Saturday Walk Frant to Tunbridge Wells via Groombridge

Frant to Tunbridge Wells via Groombridge T=swc.19.b

Length: 13 miles (21 km) (6 out of 10). Five hours 15 minutes walking time. There is also a 9.3 mile option (4 out of 10)

This is an enjoyable walk and the Spa Valley Railway will be running the green timetable here, with stops at Groombridge and High Rocks The choice of how far to walk comes after lunch. I've always found the main walk start (5a), along the road not too bad, but you could start earlier from Tunbridge Wells for a longer option.

Trains: Get the 1015 Hastings train from Charing Cross, (London Bridge 1024) arriving Frant 1115. Return trains from Tunbridge Wells are xx09 & xx39. CDR to Frant.

Lunch: is at the Nevill Crest and Gun (7.5km) in Eridge Green; it has a large garden and serves food all day from noon

Tea: As well as the wide choice in Tunbridge, there is the High Rocks Inn has a large garden next to the SVR station. On the Long Walk the walk route passes the Junction Inn Goombridge,

An Adventure in Purbeck (Wareham to Chapman Pool (via Kingston and Worth Matravers) or Swanage)

SWC Walk 76 (sort of):  Wareham to Chapman Pool (via Kingston and Worth Matravers) or Swanage

Length:  For both options, about 12.5 miles or 20 km….with options to extend or shorten. I have created a new GPX file for the suggested route via Kingston, Chapman Pool and Worth Matravers, back to Corfe Castle. This new GPX file can be found via the link below at the end of the post -- this full route is 16 miles/26 km. However, it can be shortened to 12-14 miles/20-22.5 km by taking a more direct route to Chapman Pool and/or catching the bus near Langston Matravers. 

Difficulty:  5 out of 10

Train:  Take the 8:35 AM South Western Weymouth train from London Waterloo arriving in Wareham at 10:48. To return you will need to catch a Purbeck Breezer 40 (sounds a bit like a cocktail) either in Swanage at the train station if finishing there, in Corfe Castle or Kingston if you finish there or a bus stop on the outskirts of Langton Matravers (about 1.5 km from Worth Matravers) back to Wareham. Buses leave Swanage at 17:05; 18:05; 19:10; 20:40 and trains leave Wareham at 18:28; 18:53; 19:28; 19:53; 20:42 and 21:30. The best combo is probably the 19:10 bus which connects nicely with the 19:53 train. Buy a day return to Wareham.

I am not sure if this particular walk has ever been done…but thought it might make a good alternative Purbeck outing avoiding the need for a potentially busy bus in the morning or taxi from Lulworth Cove in the evening….The start is similar to the Wareham to Lulworth Cove walk we have done in the past across heathery moorland to Corfe Castle. In Corfe, there is a choice to carry along the ridge towards Ballard Down and Swanage (with a possible extension to Old Harry Rocks) or making a circuit to Chapman Pool via Kingston and Worth Matravers with various ending points (Kingston, Corfe Castle or Langton Matravers). There are swimming options on both routes – either at Chapman Pool or in Swanage.

The walk is map-led and, for those headed towards Chapman Pool, I would suggest altering the route by going out via Kingston and then returning via Worth Matravers after your swim (why not visit both great pubs!)….I will make an updated GPX showing this option. You can find more information about the area and print the map/download the GPX here.

For those going to Swanage, lunch could be had in Corfe Castle (various options available) and for those heading towards Chapman Pool, lunch could be had at very charming Scotts Arms in Kingston (01929 480 270).

On the Chapman Pool route, late afternoon/evening drinks can be had at the Square and Compass in Worth Matravers (one of the best pubs in England according to SWC’s official pub and ale reviewer). In Swanage, there are loads of options….

Enjoy the walk and swim!

