Saunderton via West Wycombe Circular

Saunderton via West Wycombe Circular T=2.3

Length: 16km (9.9miles), 5 hours walking

This walk combines a fairly easy stroll in the Chilterns through a mixture of woodland and sloping meadows, with an optional visit to Hughenden Manor and West Wycombe Caves.

Trains: Get the 1013 Marylebone - Aylesbury train to Saunderton, arriving 1055. Return trains are xx50, but the Cross Keys is a pleasant pub to while away any wait.

Lunch: Hugendon Manor National Trust with cafe & picnic area, or the pub lunchtime stop: Fullers Le De Spencer's Arms (tel 01494 535317), Downley Common 5.6 miles/9km from the start of the walk, which serves food from 12 to 3pm daily.

Saturday walk - Otford Circular via Shoreham - No, NOT that Otford Circular: THIS one

SWC walk 290 - Otford Circular via Shoreham T=3.290
Length: 14km (8.7 miles), but lots of ways to extend it
Toughness: 5 out of 10

9.55 (Ashford International-bound) train from Victoria (10.12 Bromley South) to Otford, arriving 10.30

Alternatively, you could get the 9.40 from Charing Cross (9.43 Waterloo East, 9.49 London Bridge) to Sevenoaks, and change there (arrive 10.12, depart 10.22) onto a northbound Thameslink train to Otford, arriving 10.29.

There is also a 9.16 from Blackfriars to Otford, arriving 10.18, likely to only be of interest to those living near the many stations in South London - too numerous to list here - where it stops.

Buy a day return to Otford (which is also, as far as I am aware, valid via Sevenoaks)

For walk directions click here, for GPX click here and for a map of the route click here.

We have many walks in the Otford/Shoreham/Eynsford area, so before you groan "Oh, I have done that one!!", take a closer look. The SWC's dedicated team of archivists tell me that this one has only ever had one Saturday outing, and that in November 2018. It takes the same initial route as the book 1 Otford Circular, but diverges at the top of the downs to go its own way, before re-uniting with the book 1 route or the familiar descent by the steps into Shoreham.

In theory four pubs await you for lunch there, but attempts to eat in the other three usually end in failure and we invariably end up in the Kings Arms, whose food is hearty and good value.

After lunch the walk takes an interesting route through familiar territory, and you should arrive in Otford well in time to sample the various tea options - the tea room in the Hospices of Hope shop, the Pond View Cafe, or the new place in between.

EXTENDING THE WALK: At this point you may be thinking that the day has finished too early. But if so, there are various map or GPX-led ideas for a post-tea stroll. I like the route to Shoreham via Fackenden Down that forms the outward route on the southern loop of the Shoreham Circular walk (SWC 289) - about 2 miles, ending at Shoreham station. You could even walk on from Shoreham to Eynsford on the Darent Valley Path. Or you could try following the Darent Valley Path southwards from Otford (see your OS map) to Sevenoaks, which I calculate at about 3 miles.

Trains back from Otford are at 26 and 56 past to Victoria (40 minutes journey time) or at 18 and 48 in the other direction to Sevenoaks, with very frequent onward connections to London Bridge and Charing Cross (46 minutes journey time)

There are also trains at 29 and 59 past from Otford to Blackfriars (1 hr journey time), which stop at Shoreham 3 minutes and Eynsford 6 minutes after leaving Otford.

Saturday Walk - Marston Vale, the Bedfordshire Greensand Way and Flitwick Moor: Lidlington to Flitwick

Length: 22.0 km (13.6 mi)

Ascent/Descent: 291/276m

Net Walking Time: ca. 5 hours, Toughness: 5 out of 10

Take the 09.15 Rugeley Trent Valley train from Euston, change at Bletchley  (09.50/10.17, there is a café in the station) onto the Bedford train, arrives Lidlington 10.38.

Return trains: (basically) every 15 mins on xx.00 etc.

Buy  a Lidlington return.

