Sunday Walk – Bluebell woods in the High Weald

Extra Walk 175 – Hever to Ashurst
Length: 16¼ or 19½ km (10.1 or 12.1 miles). Toughness: 4 or 5/10

09:55 East Grinstead train from Victoria (Clapham Jct 10:01), changing at Oxted (arr 10:38, dep 10:43; same platform) for the Uckfield train, arriving Hever at 10:55.

If you're travelling to East Croydon the Uckfield train starts from there at 10:21, but changing there from the East Grinstead train this Sunday is not recommended as you'd have to change platforms with only 3-4 minutes to do so. If something goes wrong and you end up taking the train an hour late, you could do the walk's shorter start from Cowden and get to the lunch pub at about the same time as the main group.

Trains back from Ashurst are hourly at 01 minute past and go to Oxted, where you change for Victoria.

There are some nice bluebell woods in this quiet part of the High Weald, away from the tourist coaches cluttering up the roads around Hever Castle and Penshurst Place on the other side of the railway line. After two hours of walking through remote hills and wooded valleys you'll come to the Fountain in Cowden, an attractive village pub deservedly popular with other walking and cycling groups. It's got a new conservatory and a large back garden, but call ahead if you want to be sure of a table inside.

The lunch and tea places are not far apart but you can extend the afternoon section with an extra two miles along a river valley if you wish. Your reward is a proper tearoom at the Perryhill Orchard Farm Shop, which incidentally sells a tempting range of local ciders (which you can taste beforehand). Note that it's a fairly hilly 4 km onwards to Ashurst station – at least an hour – so time your departure carefully as there's nothing to entertain you there if you're faced with a long wait for its hourly trains.

You'll need to print the directions from the Hever to Ashurst Walk page. T=swc.175

[Brecon Trip] Sunday Extra Walk - The Brecon Beacons Horseshoe – Bannau Brycheiniog

Length: 15.3 km (9.5 mi) or 22.8 km (14.2 mi)

Ascent/Descent: 740m or 1030m; Net Walking Time: 5 hours or 7 hours

Toughness:  8/10 or 10/10     

Meet at 09.30 in the south east corner of the Morrison’s car park in Brecon’s town centre, near the four-way road junction opposite the Bus Interchange (drivers: please bring your cars). 
The start of the walk is at the remote Neuadd Reservoir car park, map reference SO 036 170, 9 km north of Merthyr Tydfil, when all cars have arrived. Directions: Drive north from Merthyr Tydfil, past Pontsticill, along the west side of the large Pentwyn reservoir. Where the road bends right along the top of the reservoir (near CF48 2UT), go straight on (north) along a single track tarmac lane (the Neuadd Reservoir's access road) and continue to a Brecon Beacons National Park car park.

If we do have more walkers than spaces, the ‘spare’ walkers will have to either…

Take the 10.51 bus T4 (direction Merthyr Tydfil/Cardiff) to Storey Arms, arrives 11.07, and take the alternative start from there up to the ridge (see pdf). The only return bus is at 18.03. Or…

Take one the alternative start routes from Brecon to the ridge (see pdf).

The ridge linking the four table-top peaks  traversed on this walk (Corn Du, Pen y Fan, Cribyn, Fan y Big) forms the majestic core of the Central Brecon Beacons and contains the three highest tops in South Wales. As a result, this classic horseshoe walk around a steep sided glacial valley is amongst the best ridge walks in South Britain, featuring some spectacular views in all directions.

From a remote reservoir north of Merthyr Tydfil you climb steeply to reach the ridge, from where the gradient is mostly fairly gentle over good engineered paths as you follow a sequence of steep escarpments to Corn Du and Pen y Fan. Pen y Fan is the southern-most mountain in Britain and a large glacial grassy mound with steep glacial sides. Continuing along the ridge up to Cribyn and Fan y Big requires some steep descents and re-ascents, but both tops can be circumvented.

An out-and-back extension further along the ridge – to Waun Rydd alongside an upland bog – offers more superb views, lastly along the Usk Valley. This adds 7.5 km/4.7 mi and 288m ascent.

Route finding is easy (in clear weather), as the whole of the horseshoe route is visible at all times. Despite some steep drops this walk is not scary or dangerous, but it is exceptionally exposed to the elements.

Lunch: Picnic on the ridge.

Tea: lots of choice in Brecon (see pdf) or en route to Brecon in Talybont-on-Usk (see pdf) or in Libanus.