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Updated GPX, shown on a map

Saturday walk Glynde to Seaford - the South Downs, Alfriston, Friston Forest, Exceat, Cuckmere Haven (for a swim) then along the clifftops and down to Seaford

Book 1, Walk 31 - Glynde to Seaford

Length: 23 km   (14.3 miles)   Options to drop out early

Toughness: 8 out of 10    Several steady ascents

London Victoria:  08-54 hrs   Southern service to Oare    CJ  09-01 hrs    EC  09-10 hrs

Arrive Lewes:  09-56 hrs  Change trains

Leave Lewes:  10-15 hrs   Southern stopping service from Brighton to Oare

Arrive Glynde: 10-21 hrs

Return:  Seaford to Victoria, changing at Lewes:  25 and 53 mins past the hour

Rail ticket:  buy a day return to Seaford

My apologies for the early start, but the later trains do not work for this walk today.

This walk will be familiar to all regular SWC walkers, many of whom regard it as the best walk in the original TO book.  But for newcomers, you are in for a treat !  The walk comes in three sections. Section one in the morning has you walking through the picturesque village of Firle before you climb up onto the South Downs, for a lengthy ridge walk on the South Downs Way. You then drop down to the village of Alfriston for lunch at one of its three excellent pubs:  The George Inn, a favourite with SWC walkers; the newly refurbished  Star Inn, and Ye Olde Smugglers Inn.  Picnickers usually stop by the church.

After lunch section two starts with a walk beside the Cuckmere River  to the village of Littlington, then over fields to the hamlet of West Dean before a climb up to Friston Forest. Through the forest and you arrive above Exceat. Drop down and you can conclude your walk here if you wish, by taking the regular bus to Seaford. Otherwise, you embark on section three by taking the Vanguard Way steadily uphill to a point above Cuckmere Haven. Depending on tide times today, swimmers can descend to the Haven for a swim. Returning back on top, you now enjoy an undulating clifftop walk with magnificent views behind you of the Seven Sisters - all eight of them !  You drop down from the clifftops to the town of Seaford, to walk along its promenade before you head for the town's centre and post walk refreshments. Recently walkers have spoken highly of Seaford Sailing / Yacht club which is open to the public for refreshments. Otherwise, please refer to the Directions for drink options. Personally, I like the mini-pub within the railway station premises. If you are hungry after today's exertions Trawlers fish and chip restaurant is a favourite with SWC walkers.

This walk comes highly recommended, for old hands and new !

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Walk Directions are here: L=1.31 

Evening Walk: The Grandeur of Greenwich (Canary Wharf or Island Gardens to Greenwich)

The Grandeur of Greenwich (Canary Wharf or Island Gardens to Greenwich) T=short.12

Distance:          Approximately 4.0 miles or 6.4 km for those more metrically minded (5.5 miles/8.8 km if starting from Canary Wharf)

Difficulty:         2 out of 10

Meet:               Island Gardens (District Line) at 19:00 OR, for those interested in something a bit longer, 18:30 at Canary Wharf Jubilee Line exit (DLR side)

Return:             Greenwich mainline train, DLR or even Thames Clipper

This interesting exploration of Greenwich Park and its surrounds missed its annual outing last year because much of the Old Royal Naval College remained cordoned off…..Looks to be fully open again, so time to give this walk an overdue outing.  Late starters can start from Island Gardens and those wishing for something a bit longer and more varied can start from Canary Wharf…..I will ask that the Island Gardens starters give the Canary Wharf  starters a 5-minute grace on their departure, as we may get distracted by info panels, pigs or llamas en route from Canary Wharf….

More information on the walk and its instructions can be found here.

There are plenty of watering holes in Greenwich for post walk refreshies…..last time we enjoyed a nice meal in the garden of the Old Brewery…

Enjoy the walk!