This Central Bedfordshire walk starts in Marston Vale with an undulating ascent up the (Bedfordshire) Greensand Ridge, mainly through mixed woods. It then follows the waymarked Greensand Ridge Walk to open parkland in Ampthill, now with impressive views down into the Vale. Bedfordshire’s largest remaining heathland is passed through en-route to Ampthill’s delightful historic centre. From there it’s back into the park and on to the picturesque ruin of Houghton House, again with commanding views into Marston Vale. After a stretch through ancient King’s Wood the walk leads to Maulden, at times with panoramic views south to the Chiltern Hills, before finally descending from the Greensand Ridge.

The route to Flitwick is then entirely flat and leads through a couple of moors, including a captivating stretch along a narrow path through the very heart of Flitwick Moor, one of the most important wetland sites in the south east of England.

Walk options:

Three shortcuts are possible, although they cut out some of the best parts of the walk.

·        SC I cuts 2.8 km, 49m ascent (and Cooper’s Hill Heathland) pre-lunch in Ampthill (lunch is then in Maulden);

·        SC II cuts 680m, 17m ascent and a visit to the picturesque ruin of Houghton House;

·        SC III cuts 1.1 km and 24m ascent through King’s Wood.

Frequent buses leave Ampthill from near the recommended lunch pub to either Flitwick or Harlington stations. Some services also stop in Maulden outside The White Hart, 6.1 km from the end of the walk.

Lunch: 4 pubs in Ampthill (about 8 km into the walk). Check the pdf for details (although The Prince of Wales is now ‘A Burger Joint’).

Tea: The White Hart at Mauldon, 6 km from the end, plus plenty options in Flitwick. See the walk directions pdf for details.

For  walk directions, maps, height profiles, photos and gpx/kml files click here. T=swc.232

Albion at Almeida Theatre

In the ruins of a garden in rural England, in a house which was once a home, a woman searches for seeds of hope.

Following a sell-out run in 2017, The Telegraph’s "Play of the Year" returns to the Almeida for just 30 performances.

Mike Bartlett’s (King Charles III) “richly layered” (The Guardian) state-of-the-nation play is directed by Almeida Artistic Director Rupert Goold (Ink, The Hunt).  Victoria Hamilton (The Crown) reprises her “extraordinary” (The Times) performance, for which she won Best Actress at the 2018 Critics’ Circle Awards.    

Tickets are already limited.  To book, please click here. 

Pre-theatre F&B will be in a restaurant nearby at 5:45pm.  If you wish to attend the meal,  please email swcsocialATgmailDOTcom by 20th Feb so I can include you in the booking.  Otherwise meet at the Lobby before the performance or during the interval.     

Wednesday walk Guildford Circular, with Hog's Back start - Watts Gallery, Watts Chapel, Losely Park and River Wey

Book 2, Walk 12b) - Guildford Circular with Hog's Back start

Length: 13.6 km (8.5 miles)
Toughness:  6 out of 10 (due to initial climb onto the Hog's Back: remainder 2 out of 10)

London Waterloo: 10-15 hrs   Haslemere service     CJ 10-22hrs  Woking 10-43 hrs
Arrive Guildford: 10-50 hrs

Return: fast trains at 01, 19, 34 and 49 mins past the hour

This walk will be familiar to SWC mid-week walkers, and it makes for a most enjoyable winter's walk, with an energetic start up onto the Hog's Back, to enjoy some lovely views. Thereafter, you drop down onto sandy paths and tracks to make your way to Watts Gallery and Watts Chapel. If you wish you can stop for lunch in the Gallery's very good cafeteria, although your recommended lunch stop today comes 30 minutes later at the excellent and very popular Withies Inn in Compton tel: 01483-421158.  It is essential to 'phone ahead from Guildford railway station with numbers (your e.t.a excluding time for stops at the Gallery and Chapel is 12-30 hrs). As I will not be with you on the walk today perhaps someone else could do the honours in contacting the pub. Try to reserve a table in the informal bar-lounge area, not the formal restaurant with its claustrophobic low ceiling.

