Evening Walk - More artworks than ever, and a cable car ride in the gloaming: The Line - Stratford to North Greenwich

Length: (up to) 7.3 km walked distance

(plus 2 stops on the DLR and a Thames crossing on the 'Emirates Air Line'-cable car) 

[Bailouts possible at Star Lane DLR/Canning Town tube stations (4.9 km walked distance) or North Greenwich tube station (before rounding the O2-Dome: 5.3 km walked distance)] 

 

Meet 18.15 hours prompt outside Stratford Station, next to ‘Robert’, a heritage locomotive displayed on the station forecourt on the Town Centre side (i.e.: not the Westfield side)! 

[see the pdf directions for how to get there from your platform w/o fault]

Repeat exploration of The Line, a waymarked walk in East London (new as of 2015), which is split into three parts, and now has 20 Artworks displayed, all by prominent artists. The route initially follows the River Lea, passes Three Mills Green, Water Mill (the largest tidal mill in the world) and Film and Television Studios (London's largest) and then – a little further along The Lea – Cody Dock, an interesting community project on a former Gasworks site. After a short ride on the DLR (Star Lane to Custom House) we walk along Royal Victoria Dock and take the ‘Emirates Air Line’ cable car across the Thames (£4.00 on Oyster Pay As You Go, £5.00 cash fare, closes at 22.00 hours this month). The route then finishes with a stretch along the Thames Path rounding the O2-Dome, before turning to North Greenwich Underground Station and the neighbouring wide range of eateries and waterholes.

 

For a sketched map of the artworks en route click here.

For a detailed route map, gpx/kml file, photos and pdf directions click here. T=short.21

Wednesday walk Pulborough to Amberley - Nutbourne, Pulborough Brooks, a RSPB Visitor Centre, Rackham, then up onto the South Downs before descending to Amberley

SWC 9 - Pulborough to Amberley

Length: 16.6 km (10.3 miles).  Option to return to Pulborough after lunch on a 6 mile, flat circuit, or a little later via the Wild Brooks  - 8.3 miles

Toughness: 6 out of 10    One steady climb up onto the South Downs.   Remainder easy going.  Shorter options both avoid the climb onto the Downs

London Victoria:  10-05 hrs   Southern service to Portsmouth & Southsea & Bognor Regis  CJ 10-12,  EC 10-23 hrs

Arrive Pulborough: 11-19 hrs

Return:  17 mins past the hour

Rail ticket:   buy a day return to Amberley

This is the sister walk to SWC 8 - Billingshurst to Amberley, and although the walk-ends are the same, and both walks share an excellent lunch pub (one of the best in the SWC repertoire) the walks are quite different.  Today's walk is also quite different from the Pulborough Circular walk posted recently on a Sunday. If you went on either of these walks you should enjoy today's walk as well. 

We start on the flat as we leave Pulborough and head through farmland and over fields to the village of Nutbourne, where we stop for lunch at the Rising Sun pub, or picnic nearby.

After lunch we soon walk along the edge of Pulborough Brooks to the hamlet of Wiggonholt to visit its remote, charming church. Next up is the RSPB Pulborough Brooks Visitor Centre, where we can purchase tea, before continuing through woods until we reach a road called Rackham Street. The next section is a bit tedious as we head along this minor road for a mile and a half until we arrive at the base of the South Downs, which we ascend - our exercise for the day !  Once up on top it's the ridge path or through access land (softer on the feet) until we drop down High Titten (road) to Amberley, not far from the railway station. If open, the Bridge Inn next to the station makes for an excellent post-walk refreshment stop. 

T=swc.9

Walk Directions are here  L=swc.9

Tuesday Walk - Blorenge, from Abergavenny [Abergavenny Trip]

Length: 19.6 km (12.2 mi) [shorter and longer walks possible]

Ascent/Descent: 723 m

Net Walking Time: ca. 6 hours

Toughness: 7 out of 10 

 

09.30 Start at the Train Station, group passes the café at the Bus Station at 09.40. 

 

This expedition through parts of the Blaenavon World Heritage Site up to one of Abergavenny’s mountains, features some stunning views and interesting industrial heritage elements. From the pretty town centre of Abergavenny walk along the curtain wall of Abergavenny Castle and through the Castle Meadows along the River Usk to cross over into Llanfoist and start the ascent up the Blorenge. You go through the Llanfoist tunnel under the Monmouthshire & Brecon canal and commence the quite brutal ascent up through Glebe Wood to the Cwm Craf along the three former Llanfoist Inclines of the tramway linking the canal to some ironworks and quarries on the side of and beyond the Blorenge. From the top of the inclines, a further, very gradual ascent around the side of the Blorenge and through the fascinating former site of the Garnddyrys Forge leads you up a tightening Cwm to the hill’s summit plateau, on a fine weather day with superlative views to the Bristol Channel, the Malverns and Cotswolds and – across the Usk Valley – to the Black Mountains.