Wednesday walk Dorking to Reigate - along the River Mole and then the Greensand Way via some pretty Surrey villages

SWC 16 - Dorking to Reigate

Length: 12.5 km (7.8 miles)

Toughness: 3 out of 10    Flat all day until a climb up onto Reigate Park Hill

Either

London Victoria: 10-25 hrs     Southern service to Horsham   CJ 10-32;  Sutton 10-54;  Epsom 11-05 hrs

Arrive Dorking (Main): 11-21 hrs

Or

London Waterloo:  10-24 hrs    SouthWestern service to Dorking   CJ 10-33;  Wimbledon 10-40 hrs

Arrive Dorking (Main): 11-13 hrs

Waterlooers please wait for Victorians outside Dorking railway station

Return

Reigate to Victoria:  00 and 30 mins past the hour

Rail ticket:  try a day return to Dorking

Another nice shorter walk for our mid-week walkers (verily, I am spoiling you).  Today's walk is the 'sister' walk to Holmwood to Reigate which we took for a spin early last month, and although the ending is the same, the main part of today's walk takes us through quite different Surrey countryside and through some picturesque picture postcard villages. We stop for lunch in one of them - Betchworth - at the Dolphin Inn which was fine when I last tried it some three years ago. 

After lunch we cross the River Mole a couple of times before continuing to Skimmington, then we ascend Reigate Park Hill - the only steep bit today. We follow the ridge path before taking the easier descent to cross the park below and enter the town of Reigate. Last month we stopped for drinks at Cafe Rouge before heading past the statue of Dame Margot Fonteyne as we head up the hill to Reigate Railway station. 

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Walk Directions are here: L=swc.16

Sunday walk: Etchingham to Wadhurst

Length: 16.9km (10.5 miles)
Difficulty 5/10 hilly but gentle
This classic Wealden walk is a mix of pasture and woodland, fine panoramic views, oast houses, a cobnut orchard, and the villages of Ticehurst and Wadhurst. Optional loops take you past Bewl Water reservoir
Train:  9:45 Hastings train from Charing Cross, (London Bridge 9:54) arriving Etchingham 11:11.
Return trains  xx:29 xx:00 from Wadhurst. Get a return to Etchingham. 

Lunch
You first encounter the Bell in Ticehust 01580 200234, due to reopen on the 20th. It’s quirky. Garden's quirky, decor's quirky. There's another untried pub nearby, the Chequers – and a churchyard that would do for picnics.
The recommended pub is the Bull Inn in Three Legged Cross 01580 200 586, a further 1.1km. Open 12-6. In these days of covid you might do well to bring snacks and carry water just in case.
Tea
There are two pubs in Wadhurst. The Greyhound 01892 783224, and the White Hart 01892 782850. Note that it is still quite a trek from Wadhurst to the station, so allow 40-50 minutes for the recommended route, 25-35 for the roadside route.
Directions: here.
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Saturday Walk: Cuxton to Sole Street

10.7 miles / 17.3 k

(there are various options to cut a few miles from this walk)

A walk exploring the North Downs.  The route starts by passing through the Ranscombe Farm Reserve, known for rare wild flowers.  It then heads south through woodlands, before heading up to Luddesdown (Golden Lion), Henley Street (Cock Inn) and finishes with an optional loop to Cobham (The Leather Bottle).  There's also an option for a side trip to the Amazon & Tiger at Harvel.

Trains:  

London Bridge 09:48, Strood 10:55, change for 11:04 to Cuxton, arrives 11:08.

London St Pancras 10:08, Strood 10:59, change for 11:04 to Cuxton, arrives 11:08.  The quicker, but more expensive route.

Return trains from Sole Street:  xx:01 to London St Pancras with change at Rochester.  xx:32 to London Victoria.

The best advice for a ticket seems to be a return to Rochester.

Click here for full walk details

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Saturday walk - Petersfield to Rowlands Castle - Summertime, and the living is easy...

10.00 train from Waterloo to Petersfield, arriving 11.04

From Clapham Junction get the 9.57 to Salisbury and change at Woking (arrive 10.15, depart 10.25)

Buy a day return to Rowlands Castle

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

There is a certain degree of uncertainty about the weekend weather as I write this post. Maybe we will be dodging lightning and downpours... But in the event that the weather gods decide to be kind, this is the perfect summer walk, a pleasant little stroll through interesting and not massively strenuous scenery, which is worth taking at a dozy pace. Hell, you might even sit down on the hillside at some point and enjoy the view. 

If the weather is bad on the other hand, it is not a particularly exposed walk as far as I can recall. But other opinions may be available and you should consult your own Independent Weather Advisor before attending.