After lunch you have an enjoyable walk through the open parkland of Losely Park before you descend to the River Wey, for a relaxing riverside walk to Guildford. Here you have a good choice of refreshments stops, with the Debenham's store self-service restaurant and - next door - the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre cafe being popular with SWC walkers.
T=2.12
Your walk directions are here L=2.12

Evening Walk - Chesham Circular

CW2 Walk 4 - Chesham Circular
Length: 11.8km (7.3 miles) - check

Catch the 17:59 Metropolitan line train from London Baker Street, arrives Chesham 18:46. Return trains from Chesham xx27, xx:57, until 23:27.

T=2.4

Sunday Walk: Wadhurst to Tunbridge Wells

13¾ km (8.5 miles). Toughness 5 /10
This short Wealden walk on the Sussex /Kent border includes open ridges with fine views and short sections across streams in wooded valleys. Later, the scene changes to landscaped parkland. A path along the boundary of Eridge Old Park leads to lunch in the hill-top village of Frant. The short afternoon section soon reaches the outskirts of Tunbridge Wells, with a relatively traffic-free route into its High Street. With all the rain we've had recently you can expect this walk to be muddy.
Trains:
Get the 9:57 Hastings train from Cannon Street (London Bridge 10:01), arriving Wadhurst 11:00.
Return from Tunbridge Wells at xx:09 and xx:39. Get a return to Wadhurst.
Lunch:
The suggested lunchtime pub is the popular George Inn (01892-750350)  in Frant village, If this is too busy, the Abergavenny Arms (01892-750233)  is a good alternative, serving food all day.
Tea:
Many refreshment places in Tunbridge Wells. The main route takes you into the High Street with its many cafés, delicatessens and coffee shops, such as Juliet's (01892-522931 at no.54 ; open to 5pm). An alternative route via Calverley Grounds; leads past the Tea House café. There are plenty of pubs in the town, the most unusual being the Opera House, a Wetherspoons, five minutes up Mount Pleasant Road from the station.
Walk Directions: here
T=swc.196

Sunday Walk: Goring Circular - UK Pub of the Year, England's deepest well, mysterious giants.

SWC walk 17.
11.4 miles 17.5km  or 9.6 miles 15.45km. Difficulty 7/10
A walk in the downland above Goring. You’ve got a choice of two slightly different walks. The shortest is a hand-drawn map produced by Streatley YHA (used with permission). That is 9.6 miles. The SWC version is 11.4 miles.
Trains
Get a return to “Goring & Streatley”.
Get the 09:24 Didcot Parkway train from Paddington (Ealing Broadway 9:32) arriving “Goring & Streatley” 10:30.
You can also get the 9:42 Hereford train and change onto the above at Reading (arrive 10:10 platform 8, depart 10:18 platform 13)
Trains return at xx:45.
Lunch
CAMRA have just declared your lunch stop, the Bell in Aldworth, their Pub of the Year. Don’t expect nothing fancy – just simple fare like rolls, ploughmans and puddings.
The well opposite is said to be the deepest in England. Well, well, well! Also in Aldworth, St Mary’s church is home to the Aldworth giants, once so famous that Elizabeth I made a special detour to see them. They’re in worse nick these days, after a bashing by Roundheads, but still worth a look. The 1000 year old yew in the churchyard is also in worse nick, after a bashing by lightning.
Tea
Returning through Streatley, you first encounter The Bull, then the Swan at Streatley. Over the river, you've got the Miller of Mansfield, the Catherine Wheel and the John Barleycorn. Why not try them all? (The Queen’s Arms, still mentioned in the walk notes, is now a Tesco’s).
Directions
Walk info here. The SWC Walk is on the “Download Walk” button.
The map walk is on the "YHA Goring via Aldworth" button. Anti-clockwise is suggested to tie in with the SWC walk.  Although the length is given as 8 miles, the route to and from the station (0.8 miles to the east) is not included. (In essence, it is a circular walk near the YHA hostel).
The details below link the station to the YHA walk.
From the station: head right for the High Street then turn left downhill. Cross the river and pass the Swan pub. Here you have a choice of 2 anti-clockwise starts, both depicted on the map.
• For the gentlest route, turn right about 45m after the Swan, following a sign for the Thames Path. Then follow the map route. (This is similar to the SWC start).
• The second choice involves a steep climb with a view at the top.  Pass the Swan pub and continue ahead across the A329 onto a lane to turn right shortly afterwards, onto the map route.
Returning to the station: left along the A329 to the crossroads, cross the A road, then the river, head uphill on the High Street and turn right for the station after crossing the rail bridge.
T= swc.17

