Length: 16km (9.9 miles)
10.00 train from Waterloo to Petersfield, arriving 11.04.
From Clapham Junction get the 9.52 (Portsmouth-bound) train. This is a stopping train (leaving Waterloo at 9.45) and is overtaken by the 10.00 train above, but you can change to the faster train at Woking (arrive 10.13, depart 10.25). Or if you stay on the stopping train to Petersfield you will arrive at 11.13, ie only 9 minutes behind the group.
For walk directions, GPX and map, click here.
This is a pleasant little walk which has not had an SWC outing for three years. It starts by walking across fields to the pretty village of Buriton, and then climbs up over the South Downs. But this is the western part of the South Downs, so more of a mix of undulating hills, fields and woods than your typical grassy downland. Later in the walk there are some fine distant views.
The Five Bells in Buriton which was once a possible early lunch stop after 2.4 miles has now CLOSED, so your only pub lunch option (the one we usually go to anyway) is the Red Lion in Chalton after 5.9 miles. This has a capacious garden/terrace and serves food all afternoon, so it might be a positive advantage to get there a little late.
For tea, the pretty village of Rowlands Castle has several pubs, but we usually end up in the Castle Inn, the most convenient one for the station. From memory the village also has a convenience store.
Trains back are at 59 past and take 1 hour 41 minutes, but you can reduce this to 1 hr 23 minutes by changing at Petersfield (arrive 09 past, depart 18 past).
1 comment:
13 off the slightly delayed train and we picked up two in the town. Walker number n=16 missed a connection and started half an hour late, turning up at lunch. Weather? Sunny at times, quite grey and windy later, so let’s say w=dry as the common denominator.
It is still a novelty to see lush green grass after the drought. A few flowers have also popped up, but not many. Big fields of stubble reminded us of approaching autumn. The route includes lots of long straight sections, so navigation was often easy, leaving more time for chatting.
It seemed a long way to lunch. We got there a bit before 2pm. The pub was pretty empty and we easily got a nice table on the terrace. No fussy table service: we could order at the bar. Food came quickly.
After a quick look at the church, back onto the downs. Big open sections across large fields with extensive views. Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight could be discerned by those who knew where to look. Given that only a third of the walk was after lunch, it seemed quite a long walk to Rowlands Castle: perhaps the steep hill climb out of Finchdean did not help.
The Castle Inn was surprised when five of us wanted tea, but they rose to the occasion, actually boiling a kettle. I guess 10-12 of us went to the pub in all. Half went for the 5pm train, some slinking out when they realised the train was 14 minutes late. Six of us stayed on and had a walk around the village. Pretty but not much to see. One of the two pubs on the green has gone, the Robin Hood being the survivor.
There is a very nice small supermarket in the village and there we bought supplies for the 6pm train - cups of tea (from the Costa machine), a cake or two, Jaffa Cakes, snacks. (What supplies did you think we would buy, then?). We changed at Petersfield for the fast train and chatted away very quietly in the Quiet Zone. Five of us went to Marugame Udon at Waterloo.
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