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This Week's Walks - Archive

Please see the Saturday Walker's Club This Week's Walks page.

This is an archive of walks done by the Saturday Walker's Club. You should only need to use this page if the SWC website is down.

Saturday 17 October 2015

Saturday Second Walk - A South Downs Ramble


SWC Walk 25 (in reverse and with the alternative ending) – Eastbourne to Glynde
First posting of this version of the walk (so the SWC files suggest, anyway)

Length: 26.2 km (16.3 mi), ascent:  644 m, net walking time: ca. 6 ½ hours
Toughness:  9 out of 10                        
or: Eastbourne to Berwick  (20.3 km/12.6 mi, 470m ascent, 6/10)

Take the 09.16 train from Victoria (09.22 CJ, 09.32 EC), arriving Eastbourne at 10.44
Return trains: XX.23 (change in Brighton!, 80 minutes journey time, 5 mins earlier from Berwick). Buy an Eastbourne return ticket.

To make use of one of the last long days: a longish South Downs ramble with three notable ascents, but very few sea views. This is because the route follows the inland variant of the easterly end of the South Downs Way, instead of the well-trodden Beachy Head-route. So, once out of Eastbourne and up on the Downs, you turn north towards the picturesque village of Jevington and then via the Long Man of Wilmington down into the Cuckmere Valley to Alfriston. From there it's back onto the South Downs to follow the ridge all the way to Beddingham Hill, where you turn north down to Glynde.

This is a map-lead walk, but it is very easy to follow. For a map, a height profile and gpx/kml files look here.

An early lunch stop could be The Eight Bells in Jevington (10.1 km/6.3 mi), but realistically lunch should be further along in Alfriston, for example at The George (15.3 km/9.7 mi).
For tea the splendid Trevor Arms in Glynde is an ideal stop close by the station.

You should be fine for light, as sunset will be just after 18.00, giving sufficient light up to 18.30, but if you have a head torch, why not bring it? Also: Alfriston is reached after about 3/5 of distance and effort, so it will be easy to gauge whether you are on schedule to get to Glynde in daylight. If running late, just walk the shortcut to Berwick instead…For the shortcut, you head north from Alfriston to Berwick station (and The Berwick Inn opposite), either directly along the Vanguard Way (20.3 km/12.6 mi, 470m ascent, 6/10 rating), passing The Cricketers Arms in Berwick village along the way, or via Alciston village (21.9 km/13.6 mi, 470m ascent, 7/10 rating) passing The Rose Cottage Inn there.
For details of these shortcut routes check the map here.

T=swc.25
L=swc.25

5 comments:

Anonymous said...
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Pia said...

Has anyone considered ending at Berwick and visiting St Michael and All Angels Church (open till dusk) which has some very inetersting murals painted by members of the Bloomsbury group, like Duncan Grant, Vanessa Bell and Quentin Bell? link below.

http://www.berwickchurch.org.uk/bloomsbury%20at%20berwick%20home.html

Thomas G said...

n=12 w=dry-with-some-sunny-intervals

12 walkers initially, but down to 11 after a while, as a second-time SWCer found that she couldn't make the pace needed to reach the destination in daylight (and had neither map nor headtorch), and therefore reluctantly turned back to E'bourne. Fabulous views, plenty of passing clouds, but not a single drop of rain, some wonderful side valleys and a fair few woods as well. Lunch at The George for about half of us, the rest had carried sandwiches, but joined us for a drink in the pub. 2 then opted for the short finishing in Berwick, 9 went on to Glynde. Of those at least 1 made the 17.23 train, all others were in time for the 18.23, but 4 stayed at The Trevor Arms for dinner and then took the 19.23.
The wind blew mostly from the back or the side, so we thought walking this East to West worked very well indeed (on the day), as you end at a station-side pub both in Glynde and in Berwick, as opposed to ending in the slightly distressing centre of Eastbourne.

Karen said...

A good day out. Nice to leave from Eastbourne in the morning rather than enduring the rather dispiriting trek along the promenade and through town at the end of a long day's walk. Lovely views throughout the day, an invigorating breeze, and great skies as the evening began to draw in. Most enjoyable.

Paul A said...

The otherworldly offshore structure seen from Eastbourne is identified on this map. Further information can be found here.

The shiny new facility spotted near Newhaven can be seen in this aerial view. Further information can be found in this exciting article from Waste Management World. Some of the inner workings can be seen in this engaging video featuring a giant claw and some sheep.