Hever to Tonbridge

t=SWC.345 Length: 16km (10m)
Toughness: 2 / 10
Transport: Take the 10:07 from London Bridge, arriving in Hever at 10:49. There are many trains from Tonbridge back to London Victoria or Charing Cross. Since start and end stations are on different lines the walk author suggests to buy a day return to Leigh which can be reach via either station.

A walk through familiar SWC territory in the Eden valley. Lunch is in Penshurst and the walk ends with a section along the river Medway into Tonbridge.

Saturday Walk - Change of Plan necessary: The most diverse lunch pub selection - Wye Circular (Long or Normal or Short)

Update on 19/02/20: Brockenhurst to Lymington moved to 21 March due to rail replacement service Winchester - Southampton to fix damage to line after freight train derailment.
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Length: 22.9 km (14.2 mi) or 17.7 km (11.0 mi)

Ascent/Descent: 423m or 419m

Net Walking Time: ca. 5 ¾ hours or ca. 4 ½ hours

Toughness: 7 out of 10 or 6 out of 10

[Short Walk: You can cut the 17.7 km version of the walk by 2.0 km by cutting the out-and-back to the lunch pub, or even by 3.2 km if taking the shortcut from the church in Crundale (ie cutting out the ascent to Sole Street). Picnic Lunch!]

Take:

Either the 09.34 Ramsgate train from St. Pancras I’nal (Stratford I’nal 09.41, Ebbsfleet I’nal 09.52), change at Ashford I’nal (10.11/10.35) onto the below Ramsgate train from Victoria.

Or the 09.01 Ramsgate train from Victoria (Bromley South 09.29, Sevenoaks 09.43 etc.), arrives Wye 10.41.

Return trains: xx.20 and xx.54.

This walk goes high up onto the North Downs and turns north along the Crundale Downs (“crun” in Old English meant chalk, and ‘dala’ meant dell or valley), with breath-taking views and continues to an isolated Norman church at Crundale, then on to an outstanding gastro-pub in a 15^th century inn for lunch. The walk then passes Crundale House and the manor of Olantigh, crosses the River Great Stour and returns to Wye through its churchyard, for tea at a pub or a teashop on Church Street or at a pub next to the railway station.

The longer version stays along the North Downs for longer and passes two totally different pubs: the best beer pub in the area, and the (so far) quirkiest lunch pub of them all: The Timber Batts.

Lunch Long Walk: The Bowl Inn in Hastingleigh  (7.0 km/4.4 mi, food from 12.00): simple food choices, excellent beer choices. Or The Timber Batts Ale House & Forge  (8.9 km/5.6 mi, food to 15.00) in Bodsham: Pizze, Burgers and Cajun & Creole food. In a forge. Think quirky. Think very quirky.

Lunch Normal Walk: The Compasses Inn (food to 14.30), in Sole Street (8.6 km/5.3 mi). Consistently one of the best gastro-pubs in the UK. As per their website: “If planning to eat we strongly advise booking!”. And be there at the time of your booking, else you are asking for trouble!

Tea: The King's Head, Wye Coffee Shop & Kitchen, The Tickled Trout.

