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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.

Sunday 24 November 2019

In Bunyan's footsteps in Bedfordshire

Sunday walk: Harlington Circular
Length: 17.3km (10.7 miles) Toughness: 3/10

09:39Thameslink train to Bedford from Blackfriars (St Pancras 09:48) arriving at Harlington at 10:35.

Return trains are at 06, 20, 36 and 52 minutes past the hour (or 4 minutes earlier if returning from Flitwick). Journey time 57 to 62 minutes. On the xx:06 train you could save 10 or 15 minutes by changing at Luton.

Buy a Super Off-Peak Day Return to Flitwick. This costs the same as a return to Harlington and gives you the option of finishing in Flitwick if your companions persuade you to do one of the longer versions of the walk.

This circular walk is a shortened version of the full 15.2-mile Harlington to Flitwick walk and feels more appropriate for this time of year, but the reasonably early start may induce some walkers to attempt to reach Flitwick, possibly by taking the two short cuts which reduce the distance to 11.9 miles.

The most attractive part of the walk, with the finest views, takes you over the Sundon Hills and the Sharpenhoe Clappers. This comes near the start and is covered in all versions of the walk. The route continues through rolling fields to the lunch pub in the hilltop village of Pulloxhill, before a short, gentle, afternoon section back to Harlington. Part of the route follows the John Bunyan Trail, which visits sites associated with the seventeenth century preacher and author of “Pilgrim’s Progress”.

The recommended lunch stop is The Cross Keys (01525 712442) in Pulloxhill. Those taking the first short cut towards Flitwick will miss out Pulloxhill and can lunch instead at The Chequers (01525 712967) in Westoning. A variety of tea stops in Harlington and Flitwick are described in the walk directions

You will need to download the walk directions.

T=swc.230.a

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Fun muddy day out

Chris L said...

5 off the scheduled train met up with 1 early starter just before lunch, so n=6 in all on a w=calm-overcast-but-dry-and-fairly-mild day. The morning stretch over the Sundon Hills, Sharpenhoe Clappers and hill fort was delightful, though the more distant views were restricted by a slight mistiness. A riot of blazing leaf colour was more evident on the ground than on the trees. One walker took the first short cut, aiming for Harlington rather than Flitwick. The rest continued to Pulloxhill, where the three picnickers joined the other two in the Cross Keys (the roast was considered mediocre). All took the fairly short return route to Harlington, reached by around 4pm after slogging through two or three ploughed fields of cloying, boot-adhering mud on an otherwise pleasant amble through rolling farmland.

PeteB said...

I've just noticed the clever punning walk title. Nice one Chris.