Tuesday, 1 September 2026
Dartmouth 25 June 2027 to 28 June 2027
Scotland 2027: Back to Dornie!
The Jungle Book at the National Theatre
Inside Aardman: Wallace & Gromit and Friends at Young V&A
In Aardman’s 50th anniversary year, go behind the scenes of your favourite stop-motion animations and explore how Aardman’s iconic characters and worlds are brought to life.
A joyful, educational, and highly tactile experience and a
"must-see" expo that combines nostalgia with iconic sets, original
models, and interactive, hands-on activities.
Tickets £11 or £5.5 (Art Fund). To book your ticket, please click here. Book the 2:30pm slot.
The current plan is to link this exhibition in conjunction with a Sunday walk and lunch nearby.
A WhatsApp group will be set up for this event. Please email your mobile number to swcsocialATgmailDOTcom if you wish to be on it.
Crickhowell Trip - 4 Nights, 4 Walks (2 with bus journeys, 2 from/to Crickhowell)
A Thursday to Monday trip with 4 walks:
Friday 25 September: 10.11 Bus Line 43 from Crickhowell Square (calls all stops in Llangattock), arrives Llangynidr, Village Hall at 10.26. Walk SWC Walk 332 Llangynidr to Bwlch or Circular: 21.9 km (13.6 mi) with 781/685m ascent/descent. 7/10 rating. With lots of options, shorter and longer. Picnic lunch.
Saturday 26 September: 09.26 Bus Line X43 from Crickhowell Square (does not stop in Llangattock), arrives Bwlch, All Saints at 09.36. Walk SWC Walk 308 Bwlch Circular via Mynydd Troed, then Llangorse Lake or Pen Tir: 21.6 km (13.4 mi) with 837/840m ascent/descent. 7/10 rating. With two principal options, and two shortcuts on the Llangorse Lake option. Picnic lunch on the rarely walked Pen Tir option, but a pub and tearoom in Cwmdu for ‘tea’.
Sunday 27 September: Meet at 10.00 at the Crickhowell Square bus stop. And start walking. Walk SWC Walk 370 Crickhowell Circular via Mynydd Llangatwg and Craig y Cilau: 18.9 km (11.7 mi) with 680m ascent/descent. 6/10 rating. Shorter and longer options: one extension, several shortcuts plus an opportunity for caving (for beginners).
Monday 28 September: Meet at 09.30 at the Crickhowell Square bus stop. And start walking. Walk SWC Walk 333 Crickhowell Circular via Table Mountain and the three Pens: 20.4 km (12.7 mi) with 973m ascent/descent. 8/10 rating. Feel free to walk this main walk version, or even the much harder 10/10 version, as some did last year on the Brecon Trip, but my intention is to walk the very different (and shorter) version which leads in a westerly loop from either Pen Cerrig-calch or Pen Allt-mawr (the latter route partly map-led) and down the lower part of the wooded Cwm Cumbeth (11.5 km/7.2 mi, 658m ascent; or 16.5 km/10.3 mi, 741m ascent) back to Crickhowell. [There is an even shorter version described.] This will enable me to check the old text, equip the currently map-led stretch with written directions, and still leave Crick relatively early for London.
#2026-09-24T18:00 #5days
Wednesday walk: Robertsbridge circular via Brightling
Length: 18.3 km (11.4 miles) 3/10
In my absence a regular Wednesday walker has volunteered this outing to the Sussex High Weald. The route begins through territory familiar from another SWC walk – but then heads into the rarely visited lands once owned by the notorious “Mad Jack” Fuller via Brightling, including an interesting tower and mausoleum.
Trains: 0943 from Charing Cross ( 0953 London Bridge) arriving Robertsbridge 1105. Return trains are 1610, 1644, 1709, 1744, 1814,1844.
Lunch: Unfortunately there is no lunchtime pub, so a picnic lunch is needed. A a small detour to Brightling village church is suggested, where there is a storm porch with seats; also the church should be open. After that, you can soon pick up a path passing a tower, the second of Jack Fuller's follies. Then you rejoin the walk 222 route passing through Darwell woods, Mountfield Court and back to Robertsbridge.
After Brightling you could also carry on to Battle (walk 222c, 12.2 miles) with a possible late pub stop at Netherfield about 4 miles before the end.
Tea: the Ostrich pub next to Robertsbridge station.
L=swc.222
#2026-09-09T09:40
Sunday Walk – Surrey heaths and the Mole valley
Length: up to 15¼ km (9.5 miles), with shorter afternoon routes possible. Toughness: 2/10
09:57 Hampton Court train from Waterloo (Vauxhall 10:01, Clapham Jct 10:06, etc), changing at Surbiton (arr 10:27, dep 10:32) for the Guildford via Cobham train which should be waiting on the adjacent platform, arriving Oxshott at 10:42. [NB. This train starts from Wimbledon at 10:13 and for some reason then hangs around at Surbiton for 11 minutes.]
