tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13665817.post1927174280885615484..comments2024-03-17T23:14:14.187+00:00Comments on SWC - This Week's Walks: Saturday walk - Burgess Hill to Hassocks - Buttercup fields and the South DownsAndrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11395064086819994526noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13665817.post-10230887521838955852019-05-18T23:00:05.126+01:002019-05-18T23:00:05.126+01:00N=15 on this walk including two newcomers who we h...N=15 on this walk including two newcomers who we hope enjoyed their day. The weather was disappointingly cloudy at first but cleared from the coast at lunchtime to w=hot-sun-in-the-afternoon. We had a pleasant walk at this loveliest time of the year - what walk does not look beautiful in mid May? - but in truth I was a bit disappointed with the buttercups, which, though by no means lacking, were more intense in previous years. A large free-range chicken farm, whose inhabitants truly get to peck around in the long grass and bushes, and who serenaded us as we walked by, made up for the disappointment, as did a posse of swifts screeching over Ditchling. <br /><br />No one opted for an early lunch in Ditchling as far as I know and we stayed together as a group on the very lovely climb up onto the downs. (Yellowhammers were singing at the top). We arrived after 2pm at the Plough in Pyecombe but had no trouble getting served. Nice food and generous portions, with a big and varied menu. <br /><br />During lunch a sandwich contingent left us: what they did later, I do not know. Two more parted from us before the climb up to Wolstonbury Hill to take a direct route to Hassocks and social lives. <br /><br />That left six (?) of us to carry on to Hurstpierpoint. Three baulked at the very steep descent from Wolstonbury Hill chosen by the walk author and tried to find a gentler way. This proved promising at first but later involved an awkward descent through a wood - a maze of paths indicating the increasing desperation of others who had attempted the same route. But we gained the flatlands at last and did a little short cut to catch up with the rest of the group. <br /><br />After a lovely garden tea/drink at the New Inn in Hurstpierpoint, house martins swooping overheard, we set off sometime after six for the last loop up past Hurstpierpoint College and back to Hassocks. After one more drink at the pub by the station, we caught 20.11 and 20.36 trains home, satisfied we had made good use of the daylight hours. Walkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09314024151810191831noreply@blogger.com