SWC 50 - Hassocks to Brighton
Length: 22.5 km (14 miles). Option to end walk after 12 km (7.5 miles)
Toughness: Main walk - 7 out of 10. Short walk - 6 out of 10
London Victoria: 09-55 hrs Brighton service CJ 10-02 hrs EC 10-11 hrs
Arrive Hassocks: 10-51 hrs
Return: Brighton to Victoria: 03 and 33 mins past the hour
Rail ticket: buy a day return to Brighton. Non-Senior Railcard users - use your travel card from Clapham Junction
This makes for a most pleasant summer outing up and over the South Downs. You have a choice of starts: the main route via Ditchling Village, or the "Jack and Jill" route if you want to spend more time on top of the Downs.
You have a choice of lunch stops, the first after 2.5 hrs of walking in Stanmer, at the Stanmer Country House. Forty minutes further on, having walked through the campus of Sussex University, you come to the The Swan Inn in Falmer, an unpretentious pub serving basic pub grub, a good pint and German Euro-Fizz. For other eating and picnicking options, please refer to the Directions.
In Falmer you can end your walk by taking the train to Brighton from the local station, close to Brighton & Hove Albion FC's impressive Amex Stadium.
Those continuing on the main walk you cross some large fields before you drop down to the village of Bevenden. Then you ascend a path to Brighton's Kemp Town Racecourse which you traverse (no racing today). At the end of the course you drop down some paths and - voila - and to your surprise - you find yourselves in Brighton by Brighton College. From there it a short(ish) walk through Kemp Town then along the sea front to the centre of Brighton with its choice of tea shops. The walk to the railway station is a bit of a drag, but you can take a bus if you have had enough walking by now.
At Brighton railway station, with more refreshment options, you should find two trains an hour to Victoria, and one or two to London Bridge. Do NOT take the Gatwick Express unless you are happy to pay a supplement for this marginally faster service back to Victoria.
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Walk Directions are here L=swc.50
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There is also a Blackfriars service at 9.39 which gets in at 10.38 to Hassocks. Worth considering given the Victoria disruption today, Tuesday, which may leak into Wednesday morning. Check departure boards early tomorrow, online.
n=9 on this pleasant walk into Brighton on a w=warm-sun-cloudy day. Picnickers stopped in Stanmer, with 4 of us pressing on to Falmer for lunch at the friendly Swann Inn. 1 returned from Falmer, 2 caught up at the pub & 6 of us walked on. 2 faint-hearts got the bus at Bevenden - to avoid tarmac. 3 of us walked the green corridor into Brighton, enjoyed a look at the sea with coffee & beer before the train back to London. Leaving 3 unaccounted for.
After picnicking at Stanmer, the missing three walked on to Brighton. They enjoyed a refreshing beer in a pub called THE CONSTANT SERVICE which has a nice bohemian atmosphere and small back garden.
The name refers to a nearby covered water reservoir.
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