For all walk options, a summary, route map, height profile, photos, walk directions or gpx/kml files click here.T=swc.278

Sunday Walk – Remembering the First World War

Extra Walk 224 – Kingham to Moreton-in-Marsh, via Adelstrop
Length: 17.7 km (11.0 miles). Toughness: 3/10

09:35 Great Malvern train from Paddington, arriving Kingham at 11:15. Buy a return to Moreton-in-Marsh.

Return trains from Moreton-in-Marsh to Paddington are hourly at 13 minutes past to 20:13, then 21:08 & 22:08.

You may have noticed events earlier this month celebrating the centenary of Edward Thomas, who died at the battle of Arras in April 1917. This Cotswold walk passes the location of his celebrated poem and it seems an appropriate time to commemorate this Anglo-Welsh poet and indeed all the other lives lost in the trenches. And while you will surely enjoy the walk for its scenery and pretty villages, do read the walk's introduction (and the poem) before setting out.

On a Bank Holiday weekend it seems unlikely that you'll be able to get lunch at the suggested pub (the up-market Fox Inn at Lower Oddington) unless you book ahead. The walk notes suggest some other eateries on or near the route but it would be wise to bring enough provisions to sustain you in case these prove equally problematic. There shouldn't be any problem getting fed and watered in Moreton-in-Marsh before the longish journey home, and with the relatively early start you might be in time for its tea rooms as well as its pubs.

You'll need to print the directions from this pdf document. T=swc.224

Saturday Walk - Cuxton Circular

Saturday Walk: Cuxton Circular

Length: 11 Miles (17.5km) 6 out of 10

This is a variant of the Cuxton to Halling walk, and for the last third of the walk, gives a different perspective on the start of the Cuxton To Snodland (which you do in reverse to create the circular walk. The walk instructions include how to do this). T=3.173

Trains: The 1022 from St Pancras International. Change at Strood (arr 1057 depart 1104 on the Tonbridge train) arr Cuxton at 1108. There is also a slow train from Charing Cross at 0939 London Bridge 0946 to Gillingham arr Strood 1049.
Return trains at xx22 & xx52

Lunch: There are three pubs in Cobham, 4.5 miles (7¼ km) into the walk. The suggested place is the Leather Bottle (01474-814327), which serves a good selection of home-made food and has a large back garden. Earlier you pass the Ship Inn (01474-814326) and the Darnley Arms (01474-814218). If you want to eat slightly later you could make a short detour to the Cock Inn (01474-814208) in Henley Street.

Tea: Cuxton has the White Hart pub (01634-711857) at the top of Station Road, while a short detour will take you past a mini-market in the village.

Saturday Walk - A gentle walk with lots of bluebells

Book 1, walk 47 - Ockley to Warnham
Length: 16.5km (10.3 miles)
Toughness: 3 out of 10

9.31 train from Victoria (Clapham Junction 9.37, Sutton 9.59) arriving 10.36.

There looks likely to be a group of Metropolitan Walkers on this train also, but they are getting off at Holmwood, the stop before Ockley and are going a different way: no fraternising!!

Buy a day return to Warnham.

For walk directions click here.

This should be the best weekend for bluebells and our website's Where to Find Flowers page says this walk has bluebells in "lots of places, throughout the walk". I wrote that, so it must be true.

Certainly this walk has lots of little woods and shady corners where bluebells ought to lurk, and otherwise passes through gentle countryside which will place a lot fewer demands on you than climbing a Welsh mountain (to take a random example).

Lunch is usually had at the Scarlett Arms - a "walker-friendly pub" but quite a small one and one with a somewhat quirky ordering system, from memory. Ringing it at the start of the walk might not be an awful idea. There is also an earlier option - the Punch Bowl - reached by a small diversion off the route, which could also be worth checking out.

Tea is at the lovely Sussex Oak in Warnham, which has a nice garden and serves gorgeous puddings.

Don't linger too long over tea, however, as the last train back from Warnham is 18.08 (the previous ones being 08 past the hour) and it takes 20 minutes to walk from the pub to the station.

If you miss the last train, there is an 18.41 southbound to Horsham (the last train in that direction), but you will be taking a replacement bus service from there to Three Bridges before picking up a train to Victoria  - a tortuous business, but better than sleeping in the fields.T=1.47

[Brecon Trip] Saturday Walk - South Britain’s best ridge walk: The Black Mountain – Y Mynydd Du (Glyntawe Circular)

Length: 21.9 km (13.7 mi) [shorter walk options available]

Ascent/Descent: approx. 1000m; Net Walking Time: 7 hours

Toughness:  10/10     

Meet at 08.50 in the south east corner of the Morrison’s car park in Brecon’s town centre, near the four-way road junction opposite the Bus Interchange (drivers: please bring your cars). We’ll then allocate walkers to cars. The start of the walk is in Glyntawe at the bus stop by the bridge over the River Tawe. This is on the A4067, south west of Brecon, Grid Reference SN 846 167.

