Length: 15 km (9.3 miles)
Toughness: 7 out of 10 Some steady ascents after lunch, and one before lunch
London Victoria: 10-05 hrs Southern service to Portsmouth Harbour and Bognor Regis CJ: 10-12, EC: 10-23, Horsham: 11-04 hrs
Arrive Arundel: 11-28 hrs
Return 15-47, 16-13, 16-45, 17-13, 17-46, 18-13hrs and later
Mid-week walkers have tried this mix-and-match walk on a couple of occasions in recent years, and they liked it, so let's now introduce Saturday walkers to it - I don't think they will be disappointed.
Leaving Arundel railway station on walk SWC 100 we walk beside the River Arun for a while until heading inland and then up Warningcamp Hill, to enjoy a fine view from its summit. It is on then to through the village of Wepham to the village of Burpham, where we stop for an early lunch at The George, popular with SWC walkers. Picnickers can either stop at the benches just outside the churchyard opposite the pub, or in the nearby cricket field.
After lunch we continue alongside the River Arun to the hamlet of South Stoke, with its lovely little church (usually open). Those wanting a shorter and easier afternoon could stick with the SWC 100b route and head back down the valley to Arundel, but the preferred route is to switch to Book 1, Walk 32 (in the reverse direction). We go along a woodland path above the river before we head through a gate in the estate wall to enter the modest back garden belonging to the Duke of Norfolk - Arundel Park. We now negotiate a number of ascents before we drop down through the vast grassy parkland, with fine views all around. One more chalky path steadily uphill towards Hiorne Tower (a folly) and then we leave the Park to head downhill into the centre of Arundel, passing on the way Arundel (Roman Catholic) Cathedral on your right and Arundel Castle on your left. In town you will find tea shops and pubs for post-walk refreshments.
T=swc.100.b
4 comments:
Lovely area, but a long way for a short walk. Not dark til 6. Anyone up for an extension? Thank you.
I don't understand the mileage.
Why 13.0 m and then 9.3?
Austen
Hi Austen
I guess because there are lots of options in SWC.100. By doing the Warningcamp Hill and Burpham start before reverting to the Book 1 walk, in reverse, today's posted walk length is 9.3 miles. But there are longer - and shorter - options available depending on the route you wish to take. Something for everyone.
A baker's dozen for the walk, plus one other SWC walker who opted to spend her day sightseeing in Arundel, visiting the Castle and Cathedral. As she joined us for her journey home, I will include her in the headcount, so that's n=14.
The morning leg was fairly dry underfoot and the riverside path was not muddy for once. However, on the journey down we noticed from the train windows plenty of flooded fields and the burst banks of the River Arun in places - a warning for what was to come. We reached the George Inn in Burpham after just over an hours very pleasant walking. Eight of us dined with some of the sandwichers joining us for a drink. Most of the diners chose the venison pie - which was delicious ! Two of the sandwichers set out before the rest of us to beat the bounds of the Book 1 afternoon leg (in reverse), only to return to the George and report the fields below the pub were flooded and unpassable . So back to the drawing board to devise an alternative route. Fortunately, we had the SWC 100 Walk Author with us, who is never knowingly shy in including lots of options in his walks - so with his help we managed to find alternative afternoon routes: 3 returned to Arundel on the Riverside path (I believe) and most of the rest set off on the Book 1 walk to Amberley (the sandwichers twenty minutes before the diners). At the path junction where the Book 1 route took us up a long flight of steep steps the Walk Author opted to recce the flat route to Amberley via North Stoke, to check if this route was passable when adjoining water meadows were soggy. Result - it was - but only just. For the rest of us, having regained our breath at the top of the steps, our onward journey along the top of the Downs before the descent to Amberley was straightforward, dry and most enjoyable. I believe 3 went into the village proper for tea, leaving the rest of us to descend High Titten. We had just enough time for tea at the Bridge Inn (the riverside cafe having closed at tea time !).It transpired all but the Walk Author were on the 16-17 hrs train from Amberley, our author having caught the service one hour before us, and our journey home was uneventful.
As for the weather, it was w=overcast-and-cloudy-all-day-but-very-mild. It didn't matter that the sun failed to make an appearance all day as I believe all enjoyed their eventful short walk today of between 7.5 and 8 miles.
If perchance any of our "longer walkers" set out on the 13 mile version of the SWC 100 walk and travelled down to Arundel on the service an hour before the rest of us, do please file your own report. It would be interesting to learn if you found any part of your route flooded, necessitating a diversion or two.
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