For  walk directions, maps, height profiles, photos and gpx/kml files click here. T=1.53.a

Saturday walk - Tring to Wendover - a canal and a hill

This is a repeat post of this walk after last week's outing was scuppered by Storm Dennis. 

Length: 21km (13 miles), with short cut possible to around 16km (10 miles) T=1.11
Toughness: 6 out of 10

9.24 train from Euston to Tring, arriving 9.57. If you just miss this train there is a 9.34 that gets in at 10.17

Tickets: slightly awkward in that two singles are needed. It is £11.50 to Tring and £8.05 from Wendover to London with a Network Card.

- You can reduce this by buying a zone 1-6 travelcard = £8.90 with a Network Card discount (in theory available even from Underground ticket machines at the weekend), so long as you also use this for travel to and from your home. Armed with this you only need a single from boundary zone 6 to Tring on the way out = £7.15, while on the way back you need to buy one from Wendover to Boundary Zone 6 = £6.40. This saves you £6 on the train fare, so as long as your travel between your home and Euston + Marylebone (now covered by the travelcard) would normally cost more than £2.90, you are ahead overall.

- You can save even more money, if you can find the elusive zone 1-9 travelcard (Underground ticket machines only) = £9.40 with a Network Card Discount. On the way out you still need to buy a ticket from boundary zone six, but on the way back you only need to buy a ticket to Amersham = £4.30. Your train fare saving is now £8.10, so as long as travel between your home and Euston + Marylebone normally costs more than 80p, you are ahead overall

For walk directions click here, for GPX click here, for a map of the walk click here.

If you can get over the ticket angst described above, this is an interesting outing, which falls into four parts. Firstly you follow the Grand Union Canal, initially in a cutting and then through a charming series of locks. Next there is a section around large reservoirs with interesting birdlife. (Firm paths on both of these sections, as far as I recall). Then a crossing of flat fields, enlivened by lunch. Then finally a walk over wooded hills to Wendover.

There is one lunch pub, after 7.4 miles, which I can attest from a midweek walk last year serves guargantuan portions. Food is served all afternoon. It is described as popular at the weekend, so I hope we can squeeze in. In Wendover the choice is between the chocolate cake heaven of Rumseys and the cosy Shoulder of Mutton pub: go to both (in sequence), say I.

Shortening the walk: the easy way to shorten the walk is to stay on the Wendover Canal in the afternoon: the walk document says this cuts out three miles: I would say more like two, so making the walk 10 to 11 miles, depending on who you believe. A short cut is also described in paragraph 11 of the walk directions that cuts out the last and largest reservoir by going along the Wendover Canal (the "Outer Aylesbury Ring" on the OS map): this only saves 1km, but on the midweek walk last year was enough for me to go from trailing well behind the group to getting to lunch first.

Trains back from Wendover are at 26 and 56 past the hour and take you into charming Marylebone. Don't forget to buy that return single before boarding the train.

Wednesday Walk Sevenoaks Circular

Sevenoaks Circular T=swc.21

Length: 16.3km (10.1 miles) with extension to Shipbourne: 18.5km (11.5 miles). 3 out of 10.

"This walk goes through a lovely slice of Kentish countryside, starting by passing through the deer park of Knole House and then carrying on into a gentle area of fields and woods.

You then descend through newly coppiced woodland to Ightham Mote (pronounced "I-tam"), a rare moated manor house. Then a wonderful stretch of the Greensand Way which slowly climbs the escarpment of the Kent Downs with superb views over the Weald to the south. Finally the walk finishes by passing through Knole Park once again."

Trains: Get the 1000 Tunbridge Wells train from Charing Cross (London Bridge 1009) arriving Sevenoaks 1035. There are frequent return trains to Charing Cross or Blackfriars , but some take around 35 mins & others nearer an hour.