If you just miss the Hampton Court train the faster 10:07 Alton train should make the connection at Surbiton (arr 10:30), but don't hang about.
Trains back from Cobham are hourly at xx:10 and run through to Waterloo. Buy a return to Cobham & Stoke D'Abernon (its full name).
This walk was originally conceived as an opportunity to visit Painshill, which modestly describes itself as “England's most elegant 18thC landscape garden”. I'd intended to post it two weeks later when the garden is one of the attractions of Heritage Open Day, but the Fat Controller has decreed rail replacement buses across swathes of south-west London on the 20th which means no free visit this year. You could of course still fork out the £15 entrance fee (it's not a National Trust property) but I'm assuming that most will simply want to enjoy an easy walk around Surrey's wooded heaths and the Mole valley.
The suggested lunch place in Cobham is The Bear (01932-967040) on River Hill, a Young's pub with a secluded back garden as well as a patio area at the front. There are other eateries along its High Street and a crescent-shaped patch of grass with a few benches opposite the pub for picnics.
If you don't break off to visit Painshill you might be in time for Cafè Barbera, an Italian coffee house in the parade of shops next to Cobham station (it closes at 4pm on Sundays). Stronger fare is available at The Old Plough, an attractive pub with a large beer garden which is a short walk away at the other end of Station Road.
This walk had to be completely redesigned after an influential walker grumbled about being offered a garden apple instead of cider for his mid-morning refreshment. The pub is now on the afternoon leg and comes before the offending garden, which should allow for all tastes to be accommodated. Anyway, please don't rely on an old version of the walk document and bring the current directions from the L=swc.305 page. #2026-09-06T10:45
Haywards Heath Circular via Lindfield
Distance : 11.8 Miles 19.0km
Difficulty: 4 out of 10
Train: Take the 10.05am from London Bridge (East
Croydon 10:19), arriving at Haywards Heath at 10.51 OR
Take 10.16
from Victoria; 10.23 Clapham J; 10.34 EC; arrives Haywards H at 11.02
(hopefully by the time early arrivals have done hellos etc the Vic train will
have arrived and all can set off together).
Return
trains from Haywards Heath are very frequent….
Ticket: Buy a day return to Haywards Heath
This walk explores the low hills on either side of the Ouse valley on the
southern edge of the High Weald. It passes through two nature reserves: one
(the Scrase Valley Local Nature Reserve) en route from Haywards Heath and the
other on the outskirts of Lindfield. You may also spot the Bluebell Railway
running its holiday service in the afternoon. You can find more information
about the walk and download the walk instructions here.
Lunch is at the Sloop Inn 01444 715388 at Freshfield Bridges (5
miles/ 7¾ km from the start) with food served until 2.30pm (booking strongly recommended)
. Tea and other late afternoon refreshments can be had at various
establishments along the attractive High Street in Lindfield (see walk notes
for suggestions).
Back in
Haywards Heath, you can get tea and cakes in the Waitrose near the station and
nearby pubs for something stronger.
#2026-09-05T10:05
t=swc.141
Lewes to Seaford with cooling dip in the sea
T=swc.181
L=swc.181
Saturday Walk - Princess Risborough to Wendover
Photography Exhibition - Between Light and Shadow by London Independent Photography (Ealing)
Wednesday walk - Shoreham figure of 8
This walk consists of two loops around the attractive Kent village of Shoreham, nestling in the valley carved out of the North Downs by the River Darent. There is a good mix of woodland and open countryside with some fine views from the steep-sided hills overlooking the valley, interspersed with easier stretches along the valley floor.
Length: Main Walk: 20 km (12.4 miles). Alternative Walk: 15¼ km (9.4 miles). Shorter options detailed in the directions.
I'm going to suggest we follow the Alternative Walk to facilitate group cohesion and allow time for collecting sloes but individuals or sub groups are free to do variations.
Toughness: 6 out of 10 for the main walk (4 for the Alternative Walk, 3 for the Short Walks).
Trains: The 9.46 train from Blackfriars (Elephant & Castle 9.50 platform 4)gets you to Shoreham for 10:46 with lots of stops in south east London along the way. From Victoria you could take the 9.55 train to Bromley South (10.11) where you can pick up the Blackfriars train at 10.23. Or, from London Bridge take the 9.53 train to Sevenoaks where you change for the 10.22 train to Shoreham arriving 10.32
Return trains Shoreham run at xx:02 and xx:32 to Blackfriars. Change at Bromley South for Victoria trains. There are also trains at xx:15 and xx.32 to Sevenoaks where you can change for connections to London Bridge. Or, you could finish in Otford and get a train from there back to Victoria.Tea: There are options in Shoreham, Otford and Lullingstone.
For more detailed information click L=swc.289