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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, 22 August 2020

Saturday Walk - South Downs and Heathlands: Amberley to Pulborough (1st Saturday outing in 9 years, and since completely revised...)

Length: 25.7 km (15.9 mi) [Shorter Walks possible, see below]
Ascent/Descent: 514/512m
Net Walking Time: ca. 6 hours, Toughness: 8 out of 10

Take the 09.35 Bognor Regis & Southampton Central train from Victoria (CJ 09.42, EC 09.53), arriving Amberley 10.57. The train splits at Horsham, you have to be in the Bognor Regis part!
From London Bridge take the 09.35 Brighton train and change at EC.
Return trains: xx.24 and xx.55 (80 mins journey time). Buy an Amberley return.

The route follows the South Downs Way out of the scenic Arun Valley along some steep chalky tracks high up onto Bignor Hill for some magnificent views along the ridge, out to sea and across the West Weald. You leave the South Downs Way and pass Glatting Beacon with its transmission masts to then gradually descend from the ridge – not without a few short re-ascents up Farm Hill and Barlavington Down – past a few hanging woods into the Rother Valley. Pass the quaint setting of Duncton Mill and head for The Cricketers pub for lunch. Onwards you go through the magnificent Burton Park with its ponds, before you walk through several idyllic commons, part wooded, part sandy heathland, and eventually cross the Rother River and progress to Pulborough along a westerly route familiar from other walks, past the picturesque Stopham church and medieval bridge 

Walk Options:
A Shortcut from Bignor Hill, through hanging woods to the quiet villages of Bignor and Sutton, cuts 5.8 km/3.6 mi and 125m ascent, resulting in a 6/10 walk.
Bus line 1 (Midhurst – Worthing via Pulborough Station) calls Fittleworth at 15.57, 17.02, 18.12, 19.22 and 19.52; and Stopham Bridge 3 mins later.

Lunch: The Cricketers Inn (13.0 km/8.0 mi, food to 15.00) in Duncton or – on the shorter walk –  The White Horse (9.6 km/5.9 mi, food to 14.00) in Sutton.
Tea: The Swan Inn (5.3 km/3.3 mi from the end) in Fittleworth and The White Hart (2.3 km/1.4 mi) in  Stopham plus other options off route in Pulborough.

For  walk directions, maps, height profiles, photos and gpx/kml files click here. T=swc.39

5 comments:

Andrew said...

The White Horse (Stopham Bridge pub) towards the end is closed.

Mark R said...

Hey Andrew, do you mean the White Hart? Apparently, after another change of management, it is due to reopen tomorrow the day before this walk is scheduled.

Andrew said...

@mark. hi. yes. good, its a lovely spot.

Mimi said...

is the return train from Pulborough if you do the whole walk? and approx what time would that be? thanks!

Thomas G said...

17 off the train plus 1 other off a later one (walking the shorter version and catching up with some of the others near the end at The White Hart in Stopham): n=18.
We initially had worse weather than forecast insofar as we got 20 minutes worth of a heavy shower on the early ascent to halfway up Bignor Hill. After that it was the forecast w=passing-clouds-with-plenty-blue-skies-and-a-fierce-wind-on-the-tops. The vast majority seem to have walked the main walk (ie long) version of the route today, but with the immediate breaking up into subgroups these days it's difficult to know for sure. Fine far views were had after the shower (all of the rest of the South Downs eastbound) as you would expect, not many walkers about, but plenty of cyclists. The first pubbies reached The Cricketers at about 13.40 and we got pretty efficient service and a fine table in the large back garden. The food was lovely (ie the finest steak I've had in a pub that wasn't a gastro pub) and they had plenty of kids doing the running, delivering drinks and food, taking orders etc. My group left at 15.00 and we thoroughly enjoyed the coming stretch through Burton Park and on to Sutton Common. The heather there was a bit of a disappointment I have to say: plenty of it, but nowhere near as vivid in colour as (say) last week in the Peak District, it's just been too dry a spring for it to be impressive down here. Still a nice bit of the route though...
On through the Rother Valley and across Fittleworth Common and through woods to Stopham and its newly re-opened White Hart pub by the bridge. Most stopped there for a drink or two.
Everyone seemed to like the route, especially on account of it being very varied and always quiet and pretty. My subgroup caught the 18.24 train.