Length: 19.7 km (12.2 mi)
Ascent/Descent:
450 m; Net Walking Time: ca. 4 ¾ hours
Toughness:
6 out of 10
Take the 09.32 Southampton
Central & Bognor Regis train from Victoria, arriving Amberley at
10.55 (you have to be in the rear
part of the train, as it splits in Horsham).
Buy an Amberley return. Network RC not valid on this service!
Buy an Amberley return. Network RC not valid on this service!
Return
trains:
xx.23 and xx.55 to 18.23, then 19.01, 19.34, 19.59, 20.35, 21.35, 22.37,
23.08.
This
walk has not had an outing for a few years (the last time the train was
cancelled) and the text has not been revised for almost 10 years. We will take the
opportunity…
This walk starts with a climb up out of Amberley
village and the Arun valley onto the crest of the South Downs following the
South Downs Way (SDW) on a wide chalky track for 5 km to Bignor Hill,
with magnificent views on a fine day. Leaving the SDW, it descends to lunch at
a remote rural pub, the (once great) White Horse in Sutton. In the afternoon it routes through the flatter and more wooded Rother
valley, coming to a tea stop by the lovely medieval bridge at Stopham. From
there it’s a couple of km to Pulborough station.
Lunch:
Tea:
The White Hart at Stopham Bridge (2.3 km from the end);
The Banyan Tree restaurant (300m
beyond the station);
The Oddfellows Arms (1.2 km beyond the station);
The Chequers Hotel (650m beyond the
station).T=swc.39
Next
Week: Haslemere Circular (SWC 144 Option)
5 comments:
hi, I have not been on a wed walk before and just checking whether people actually turn up for these? do not want to walk alone! ellie
Hi Ellie
You can normally get a decent idea of attendances from the Walk Reports, but there have been three wet Wednesdays in a row which I think has dampened down enthusiasm recently. However, the couple of Wednesday walks I've been on were quite well attended. I may go tomorrow but I'm on SW Trains so it depends if they're not too disrupted.
n=13 today in w=fair weather. The chalky tracks were quite slippery and there was some mud in the woods, else all perfect today. Lunch at The White Horse was average to good. Tea at The White Hart superb, out on their terrace. 16.55 train for most. 2 apparently took a wrong turning in Stopham and ended up reverse-walking the start to SWC 128 (but how??? I'm intrigued...). 19.35 train for them.
On the third day I made a detour westward to avoid the country of the Band-lu, as I did not care to be detained by a meeting with To-jo. AND that is the second time this week I have walked SWC 128.
Needless to say Ellie pulled a no show. For any other newcomers the Wednesday walks have been posted for more than 10 years now and only bad weather reduces the numbers to 2-4 in my experience. The additional Tuesday and Thursday walks are to spread the numbers which have reached 21 on Wednesdays especially during the summer with extra day light for the benefit of the wine and supper longer walk fans. Marcus usually posts shorter walks for those needing to return to London at a regular time.
This regular walker can confirm that the unexpected extension of this walk to 15 miles after a lovely loose leaf tea stop in the beer garden of the Swan Pub came as quite a shock when we realised we had taken a wrong turn at Stopham church and missed the bus-stop for the station. Instead of re-tracing our steps we added another 5 miles and an hour and a half to finish on walk 128 backwards. Perhaps Thomas would like to add this to the walk check notes as a possible and very pretty extension for the longer walk fans!
Post a Comment