Length: 14.5km (9 miles) or 21km (13 miles)
Toughness: 5 out of 10 to Arundel: 7 out of 10 after Arundel
9.36 train from Victoria (9.43 Clapham Junction, 9.53 East Croydon) to Amberley, arriving 10.57.
Buy a day return to Arundel, if you intend to end there, or to Amberley, if you plan to do the longer circular walk. If you are not sure, get a day return to Arundel.
For walk directions click here. For GPX click here. For a map of the route click here.
For the extension from Arundel to Amberley, walk directions are here (start in the centre of Arundel by walking up the high street and follow the directions from paragraph 6), the GPX is here and a map is here.
The “book two” Amberley to Arundel does not get a lot of outings these days and due to its length tends to be confined to winter or midweek walks. This is a pity as it makes a lovely crossing of the South Downs, which at this time of year also has interesting wildflowers and butterflies. There is then a riverside walk into Arundel, with fine views of the castle, which is a lot nicer in summer than in winter mud.
One problem with the walk is that its lunch stop, the very nice George & Dragon pub in Burpham, can be very booked up (though it now does food on Saturdays to 3pm, not 2pm as stated in the walk’s home page). It is also two thirds of the way into the walk, leaving a very short afternoon at this time of year.
It occurs to me, though, that a solution would be to do the whole book two walk in one go (8.5 miles or so to Arundel town) and then have a late lunch there - there are lots of options. (Or lunch in Burpham and have tea in Arundel: again, lots of options.) After lunch/tea those that still have lead in their pencils could switch to the morning of the book one Arundel to Amberley walk. If you look at the Walk Options section of its directions you will see that they include an option to turn left along the river after the hilly Arundel Park and get back to Amberley in around 4.5 miles - a 13 mile circular walk in all. (Or there are even longer options outlined in the Walk Options for those who want them).
In Amberley the Bridge Inn is the reliable tea stop: or the Riverside Tea Room if you can get there before it closes at 5pm.
Trains back from Amberley are at 17 past to 21.17 (last train!)
Trains back from Arundel are at 13 and 46 past until 21.46
T=2.22
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4 comments:
Hi, New to group. What is the most wooded walk on Saturday? Keen on cover! Thank you very much.
On the proposed afternoon leg, having left Arundel Park through the gate in the wall, shouldn't one turn left for Amberley instead of left for Arundel as stated?
Should the title of the post not be AMBERLEY TO ARUNDEL BOOK TWO PLUS ONE?
Re wooded walk: I would say the Balcombe one, probably. Re the other points, will correct if I can
N=16 on this walk, including one late starter. To our surprise the weather was W=blazing-hot-sunshine, the forecasted cloud remaining to the north till early evening, when the lower temperatures it brought were quite welcome. The morning of the walk was as flowery as promised, with particularly good displays of bright blue chicory flowers - acres of them in fact. Views were sharp and clear, including the distant sea.
Several of us opted for the higher route over Wepham Down mid morning. Why this is an alternative and not the standard route I do not know, as it has magnificent views in its later stages. The walk directions say it is liable to be muddy in winter, but it was hard to believe it could be that much muddier than any other part of the walk. Those who did the standard route down the valley found it dull, with high hedges blocking the view.
In Burpham a wedding was taking place, but fortunately the reception was taking place in a nearby field rather than the pub, so all who wanted to eat in the George & Dragon were accommodated with ease. We sat at outside tables, with swifts screaming overhead, and only around fifteen cars squeezing past to get to the happy event. The onward walk took us through the wedding reception field (odd to be walking among the smartly dressed in walking kit) and on along the dreamy river bank with fine views of Arundel Castle. It was very hot and not a little humid on this section and on reaching Arundel at 3pm I certainly felt I had done a full walk. But it is wonderful what a bit of cake and a large amount of tea can do, and after it eight of us set off to walk back to Amberley through the rolling downland of Arundel Park.
At its northern end we had a sit down to admire the glorious view - the North Downs clearly visible. Down by the river we encountered a flooded path at one point - due to high tide, I think - but got round it fairly easily by diverting up through Houghton to the South Downs Way. We finished in the garden of the Bridge Inn with drinks and nice hot snacks for some (soup, whitebait, samosas, spring rolls) and got the 7.17 train.
Did the other eight finish in Arundel?
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