Lunch: Lunch is at Ightham Mote (8.4km/5.2 miles into the walk), National Trust with cafe & picnic area (the house is closed). You can also go on from here to do an extra loop to the excellent Chaser Inn in Shipbourne (01732 810360), 9.7km (6 miles) into the walk, which serves food all afternoon. There is a churchyard nearby for picnics.

Tea: the Brewhouse Cafe at Knole House is open till 5pm, or plenty of choice in Sevenoaks.

Saturday walk - Tring to Wendover

This walk was scheduled for this date, but then postponed a week due to Storm Dennis T=1.11

Saturday Walk - Tonbridge Circular via Tudeley with or without Capel extension (formerly Tonbridge to Hadlow)

Length: 25.0 km (15.5 mi) [19.3 km/12.0 mi w/o the extension]

Ascent/Descent: 190m [119m w/o the extension]

Net Walking Time: ca. 5 ½ hours [4 ½ w/o the extension].

Toughness: 5 out of 10 [3 out of 10 w/o the extension]

Take the 10.07 Hastings train from Charing Cross (W’loo East 10.10, LBG 10.16), arrives Tonbridge 10.58.

From Victoria take the 10.12 Ramsgate train via Bromley South, arrives Tonbridge 10.51, and wait.

Return trains: six per hour.

This - recently fully revised - varied walk takes in a low-lying area of parkland, farm fields, paddocks, orchards and a country park of historical interest in the Medway Valley  around Tonbridge  (pronounced Tunbridge: see Walk Notes). It is not a particularly scenic walk but it does include the chance to visit a unique church.

There is nothing remarkable about the exterior of All Saints, Tudeley: an old guidebook described it as “obscure and unfrequented”. Nowadays the reverse is true, because its twelve stained glass windows were all designed by the great 20^thC Russian artist, Marc Chagall. Initially commissioned by Sir Henry and Lady d'Avigdor-Goldsmid to create a single memorial window after the death of their daughter Sarah in 1963, Chagall was inspired to create windows for the entire church (as he had previously done for a synagogue in Jerusalem and a chapel in France). The final group of windows were dedicated in 1985, a few months after his death at the age of 98.

Tudeley's sister church at Capel is on the Long Walk route (see below). For understandable reasons St Thomas à Becket tends to be overlooked but it has a series of 13^thC wall paintings. The church is no longer used for regular services but is normally open from 10.00-16.00.

After a lunch stop in a country pub the walk loops back to Tonbridge, with the riverside route into the town centre being rather more appealing than the urban stretch at the start of the walk. The remainder of the afternoon is a loop through Haysden Country Park to the west of the town, a popular recreational area alongside the River Medway. Its most obvious features are the large fishing and sailing lakes created after sand and gravel extraction ceased in 1980, but closer inspection will reveal the chequered history of several attempts in the 19^thC to improve navigation on the river by altering its course and building canals.

Walk Options:

The shorter Main Walk has a Figure-of-8 shape and you can easily shorten both it and the Long Walk by cutting out some or all of the afternoon loop through Haysden. Several short cuts are described inside the Country Park but you could omit it altogether, either by looping around the large recreation ground or simply heading directly to the station.

A few other short cuts are mentioned in the directions. In particular you could take a more direct route out of Tonbridge at the start, although the most direct route would be an unappealing stretch along a busy main road.

If you wish to abandon the walk on its eastern loop there is an infrequent bus service (Mon–Sat) along the B2017, passing Tudeley church and the two crossing points on the Long Walk.

Lunch: The Dovecote Inn (9.0 km/5.6 mi, food to 14.00) in Capel on the long walk, or The Poacher & Partridge (8.0 km/5.0 mi, food all day) in Tudeley Hale, on the shorter Main Walk, plus more options for late lunch in Tonbridge before commencing the westerly loop of the route. See the webpage or the pdf for details.

Tea: Plenty options in Tonbridge. See the webpage or the pdf for details.

For walk directions, maps, height profiles, photos and gpx/kml files click here. T=swc.220.a

Swapped with Stargazer...