Length: 20.1 km (12.5 mi) [shorter walk possible, see below]
Ascent/Descent: 423/435m
Net Walking Time: 5 hours
Toughness: 5/10
Take the 09.37 Margate train from St. Pancras I’nal (09.44
Stratford I’nal), change at Ashford I’nal (10.14/10.25) onto the Eastbourne
train, arrives Hastings 11.10.
Return trains from Rye are on xx.48 to St.
Pancras via Ashford (66 mins journey times). The exception: the 18.53 with
85 minutes journey time.
Buy a Hastings Return, incl. the High Speed Surcharge.
Short Walk: finish at Winchelsea Station for the return train on xx.44, or even take the Bus Line 100 from outside the New Inn in Winchelsea to Rye (leaves 14.39/16.39/18.39).
This rewarding walk starts in the Cinque Ports town of Hastings with a fine clifftop coastal walk with steep climbs along the way. This section is the most strenuous part of the walk. From Pett Level, the terrain levels out, before leading up through the New Gate into Winchelsea for (late) lunch. Just east of the town, you reach The Look Out, offering panoramic views across the whole of Romney Marsh to Dungeness, and to the Kent Downs beyond. From there it is down and along to Ferry Bridge, following an easy flat route north east to Rye.
Tea: Lots of choice in Rye. The last time I walked
the Rye Circular, I counted 28 decent options,
mostly just a little off route of this walk in the interesting historic town
centre.
For summary, walk directions, map, height
profile, some photos and gpx/kml files click here. T=2.29
2 comments:
8 met at the train station, with 1 of those (a SW Ldn resident) having come down The Long Way 'Round, via Clapham J, Eastbourne and the slow coastal route. We met another (car driving) walker in the Old Town and then caught a 10th at the top of the first rise out of Hastings, who had trained in from Brighton where she was dog-sitting for the weekend. Said dog was with her as well, and we walked on together (ever so briefly) as a group of n=10 and a dog in w=sunny weather.
The subsequent stretch through the glens was 'interesting', shall we say: slippery in many places, muddy in some, but not muddy in too many places as most of the paths were in fact now streambeds. Some trees had been toppled by recent storms and were blocking the path, which made for interesting scrambling-like intermissions on a steep path. The Ecclesbourne itself had turned into a raging torrent, with a waterfall-like feature away to the right, en route to the beach.
By now, the group had split into sub-groups and the front 5 reached The New Inn at 14.40.
2 others, having got way-laid en route, twice facing a steep drop off the cliffs and once involuntarily scrambling up along a stream out of the glens (no printed directions, no map, no gizmo with a line on a screen), got there half an hour later, and ultra-steady walker 8 wasn't far behind them. The remaining 2 are unaccounted for at this moment in time, though.
A sumptious lunch session evolved and at 16.15 hours, 5 of us finally walked on. The dog-sitter was busing it home to Hastings for the train to Brighton, the SW Ldn walker was busing it back to Hastings to take the Long Way 'Round train back, and the ultra-steady walker bused it on to Rye.
The 5 of us then eschewed the prescribed path across pastures and arable fields which had turned into lakes anyway and took the slightly longer route via Dumb Woman's Lane instead.
That left time for a drink at The Cinque Ports Arms before the 17.48 train.
Walkers 9 and 10 accounted for, they took a shortcut out of the glens to 3 Oaks Station.
p.s.: did I say we had fantastic far views? the South Downs in the back and Camber Sands and Dungeness Nuke Plant ahead...
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