Length: 25.5 km (15.9 mi) [longer and much shorter walks possible, see
below]
Ascent/Descent: 520m
Net Walking Time: ca. 6 hours
Toughness: 7 out of 10
Take the 09.00 Portsmouth Harbour train from Waterloo (09.09
CJ, 09.24 Surbiton, 09.47 Guildford), arriving Rowlands
Castle at 10.38.
The 10.00 train would be sufficient for the short walk.
Return trains: xx.12.
This West Sussex walk in the undulating western part of the South Downs
is characterised initially by a mixture of park- and woodland, then steep
lonely valleys and some far views to the main South Downs Ridge. It starts off
towards Stansted House along a 1.5 km-long beech avenue – one of the best in
England according to Pevsner, and then heads north along the easterly edge of
Stansted Forest and across fields via the hamlets of West, Up and East Marden
to a very remote pub in Hooksway, with particularly nice views on the route
between the hamlets, including up to the northern escarpment of the South
Downs.
From lunch you climb back out of the secluded valley on a westerly route
to Compton, from where another couple of hills need to be crossed to finish
along the westerly edge of Stansted Forest back into Rowlands Castle, with its
teashop and a choice of pubs.
The walk (especially the extended version) features several sustained, steep climbs and descents.
Walk Options:
A shortcut around lunch cuts 9.4 km
and 307m ascent/descent (rated 3/10).
An extension after lunch adds 3.4 km and 162m ascent/descent. It follows
a lonely, narrow, wood-fringed valley to the main northerly escarpment of the
South Downs and then follows one of the most undulating sections of the South
Downs Way with unrivalled far views from Pen Hill and Beacon Hill, making this
a real challenge. The extended walk is rated 8/10.
All three routes share the start, up to West Marden, and the end,
from Compton.
Lunch: The Victoria Inn in West Marden (6.3 km/3.9 mi, food served all day); The Royal
Oak in Hooksway (12.6 km/7.9 mi, food to 14.00), The Coach
& Horses in Compton (8.7 km/5.4 mi on the short walk).
Tea: The Village Shop & Tea Room in Compton
(7.4 km/4.6 mi from the end, open to 15.15 only), plus three pubs
and a café in Rowlands Castle; check page 2 of the walk directions
pdf.
For summary, walk directions, map, height
profile, photos and gpx/kml files click here. T=swc.68
2 comments:
Anyone fancy doing the short walk, setting off from the station at 11:38? Thanks, Rolf
3 off the train, awaited by 2 others who had stayed the night in RC, ie n=5 on a w=sunny-and-warm day. After West Marden, we split into 3 short walkers and 2 full walkers. The 2 got to the Hooksway pub at 13.30 and joined the slowest ever moving queue for ordering food and drinks. Understaffed as pubs are these days, the unseasonally warm weather had gotten a lot more people out than usual and they just couldn't cope. In the end, we were the last customers to be allowed to order food in any case, and that only after some pleading ("...all the way from Rowlands and have to walk back...").
Onwards at 15.00 and back in RC with enough time for an HSB (or a G&T) at The Castle, before the 18.12 train. What a glorious day for walking, with many fine far views (those valleys with their picturesque pattern of fields, Portsmouth, the Isle of Wight), dappled lights through the trees (still with all their foliage), some leaves starting to turn in colour, the right kind of temps for walking, ample butterflies still around, birds of prey in the air, mushrooms here and there, pheasants galore, farmers ploughing fields.
The end of summer, finally.
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