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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.

Wednesday 5 October 2016

Wednesday Walk - Undulating walk through 1066 Country: Battle Circular

SWC Walk 30 – Battle Circular (in Reverse)

Length: 20.3 km (12.7 mi)
Ascent/Descent:  450 m; Net Walking Time: ca. 5 hours
Toughness:  6 out of 10 

Take the 10.15 train to Hastings from Charing Cross (10.18 W’loo East, 10.23 London Bridge, then Orpington, Sevenoaks, Tonbridge etc.), arriving Battle at 11.42
Return trains: 17.01, 17.36, 18.07, 18.36, 19.02, xx.07 hours (about 90 mins journey time).  

Long journey on – possibly – the slowest railway line in the south east to a walk through 1066-Country, centred on the charming and picturesque town of Battle. Woods, valleys, far views, fairly undulating, and well worth it.

With this necessarily late start, we’ll reverse the walk (yes, yes: it’s therefore map/gpx-led), so that the lunch stop can be in Netherfield (6.5 km/4.0 mi) with two good pubs to choose from, rather than in Catsfield, with its rather basic, if charming, one pub. Our options are: The White Hart  (food to 14.30) and the Netherfield Arms.
For tea there’s lots of choice in Battle, first and foremost The Pilgrim’s Rest, but also plenty of cafés (you’d need to put your skates on to get back in time for those, of course…).
For walk directions, map, height profile, some photos, and gpx/kml files click here.

Next Week: Book 1 Walk 6 - Liphook to Haslemere; 15.0 km; 4/10 rating. (Wye Circular is pp'd to Nov due to the pub being closed next week)
T=swc.30

10 comments:

Thomas G said...

Intend going.

Anonymous said...

me 'n deputy dawg hope to go..

Jem Bowen said...

Hoping to come tomorrow for the first time

Jem Bowen said...

How will I recognize you guys at Charing Cross Station?

Anonymous said...

meet at the end of the journey on platform.
me & dawg not fit enough yet for this 13 miler..

Jem Bowen said...

Thanks - Sorry you're not coming!
Thomas G? Hope you can make it!
Jem

Thomas G said...

sure, as will others, you're not going to be stuck just with me...

Jem Bowen said...

LOL - Great! See you tomorrow!

Thomas G said...

1 on an earlier train (caught at lunch), 2 off a later train (1 befuddled by the new arrangements at LBG, 1 missing a connection to Orpington), 13 off the posted slow coach to Hastings, i.e.: n=16 walkers in total on this perfect day for a country walk, namely w=sunny-with-a-cooling-easterly-wind.
Walking this in reverse worked well with the late start, as if you're going to miss out on the cafes in Battle on the return anyway, you might as well get the road walking through town along the High Street out of the way in the morning. It also meant we walked 'into the view' from lunch, i.e.: towards the sea and the rolling hills.
Reverse-reading the directions proved to be relatively straightforward, a couple of times though with kind assistance of the gpx-ers.
Most people hadn't done this walk before, so they were a bit surprised by the beauty of it, the rolling hills, far views, quiet varied woods etc.
Lunch at the Netherfield Arms was just perfect, and the later White Hart in Catsfield proved a temptation not to be resisted by most of the group. We were caught there by the late starters, and most of us then had another drink and/or cake in Battle at the Abbey Hotel.
Jolly day out, 18.36 train for the three-stoppers.

PeteB said...

Just a couple of points to add to Thomas's post. The later stages of the walk were the best. The stretch past Penns Wood, up Tent Hill with glorious views looking back and then onward to Stevens Crouch was some of the best walking I've done for a while. I also can't recall walking alongside or through any arable fields.
How about reversing some other walks? Some old classics would work really well; Seaford to Glynde next Spring anyone?