Length: 20.3 km (12.6 miles). If starting walk from Rye: 15 miles
Toughness: 9 out of 10 Up and down several steep glens towards the end of the walk
London St Pancras: 09-34 hrs Southeastern High Speed service to Dover Priory
Arrive Ashford International: 10-11 hrs Change trains
Leave Ashford International: 10-25 hrs Southern stopping service from Ashford Int. to Eastbourne
Arrive Rye (Sussex): 10-46 hrs
Arrive Winchelsea: 10-51 hrs
Return
Hastings to London Charing Cross: 31 and 50 mins past the hour (journey length 1hr 33)
Hastings to Victoria: 23 mins past the hour (journey 2 hr 13)
Hastings to St Pancras (changing at Ashford International): 27 mins past the hour (journey 1 hr 30)
Rail ticket: the walk notes tell us to buy a day return to Winchelsea, but a day return to Hastings any route permitted might offer more return options. Please make sure your ticket includes the High Speed legs of your journey.
Covid-19 Compliance: [until 19 July 2021] please note the current guidance on this website and observe social distancing. You should all come prepared to exchange contact details for track and trace purpose. You can either pre-register for this walk (not essential ) by e-mailing me at swc-marcus@walkingclub.org.uk or, if you prefer, please write your name, e-mail address and contact 'phone number on a small piece of paper for handing to me on the train or when we assemble at walk start. Thank you.
This is an invigorating walk, but not one for the faint hearted. The hard work - up and down steep glens - comes towards the end of the walk when you are already getting tired - so do please try to conserve your energy. But your efforts are well rewarded by fine views all day. Swimmers have the opportunity to recharge their batteries before the final steep glens by taking a dip at the secluded beach at Fairlight Glen - do please take care when descending the path down to the beach and back up.
The main walk starts at the remote railway station (a halt) of Winchelsea - some way from the old town. If starting your walk at Rye you take the well signed 1066 Country Walk path before joining the main walk when passing Winchelsea railway station. After a short section of road walking it's on then over fields and meadows and uphill to the village of Icklesham for an early lunch option, the popular The Queens Head with a good size beer garden. The walk continues down through farmland to the village of Pett, where you come to your second lunch stop option - the Royal Oak Inn. Recently reopened after a change in management post Covid lockdown, hopefully the pub is serving lunch today.
After lunch the walk continues down to Pett Level (a swimming beach) then up a series of paths to Fairlight, where detours to avoid cliff erosion take you to Hastings Country Park. You next come to the Glens - Warren, Fairlight (with beach down below) and Ecclesbourne. The last of these has been officially CLOSED since 2014. Locals - and some visiting walkers - have ignored the closure notices and walked up the rough terrain over the landslips. An alternative route complying with the path closure is included in the Walk Directions.
You finally arrive at the top of the last glen and come out onto the broad grassy plateau above Hastings. with fine views of the town below. You now head gently downhill to Hastings Old Town with a couple of good pubs, before continuing along the sea front of the New Town. The railway station is up the hill from the pedestrianised part of the town centre.
Many SWC walkers consider this walk to be one of the best if not the best in the original TO Book. Enjoy !
T=1.25
Walk Directions are here: L=1.25
4 comments:
I understand the that the England Ukraine match will be shown on Hastings Pier.
https://www.hastingsobserver.co.uk/news/people/fan-park-on-hastings-pier-for-football-fans-to-watch-euro-2021-matches-3176067
Gavin
Sorry - I will not be with you tomorrow - my dodgy knee is playing up (an old war wound).
if one of you could do the track and trace honours for me that would be appreciated.
i have a reservation at the Royal Oak pub, Pett, for 4 at 1 pm. Give my name and the table is yours (I will let the pub know 'aforehand).
Enjoy the walk - and again, I'm sorry I will not be with you.
Thirteen on this walk, I am told. I mean I was there, it sounds about right, but I did not bother to count because I was not expecting to do a walk report. Also some people joined later and local friends turned up to walk bits of the route, and all in all it is above my pay grade (especially as I don’t have any pay) to work this all out. So n=13 it is, and if you want to give a higher figure just write n= and the number in a comment and it will update the record.
The bad weather forecast was a blessing in one way. Southeastern put on a 12 carriage train out of St Pancras (good) but it would have been rammed if it had sunny (bad). As it was, it was not too busy, but much busier than it ought to have been on such a miserable day. Significant numbers of young people seemed to be going to Rye. What is it about that place that every twenty-something on the planet has to go there? But the connecting Marshlink train at Rye was at least a four carriage train, not the derisory two carriages we have had in the past.
Only SWC-ers and one startled indie walker got off at Winchelsea, which would have tripled its passenger stats for the week if we had bought tickets to Winchelsea, but since we had been told to get ones to Hastings it didn’t. The weather was grey and gloomy and paths quite muddy, but lush grasses and flowers reminded us it was summer. Climbing up to the Queen’s Head we encountered a big herd of cows and calves that even a former stockman in our group was wary of walking through. But as it turned out the cattle were more scared of us and ran off lowing.
It felt odd to pass the lovely Queen’s Head by, but we had a booking at the Royal Oak in Pett kindly made by our absent walk poster that we expanded from four to eight, and then made redundant by sitting outside anyway. They were friendly and attentive, but a bit slow with the food. About half an hour after we ordered someone else came to take our order, which was not encouraging. Then we had the old “we are just cooking it” and “We do have other customers” lines (aka “We forgot your order”). But the food when it came was very nice. Every dish looked interesting. So we award them a qualified tick.
There was some breaks in the cloud as we ate, prompting hope that the seaside bit would be sunny too. But in fact there was a tablecloth of mist on top of the Fairlight massif: you could not even see the sea from the cliff path. By now we had fragmented and so what follows is a partial and prejudiced account, but all the others I was with decided to do the high (non-dip) route into Hastings, and I hear one or two others did likewise.
Despite the gloom I felt I could not abandon this walk’s signature dips entirely. I skirted round the top of the first one (on a route known only to me and anyone who was done the Winchelsea to Hastings via Three Oaks walk) and as I was coming down into Fairlight Glen (dip two) there was definite light out to sea. I thought the weather might be clearing and went down to the beach. But any sunny interval had gone and the tide was at the awkward height where it conceals rocks but does not cover them with sufficient depth. So I went on without swimming.
Hardly had I emerged from Fairlight Glen when the sun broke through. It was then blue sky all the way into Hastings. (So w=murky-with-unexpected-sunny-bits) I got there at 6.15 and went for a swim: nice silvery light and a pleasant water temperature. Afterwards, despite the sun, Hastings was showing its less salubrious side to me, so I fled to the station. I decided the tight connection on the Marshlink-High Speed route was too risky, given that the Charing Cross route was only 10 minutes slower, so I took the latter, at 7.30pm. It was the quietest train I have been on for several months. I had a carriage to myself nearly all the way. I have a feeling there is a football match on…..
Well Walker, it's all very well saying you followed a route known only to yourself . . . the two who didn't eat in the pub, both newcomers to this walk, took a wrong turning after Fairlight Glen. After much debate, following dotted lines on our phones and being confused by reaching a caravan park which was not the one mentioned in the directions, we found ourselves on the wrong side of the fencing protecting the Ecclesbourne Glen landslip. However on doubling back, a kind local lady gave us directions to Hastings which, it turned out, was very close. We made the 1750 train which was quiet until Orpington. No time for refreshment and no refreshment options at the station or on the train. Got home in time to miss the first goal!
Post a Comment