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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 14 July 2018

Balcombe to Horsham

t=SWC.312

Length: 27km / 16m
Toughness: 7 / 10
Transport: Take the 8:20 from London St Pancras / 8:35 London Bridge / 8:49 East Croydon arriving in Balcombe at 9:16. Return from Horsham via various slow and fast trains to London Victoria. The fast trains are roughly at xx:20 and xx:50. I suggest to buy a day return to Horsham.

This the first outing of this new walk. It follows the morning section of the Balcombe Circular before exploring new territory. Its main features are the woods and water features of the High Weald in particular St Leonards forest and the source and upper reaches of the Arun before finishing in the old market town of Horsham.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

how come so early please?

Anonymous said...

If you don’t want to do either of the two long walks in this hot weather and don’t fancy swimming, you can certainly adapt this walk to Balcombe circular instead - book one walk.

Anonymous said...

Train for Balcombe is every 30mins. 9:20am or 9:50am for later start especially if you do Balcombe circular.

Anonymous said...

Hello,
Could you tell me where the swimming opportunities are on this walk? I looked in the directions but can't see it.
Thanks

Anonymous said...

Hello, where is the meeting point?

Bill S said...

People will gather together on the platform at Balcombe station after getting of the train - they will be easy to see. You may also be able to spot fellow walkers on the train, though they are unlikely to be all sat together in the same carriage.

Re. swimming opportunities, I assume this was reference to the Folkestone walk.

Anonymous said...

I’ve missed the train so half an hour late, if anyone is in the same shoes. See you at Balcombe

Monique said...

7 off the train at Balcombe (including one walker with a dog). 1 walker later struck out alone for a Balcombe circular walk. There were several streams and ponds/lakes and it was largely through a mix of pine and deciduous woodland which kept the temperature bearable, as it was a hot and sticky day. Some parts were pretty challenging due to the nettles and brambles which had sprung up since Dirk last walked it in April. A few people inevitably ended up with scratched limbs. There were a few sections of this walk which would be quite muddy in the autumn/winter. Lunch was at the Wheatsheaf pub, a quirky place with a multitude of eccentric decorations, a live parrot at the bar (perched outside of its cage saying the occasional ‘hello’), stuffed animals on an overhead shelf, numerous models such as aeroplanes hung from the ceiling etc, etc. It is spacious and friendly but the food is pretty average pub-grub. Outside there is a large garden with a children's play area. Also a lovely verandah, shaded by vines, and there we had lunch. At that point, 2 more walkers turned up, they had come by car and done a circular nearby. Talk then turned to the new/old SWC Scotland trip; they didn’t join us for the afternoon part of the walk, which was about 10 miles. However, 2 more walkers then also appeared to join us for lunch, they’d missed the appointed train, so there were 8 walkers in the afternoon. We finished in Horsham with a drink at a pub whose name I can’t remember, the pub was pretty busy with darts players and the remnants of the World Cup Final viewers but there was a quiet outside area. 5.50pm train back to London. Lovely walk Dirk – thanks for devising/posting.

Monique said...

Apologies, - obviously not the World Cup Final...but England's pretty miserable effort against Belgium for third place. Several disillusioned England fans venting their spleen in the pub...!

Thomas G said...

n=8 (I think) w=hot-and-sticky

Monique said...

Ref lunch and picnic eaters (as the lunch write-up was pretty pub-centric); the sandwich-eaters ate at the scenic lake just before the pub, there were a few benches overlooking the lake. When you get to the Wheatsheaf pub there is nowhere really to sit and eat sandwiches as it’s on a main road/T-junction.