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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 15 September 2018

Saturday walk - Lewes to Saltdean - the downs and a possible last sea swim

Length: 15.5km (9.6 miles), with a possible extension to Brighton of up to 4.9 miles
Toughness: 4 out of 10

9.46 train from Victoria (9.53 Clapham Junction, 10.03 East Croydon) to Lewes, arriving 11.11

Buy a day return to Lewes, which is also valid for return from Brighton

For walk directions click here. For GPX click here.

There seems to be a break in the Brighton line engineering works this week, so I am nipping in with this downland classic. A beautiful downland walk in the morning, with fine views and a long gentle descent to Rodmell for lunch at the Abergavenny Arms **, which serves food until 2.45. Then a further easy section over the hills to descend to the sparkling sea at Saltdean.

One last last sea swim might be possible here - the tide will be high at tea time - or at nearby Rottingdean a kilometre or so to the west along the cliff bottom promenade. (Rottingdean also has a bigger selection of tea options: see below).

Optional extension: you can you can then, if you wish, walk along the cliff bottom promenade for all or part of the 3.9 miles to Brighton Pier (you can go inland at several points and get the bus if you are tired of walking) and then 1 mile further on to the station. Directions, if you need them, are on page 7 and 8 of this document - details of Rottingdean tea stops are on page 2 and 3 of the same document - or for GPX see here.

Trains back from Brighton are myriad and varied: the fastest Victoria trains are the 18 and 48 past, but there are others, plus whatever services Thameslink deign to offer us today. T=2.24

** My apologies to this week's Wednesday walkers for whom this is a repeat of their morning route. But the two walks have very different purposes: yours is a grand vigorous circuit, ours designed to be a gentle stroll. And not everyone can walk Wednesdays. And there are two other walks to choose from on Saturdays. And it is FOUR YEARS since this walk had a "summer" outing.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Hoping to join you for at least part of the walk. Just in case you were thinking of finishing at Southease and getting the train back to Lewes there are no trains on this line tomorrow. Not sure about buses.

Walker said...

N=37 on this walk, possibly more - but in the maelstrom of Lewes station that was how many I was able to count.

Apologies that the train down went via Brighton due to engineering works: I had not noticed this detail on the timetable. Apologies we did not “do names”, but with the station busy with replacement bus services and such a big turnout, it was hard to find a suitable spot.

A lovely w=sunny day. The downs looked beautiful. Tuscany, Provence, the Alps - does anywhere look as fair as the Lewes to Rodmell walk on a glorious early autumn day? We descended on the Abergavenny Arms like a plundering army and they coped for a bit and then stopped taking orders, then relented. I think everyone who wanted to eat was served within an hour.

After lunch 14 took a slightly longer route direct to Rottingdean: others did the standard route. Tea was had in various places. At least 15 people swam in the sea at Saltdean or Rottingdean - possibly a record for an SWC walk. The sea was sparkling and nicely lively and not so very very cold.

Later some of us had a seaside drink and then a Thai meal in Brighton. At least two set out to walk from Rottingdean to Brighton.

There were one or two newbies on the walk who we hope enjoyed our chaotic approach and will come again.

It was a big group, so if you have some other experience of the walk you want to share, please do.