Both publicans in Glyntawe have expressed their strong preference that walkers who spend all day on the hill, do NOT park their cars in the pub car parks. Please use one of the few side roads off the A-road (and not the small lay-by by the church either).

In the case of more walkers than spaces, the ‘spare’ walkers will have to…

Take the 09.10 bus T6 (direction Abertawe/Swansea) to Glyntawe (Tawe Bridge), arrives Glyntawe 09.43. [Missed the bus? Take the 10.10]. Return buses run at 16.23, 17.23 and 19.23.

In any case, the walk will not start before the bus has passed through.

The Black Mountain (Y Mynydd Du in Welsh), in the Western Brecon Beacons, is often referred to as the last wilderness in the Brecon Beacons National Park and a walk along it as South Britain’s best ridge walk. It traverses a series of high peaks along a sequence of steep dramatic escarpments and features some of the most spectacular upland scenery in Britain. The route involves remote and rugged terrain, with a couple of glacial lakes and superb mountain views and leads almost entirely through open country.

From the Tawe Valley you rise steeply up a grassy hillside onto the first ridge, Fan Hir, and soon follow its edge with some far views to the two famous peaks in the Central Beacons: Pen y Fan and Corn Du. After dropping into a saddle you re-ascend to Fan Brycheiniog and then onto the northerly top Fan Foel. The views of the moorland and open country to the north are spectacular, and reveal the isolation of the range. Turn west through a deep saddle to conquer the even more spectacular ridge of Bannau Sir Gaer.

The return route along the bottom of the steep escarpments, past some glacial lakes and moraines, reveals a different and fascinating perspective of the high buttresses and some steeply carved valleys below.

Shorter circular or out-and-back options, as well as a start from near the northerly end, are described on the webpage and on page 2 of the pdf.

An alternative return route from the last top initially leads through open pathless, sometimes boggy, moorland, then through a veritable moonscape of shake holes, swallow holes, pot holes and limestone pavement before dropping back into the Tawe Valley (Cwm Tawe in Welsh).

Lunch: Picnic on the ridge.

Tea: Tafarn Y Garreg pub or The Gwyn Arms (note: this latter pub has somewhat conflicting policies regarding walkers: no walking boots, but no socks only either).

For all walk options, a summary, route map, height profile, photos, walk directions or gpx/kml files click here.T=swc.279

[Early Start!] Cotswold Way : Chipping Camden to Winchcombe

I'm going to be walking a section of the Cotswold Way on Saturday 29th April ... There are some extremely cheap fares available at the moment:

Paddington to Moreton-in-Marsh costs £6 (£3.95 for senior rail card holders) The bus from Moreton-in-Marsh to Chipping Camden costs £3.30 (free for London freedom pass holders, I assume).

I'm not sure how much the bus from Winchcombe to Cheltenham costs. The coach journey from Cheltenham to London costs £4 + £1 booking fee

My plan for the day is to catch the 06.21 from Paddington, arriving Moreton-in-Marsh at 07.57. The bus departs for Chipping Camden at 08.47, arriving at 09.14. The walk from Chipping Camden to Winchcombe is 17.9 miles (28.6 km) and has about 600 m ascent and 660 m descent. I estimate walking time to be about 7½ hours. The coach leaves Cheltenham at 20.00, arriving back in London at 22.50.
-- David F T=ldp.12

May Bank Holiday Weekend - The Brecon Beacons

The Brecon Beacons – Up to 5 Days of Walking

Book trains now, cheap Advance tickets are available now for both legs (13/02/17)!
For Abergavenny: to get the cheapest possible Advance tickets, you have to book split tickets London - Newport and Newport - Abergavenny, due to different operators on those lines. 
More detailed postings for the individual walks will follow…    

Arrive in Brecon anytime on Friday 28 April, either by car, or by train and bus:

·         Paddington – Abergavenny plus Bus Line 43/X43 from the bottom of Station Road,

·         Paddington – Merthyr Tydfil or Cardiff plus Bus Line T4,

·         Paddington – Neath (or Swansea) plus Bus Line T6 from Neath Bus Station [5 mins away]).