Last time we did this walk there was one point early on when there was a locked gate on a housing estate that should not have been locked. Hopefully this has been resolved, as a public right of way is a public right of way.

There are two lunch pubs on this walk. The Red Lion in Chalton, six miles into the walk, is a capacious chain pub with a big garden and serves food all afternoon, so in many ways is the better choice. But the Five Bells in Buriton just 2.4 miles in is very charming and olde-worlde, though its website says it is currently only doing evening takeaways (maybe they have just not updated their website?). 

If the Five Bells is open and you lunch there, the Red Lion makes a super mid afternoon tea stop. Otherwise pretty Rowlands Castle has several pubs, if you can resist the urge to rush for the next train which in my experience almost no one ever can....

Trains back from Rowlands Castle are at 45 past the hour

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Saturday Walk - West Berkshire undulations and a magnificent foodie pub: Aldermaston - Woolhampton (via Frilsham)

DAC is away...

 

Length: 22.6 km (14.1 mi) [longer walk possible, see below]

Ascent/Descent: 381/377 m

Net Walking Time: ca. 5 ¼ hours

Toughness: 5 out of 10 

 

Take the 09.32 Bristol Temple Meads train from Paddington, change at Reading (09.55/10.12, Newbury Train, usually departing from Platform 1), arriving Aldermaston at 10.24.

From Ealing B’way take the 09.05 Didcot service, change at Reading (09.44/10.12). 

Return trains: xx.21 basically (change Reading), or xx.26 (change Newbury, but takes longer). 

Buy a Midgham return.

 

This walk explores a surprisingly quiet part of the commuter area that is West Berkshire, less than an hour from Central London. It is an undulating landscape with some fine views over unspoilt countryside - the West Berkshire Downs, which are part of the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and consist of a mix of ancient woodlands, commons, fields and pretty villages with pleasant, historical pubs. The route passes through the chalk stream river valleys of the Kennet, the Bourne and the Pang, where you’ll also find some evidence of traditional water meadows. A long section of the walk leads through the elevated Bucklebury Common, one of the largest commons in Southern England. In the main this consists of a variety of woods, but you’ll also walk through one of Berkshire’s largest heathlands and see part of a famous Avenue of Oaks. 

At the end there is a choice of finishes either through the landscaped Midgham Park or along the Kennet & Avon Canal. Carrying map and compass is recommended, as there are plenty of paths in the woods and on the heath.

A westerly extension leads through more fascinating, undulating woods and the large and impressive Neolithic hillfort site of Grimsbury Castle. This version of the walk (26.8 km/16.7 mi, more if you lunch in Hermitage) is rated 7/10.

Lunch: The Pot Kiln in Frilsham (9.7 km/6.0 mi, pre-booking strongly recommended; 2 tables have been booked, contact me if you want a place) or on the extended walk, The Fox Inn and The White Horse, in Hermitage, but they are off-route and add 2.3 km (more for the 2^nd pub), see the pdf for details.  

Tea: The Cottage Inn in Upper Bucklebury (17.2 km/10.7 mi), The Angel Inn or The Rowbarge Inn in Woolhampton (near Midgham Station). 

 

For walk directions, map, photos, height profile, and gpx/kml files click here. T=swc.260

Evening Walk: Out in the West End (West End Common that is)

West End and Esher Commons Short Walk (AKA Oxshott Circular) T=Short.17

Distance:          Approximately 6.2 miles or 10 km for those more metrically minded

Difficulty:         3 out of 10

Travel:             18:03 South Western Train Guildford bound train from London Waterloo, arriving at Oxshott at 18:41 (If you miss this train, take the next one 30 minutes later and catch us up at the pub). Return trains run on the hour and half hour until 23:30. 

This is one of my favorite evening walks….just a short train journey from London brings you to Oxshott from where you almost magically step from the train platform directly into heathland…..New instructions launched last year make the route finding much easier and remove the guess work previously associated with this outing….The walk explores two adjoining common lands, both with a fairly wild wooded feel….We will stop midway through at the Prince of Wales pub in the pretty village of West End Common for a quick drink and bite…

More information about the route can be found here. For those worried that I may try to starve them again...I have booked at table at the pub en route...

