Length: 16.6 km (10.3 miles). Option to return to Pulborough after lunch on a 6 mile, flat circuit, or a little later via the Wild Brooks - 8.3 miles
Toughness: 6 out of 10 One steady climb up onto the South Downs. Remainder easy going. Shorter options both avoid the climb onto the Downs
London Victoria: 10-05 hrs Southern service to Portsmouth & Southsea & Bognor Regis CJ 10-12, EC 10-23 hrs
Arrive Pulborough: 11-19 hrs
Return: 17 mins past the hour
Rail ticket: buy a day return to Amberley
This is the sister walk to SWC 8 - Billingshurst to Amberley, and although the walk-ends are the same, and both walks share an excellent lunch pub (one of the best in the SWC repertoire) the walks are quite different. Today's walk is also quite different from the Pulborough Circular walk posted recently on a Sunday. If you went on either of these walks you should enjoy today's walk as well.
We start on the flat as we leave Pulborough and head through farmland and over fields to the village of Nutbourne, where we stop for lunch at the Rising Sun pub, or picnic nearby.
After lunch we soon walk along the edge of Pulborough Brooks to the hamlet of Wiggonholt to visit its remote, charming church. Next up is the RSPB Pulborough Brooks Visitor Centre, where we can purchase tea, before continuing through woods until we reach a road called Rackham Street. The next section is a bit tedious as we head along this minor road for a mile and a half until we arrive at the base of the South Downs, which we ascend - our exercise for the day ! Once up on top it's the ridge path or through access land (softer on the feet) until we drop down High Titten (road) to Amberley, not far from the railway station. If open, the Bridge Inn next to the station makes for an excellent post-walk refreshment stop.
T=swc.9
Walk Directions are here L=swc.9
4 comments:
Please note that the route of this walk has changed slightly after lunch. So if you are one of these people who store old GPX tracks or walk directions for re-use, you might like to download the new version.
The change avoids a horrid walker-unfriendly farm just after Nutbourne. Instead it goes along the edge of a vineyard (much more middle classs…). It means you turn left out of the pub, not right as before.
The old path still works, if you don’t mind discarded farm machinery, aggressive cattle and picking your way through a mucky farmyard wondering where the path is.
The posted train from Victoria was meant to separate at Horsham, but due to lack of train crew, this did not happen, and our service to Bognor, calling at Pulborough, was cancelled. So 11 of us got off at Horsham and waited for the next service, fortunately only 30 minutes later, which duly arrived on time. Waiting patiently for the train travellers at Pulborough was one car driver, and so n=12 of us set off on today's walk only slightly behind schedule. To make up time to ensure we arrived at the lunch pub at lunchtime, our car driver took us on an attractive short-cut to Nutbourne, which worked very well, and we reached the Rising Sun at 1 pm. 6 of us decided to dine in the pub's pleasant back garden, and most of us sipped Harvey's Sussex beer (excellent) whilst waiting for our meals to arrive. The wait was a long one (pub short staffed) but well worth it as the food when it arrived was well up to this pub's high standard. One or two of our picnickers joined us for a drink before 5 of them opted to head off on the afternoon leg. The diners suitably replete set off 30 minutes later. The walk author's new route after the pub is a major improvement on the farm route and we observed the vines in the vineyard to be laden with bunches of red grapes, due for harvesting in a week or two.
We were fortunate with the weather today. It was w=mostly-sunny-and-comfortably-warmish with a gentle breeze at times, ideal for today's adventure. On reaching the RSPB centre in Pulborough Brooks early afternoon 3 decided to take tea there, with at least one taking the circular route back over the Brooks to Pulborough. That left 4 of us to continue to Amberley where we were reunited with the picnickers at the railway station. The 17-17 hrs service arrived on time to take 9 of us home, having enjoyed a fine day's walking in the best SWC company. During the day the walk's author had e-mailed me say he had wanted to join us on the walk but had to call in sick. We wish him a speedy recovery and thank him for writing such an excellent walk, full of variety, with one good stiff climb up onto the Downs to remove the cobwebs : and the views "on top" were wonderful today in the bright sunshine.
Correction to my walk report below: the car driver was actually on the train - having intentionally taken the service half an hour after our posted service: no-one saw him board the train. He also tells me he had one companion for his walk back to Pulborough from the RSPB centre, with the other walker who stopped for tea at the centre continuing alone to Amberley on a solo walk - I hope she made it OK.
The Overground to CLJ was down as well. Otherwise you would have had Unlucky 13 tagging along behind, whistling a happy tune and smiling a smiley face
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