If you arrive early in the day, check out the Tourist Information, they have brochures for whiling away the afternoon (a town map and guide, a town walk, a couple of woodland walks etc.), as well as some useful stuff for the days ahead, should you want to opt out of below group walks (a 'Mountain Walks by Bus' brochure, Maps, Commercial Walking Guide Books etc.). Stay either in Brecon  (lots of B&B’s, some hotels), or in the Llwyn-y-Celyn Youth Hostel (some distance away, but on Bus Line T4 and also an alt. start for the walk on Day 2 and 4) or anywhere else in the area if you have a car.

Preliminary proposed schedule, based on the current bus schedules (picnic lunch on all but one of the walks): 
 

·    Sat 29/04  SWC 279 The Black Mountain – Y Mynydd Du (Glyntawe Circular)

South Britain’s best ridge walk, an exhilarating expedition into ‘the last wilderness’ in the Brecon Beacons, featuring some of the most spectacular upland scenery in Britain.

09.15 Bus T6 from Brecon Interchange to Glyntawe (Tawe Bridge), arrives 09.46.

21.9 km (13.7 mi), 1000m ascent, 10/10, or 15.6 km (9.7 mi), 720m ascent, 8/10, or even shorter/easier versions, just out-and-back to one of the first tops on the ridge or 20.6 km (12.8 mi), 760m ascent, 9/10 (Alternative Ending via Shake Holes Route). Return buses: 15.25/16.25/17.25/19.25. There are two pubs in Glyntawe to while away the time...

·    Sun 30/04  SWC 278  Brecon Beacons Horseshoe – Bannau Brycheiniog

Ridge walk linking four distinguished table-top peaks (Pen y Fan, Corn Du, Cribyn and Fan y Big), best started from a remote car park, then it’s: 15.3 km (9.5 mi), 740m ascent, 8/10; else with a choice of 8 (!) different approach routes to the ridge, adding some distance and ascent to the core horseshoe walk, some busable (10.51 bus T4 to Storey Arms, arrives 11.07), one starting from the Youth Hostel mentioned above, others starting straight from Brecon; we’ll decide the evening before, based on weather forecast and appetite for distance and height, which route people prefer, and may well split up right at the start (the write-up is in the usual detailed SWC-style, so that no one should fear getting lost if they walk a different route than the main group).

There is also the option of doing the  horseshoe plus an extension loop  along the Waun Rydd upland peat bog, of course, the possibilities are endless…

·    Mon 01/05  SWC 280 Henrhyd Falls – Sgwd Henrhyd (Craig y Nos Circular)

An idyllic Country Park on the River Tawe, a clifftop stretch above the river, a spectacular wooded ravine up to South Wales’ highest waterfall, and back via lanes, fields and bridleways, with a very good lunch pub and a proper tea stop. 08.50 or 10.55 Bus T6 from Brecon Interchange to Craig y Nos (alternative start: Glyntawe, same bus), arrives 09.27/11.37 respectively. Last return bus: 16.03! 13.4 km (8.3 mi), 270m ascent, 3/10.

Want more distance and height? Join me in exploring a variation of the morning route by climbing up to the Cribarth plateau first to pick up the route in Ynyswen.

Want still more distance and height? Walk SWC 279 again, but with the other ending (08.50 bus, but last return bus is 16.09, so no dawdling…)

·   Tue 02/05  As you wish, any walk from any walking book or just anything else we fancy, but I would suggest to try SWC 278 again, but chose one of the 8 ascent routes we haven’t walked on the Sunday, spend some time on the ridge w/out doing the full horseshoe and walk down a different descent route. The weekday bus schedule also brings into play a Talybont-on-Usk start of finish (line 43/X43 Brecon – Abergavenny, as above).

  

·   Wed 03/05  As you wish, Sugarloaf maybe?

p.s.  if the suggestions for the Saturday and the Sunday sound too tough for you, why not try the ‘Tourist Versions’ of the two walks, as featured on our website: SWC 86 and SWC 85 ?

p.p.s.  for a mountain weather forecast for the area we’ll walk in, either check our very own website on the respective walk's page, for example here, under the tab 'Mountain', or try the ever reliable Mountain Weather Information Service (funded by the Scottish Government) and their forecast for the Brecon Beacons here. There are also live webcams at the Brecon Beacons National Park’s Visitor Centre, available here.

p.p.p.s.  your options for getting out of Brecon by bus on the Sunday or the Bank Holiday are fairly limited: either  take the T6 to Neath or Swansea (15.37 and 17.37 straight from the waterfall walk ending in Craig y Nos, or at 15.00/17.00 from Brecon after going back there first to fetch your luggage), or  the 16.51 T4 from Brecon to Merthyr Tydfil.