Enjoy the walk!

Wednesday walk Faversham Circular - a Walk on the Wild Side - marshes, creeks, mud flats, water meadows and the Swale coastline

Faversham Council's walk, plus an optional end of SWC 299 -

Teynham to Faversham

Length: 12 km to 16 km (7.5 miles to 10 miles)

Toughness: 2 out of 10

Either 

London Victoria: 10-10 hrs    Southeastern service to Ramsgate    Bromley South  10-27 hrs

Arrive Faversham: 11-22  hrs

Or 

London St Pancras: 10-25 hrs    Southeastern high speed service to Ramsgate

Arrive Faversham: 11-31 hrs

Victorians are asked to wait on Faversham railway station for the arrival of any Pancriatics.

Return

Faversham to Victoria: 15-37, 15-48 (slow stopping service), 16-09, 16-35, 17-02, 17-37, 18-05 and 18-39 hrs

Faversham to St Pancras:  00 and 30 mins past the hour

The Council's walk makes for a most pleasant Summer outing. We do most of it in one go, then stop in Oare at the excellent Three Mariners pub for lunch. A table will be reserved for us.

We start the walk by walking through the historic and delightful town of Faversham (we should have time at walk-end to explore the town further ). We then leave the town and head northwards towards the coast, on a section of the Saxon Shore Way, along Oare Creek. At the coast we follow the Swale for 1 km before turning inland over meadows and through farmland to the hamlet of Luddenham before returning over fields to Oare - and lunch.  Post prandial, we can either take the direct road route back to Faversham ( a bit boring) or - recommended - we switch walks to our SWC walk and enjoy a further walk along the coast before returning on the Saxon Shore Way back into Faversham - for tea. 

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The Council's walk directions are here   https://www.visit-swale.co.uk/attractions/food-trail-a-walk-on-the-wild-side-walk-2076/     and click on "download full itinerary" 

SWC  299 directions are here  L=swc.299

Sunday Walk - East Buckinghamshire Rolling Hills - Cheddington to Leighton Buzzard

COVID 19

Track-and-Trace: please provide email address (preferred) or mobile phone number at the start

Rule of Thirty: for the foreseeable

 

Length: 24.8 km (15.5 mi)

Ascent/Descent: 238/244 m

Net Walking Time: ca. 5 ½ hours

Toughness: 4 out of 10 

 

Take the 10.01 Crewe train from Euston (calls Harrow & Wealdstone and Watford Junction), arriving Cheddington at 10.41. 

Return trains: xx.21, xx.44 and xx.53 (41-62 minutes journey time). 

Buy a Leighton Buzzard return. 

 

A splendid walk through East Buckinghamshire’s rolling landscape of fields and wooded areas on the edge of the Chiltern Hills, linking up a handful of delightful hill top villages to provide panoramic views across pleasant countryside. Broadly following the Thames/Great Ouse watershed in the morning, it initially heads west, mostly with grand views of the Chilterns (when not walking in wooded areas), to then turn north with far views into Aylesbury Vale to the west, on to lunch pubs at either Aston Abbotts or Cublington. The afternoon route is more level, but still features the hilltop village of Wing and ends with a fairly tranquil descent into Linslade (for Leighton Buzzard station).

Disclaimer: This walk involves a level crossing of the Leighton Buzzard-bypass dual carriageway.

Lunch: The Unicorn in Cublington (13.9 km/8.7 mi, food to 16.00), or (a little earlier and 250m off-route) the Royal Oak Inn in Aston Abbotts (11.5 km/7.1 mi). 

Tea: several pubs listed in the directions, they are all in the Linslade part of town, i.e.: close to the station. There is also The Black Lion in Leighton Buzzard’s centre (at 20 High Street), a bit further away, which has been voted ‘CAMRA Pub of the Year Bedfordshire’ in its first year. Or The Bald Buzzard, a micropub at 6 Hockcliffe Street. 

 

For walk directions, map, height profile, comments, and gpx/kml files click here. T=swc.195