Paris our heroes are constantly assailed by these tedious announcements...]
12 and a dog at the station but only 11 set off. The other took a revised route to catch up with an errant son who had missed the stop. They did meet us eventually so that’s n=13 innit.
The day w=started-cloudy-but-was-mostly-sunny (like my disposition). No rain. Not like yesterday.
Plans started unravelling with the news that the Crown in Cootham was fully booked. (Father’s Day, innit). This necessitated an early stop at the Sportsman where a kindly benefactor plied Mr Tiger with cider. The pub, currently run by volunteers, allowed picnic eaters to eat there. (They weren’t yet geared up for weekend meals).
A few went on, I’m not sure whether for Amberley or Pulborough. Then another advance party set off for the Crown. It was a bit busy there but not busy enough to stop another kindly benefactor buying Mr Tiger another cider. His lucky day. (So far).
Most had decided to finish in Pulborough. On we went, on, on, through a heavily overgrown section, then past swathes of hemlock water dropwort, eventually reaching the RSPB reserve where there were birds and stuff. Two snakes were also seen.
Here Mr Tigers luck ran out. Not only were his boots falling apart but he had to buy his own coffee and cake.
In Pulborough, a planned stop at the Chequers was aborted because it had closed. But the church was open and they were doing teas.
You might think that’s the end of the story, readers, but no. On arrival at the station, we found the 17:04 was cancelled and the 16:04 had been reversed back to Pulborough. A malfunctioning level crossing. Or as the conductor later described it “some line hitting in a broken down area” (At least, that’s how I heard it). We waited on a crowded platform for the 18:04. Some had the energy to go back into Pulborough and pass the time in “Macklins”, some sort of drinking establishment, but not Mr Tiger, no siree.
Luckily, we were able to get on the 18:04 and even find seats.
Another grand day out.
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