The descent follows clear – but at times steep – paths across the heather moorland and down bracken-covered slopes past The Punchbowl pond, set serenely in a very picturesque glacial bowl. From there, follow footpaths through pastures-with-views down to and along the canal for a short stretch back to Llanfoist Wharf, from where you retrace the outbound route to Abergavenny and its many tea options.

An interesting but long extension leads down the far side of Blorenge into the Cwm Lwyd and past many core sites of the Blaenavon Industrial Heritage site

Walk Options

A start/finish at Abergavenny Bus Station cuts 750m each way and 30m ascent at the end of the walk. Pick up the directions at the end of the second paragraph.
A start/finish from the Llanfoist Crossing car park on the outskirts of Llanfoist/Llanffwystcuts 3.1 km each way and 50m ascent/descent.
The same start point can be reached by taking buses 3 or X4 from Abergavenny, direction Brynmawr, to the Llanfoist Inn stop and continuing for a few hundred metres along the road.

 

An Extension dips down the far side of Blorenge into the Cwm Lwyd to the core part of the Blaenavon World Heritage Site, famous for many relics of the heavy industrial history of the Welsh Valleys, including The Big Pit National Mining Museum. This highly interesting detour adds 9.9 km and 250m ascent though!
A Shortcut on the Extension cuts 3.6 km and about half of the ascent.
A Short Diversion off that Extension leads to The Whistle Inn tea stop.
Buses from Blaenavon take you to Cwmbrân or Newport for the train line back to Abergavenny.

 

 

Lunch: Picnic. 

Lunch/Tea Blaenavon Extension: 

The Whistle Inn & Campsite The Whistle Inn is located 12.6 km into the walk.
The Castle Hotel The Castle Hotel is located 16.7 km in to the walk.
The Lion Hotel & Restaurant Located 16.9 km into the walk.

 

Tea: The Bridge Inn in Llanfoist. The Bridge Inn is located 2.2 km from the end of the walk and 1.5 km from Abergavenny Bus Station. Open daily 12.00-21.00. 

Plenty of places in Abergavenny’s Town Centre. See the walk directions for details.  

 

For summary, walk directions, map, height profile, photos and gpx/kml files click here. T=swc.372

Monday Walk - Llangattock Escarpment with surreal slag heaps, quarries, cliffs, optional caving and a raised bog. Then Usk Valley with Black Mountains views [Abergavenny Trip]

Length:  18.9 km (11.7 mi), with options to shorten or lengthen

Ascent/Descent:  680m

Net Walking Time:  6 hours

Toughness:  6 out of 10 

 

Take the 09.55 (Line X43 from Stand 5 at Abergavenny Bus Station, also calls Station Road, Raglan Terrace, Pavilion, Brecon Road Surgery & Nevill Hall Hospital) to Brecon, arrives Crickhowell, Square 10.16. 

Return buses: 16.50 and 17.24 (a taxi won’t cost the earth). 

 

From the centre of the rightly popular town of Crickhowell, the route leads across the Usk River and the Monmouth & Brecon Canal up steeply through quiet pastures-with-views up to the easterly end of the Llangattock Escarpment and the fascinating limestone pinnacle of the Lonely Shepherd, overlooking the Clydach Gorge. From there you follow the escarpment westwards, past ex-quarries, surreal looking grassy spoil heaps, a couple of raised bogs and some extensive cave systems leading deep into the underlying limestone layers.

The natural amphitheatre of the Craig y Cilau escarpment with its spectacular high limestone cliffs and extensive cave systems, is negotiated with some easy walking along a former tramroad contouring the dramatic grassy ledge with some superb sweeping views across the Usk Valley to The Black Mountains, from the Mynydd Llangorse and Mynydd Troed via Table Mountain and Pen Cerrig-Calch to Sugar Loaf. You continue through the Craig y Cilau National Nature Reserve, where the Eglwys Faen cave system allows for some optional caving and down the slope to the raised bog of the Waun Ddu.

A very scenic descent and re-ascent leads through the beautiful Cwm Onnau and across into the very lush Usk Valley, from where you contour through more pastures with extremely fine views of the Central Black Mountains back down to the canal and via Llangattock village to Crickhowell with its many tea options.

 

Walk Options

A Morning Shortcut cuts 1.5m and 40m ascent.
A rougher version of that shortcut, up a long and steep bouldery track, cuts another 1.4 km.
Cut out the out-and-back to the Lonely Shepherd limestone pinnacle with views: cut 1.4 km.
Caving (for beginners) can be done in the Eglwys Faen complex. Bring your headtorch and an extra layer or two! Good profile soles necessary, scrambling experience reassuring. And mind your head!
An Afternoon Shortcut, cutting the ascent out of the Cwm Onnau and into the Usk Valley, cuts 2.8 km.
An Extension of the route, higher up the Cwm Onnau adds 2.0 km and 35m ascent. This starts with 20 minutes along the grassy verge of a busy road though.

 

Lunch: Picnic. Best location: on the grassy ledge below the Llangattock Escarpment, with views across the Usk Valley.

Tea: Plenty of options in Llangattock and Crickhowell. Check the pdf or the webpage for details. 

 

For walk directions, maps, height profiles and gpx/kml files click here. T=swc.370