Sussex Young Walkers

Hampshire Area is organising a walk for 1 April to mark the first aniversary of South Downs National Park. Here are the details as supplied by them:

Hampshire Area of the Ramblers invites you to
help us to
Celebrate the first anniversary of
The South Downs National Park
Walk and Rally
Sunday April 1st, 10.00am
6-8 mile walk
Queen Elizabeth Country Park
We hope to provide drinks & light refreshments.
Speakers include Kate Ashbrook. Further details to be arranged

Contact Owen Plunkett on 023 92254959

Many thanks to all who attended the first walk of the new year, Windmills and Beacons.

This walk took in the traditional sights of the Jack and Jill Windmills near Clayton (see this website for more information), and Ditchling Beacon, but for some variety, the walk started from and ended at Hassocks.

Most of the walk took place in the morning, which saw us work our way up to the windmills and along to the beacon, before coming back down to Ditchling for lunch.

As the Bull proved to be rather busy, we decided instead to go to the White Horse. They were a little overwhelmed by having more business than they had anticipated, so service was a little slow, but the food was excellent and worth the wait.

Following lunch, there was a short walk back to Hassocks.

If you attended the walk and would like to leave a comment, feel free to do so.

Today saw the group’s muddy but enjoyable “Christmas Lunch Walk”, which started and ended near the Balcombe Tea Rooms. The lunch itself was at the White Hart in West Hoathly and was excellent. They were rather busy, however, so we set out on the second half of the walk a little later than we intended. As a result, it was somewhat darker when we finally got back that we intended!

Many thanks to Claire for leading an enjoyable walk. If you attended, and want to leave a comment, please do so below.

I am now looking ahead to the start of next years and getting together some walks for our new programme.

I am interested in walks to be held sometime from January to April 2012. Walks have traditionally been held on a Sunday, starting at 10 am or 10:30 am, and we have aimed to hold at least one walk every fortnight. I would prefer walks on Sunday, but if you want to put forward one on a Saturday, that would be fine. I would consider advertising weekday walks, although you should bear in mind that people are less likely to be able to make them.

I need the following information in connection with each walk:

• Your name and contact details (phone, e-mail – whatever you prefer)
• A suggested title for the walk
• The date of the walk
• The start time of the walk
• The start location (please make this as clear as possible – a grid reference and explorer map number are preferred)
• The anticipated length of the walk and rough difficulty of the walk (1 = Easy, 3 = Average, 5 = Hard)
• Whether there will be a pub stop, or some other place people can buy food at lunchtime, or whether they need to bring a picnic

Walks can be submitted via the Submit Walk page or by e-mailing us at contact@sussex-young-walkers.org.uk.

It would be nice to see some new walks leaders. I understand if you are a bit nervous about leading a walk for the first time, however, we can provide you with any guidance you need.

When I got up this morning, it was overcast and raining, but by the start of the walk, the sun was out. It was pretty warm and dry underfoot for this time of year, and so the conditions were right for a pleasant stroll through the Sussex countryside, from Rudgwick to the Haven and back again. Lunch was at the Blue Ship near the Haven.

Claire has kindly volunteered to lead “The Christmas Lunch” walk on Sunday 11^th December, starting at 10:45 am from the tea shop in Balcombe.

The tea shop is at grid ref. TQ 309306 (web page http://thebalcombetearooms.co.uk/). It can be reached from the train station by walking north on Rocks Lane, crossing over London Road and then going up Bramble Hill.

A train from Brighton to Balcombe departs 10.11am and arrives 10.38am.

The walk is a circular, 7.5 miles in length.

Lunch will be at the half-way point, at the White Hart in West Hoathly (http://www.sussexgoodpubguide.co.uk/whitehartwesthoathly.htm).

I wasn’t able to make David’s walk today, but if anyone who did attend wants to leave a comment, please do so.

The weather for Tina’s walk today was overcast, wet, but actually not that cold. We started from outside the Horse & Groom pub in Rushlake Green, a lovely little village not for from Heathfield in East Sussex. The majority of the walk (5.5 miles) was in the morning; the afternoon “half” was only about 3 miles. Lunch was at the Horse & Groom, where the food was excellent – my steak was nice and tender – but a little pricey.

Many thanks to Tina for leading the walk and to everyone who attended. If you were there and feel like adding a comment, feel free to do so.

The glorious weather continued for our latest walk, Stanmer Woods, led by Steve. It was a challenging walk starting in Stanmer Villas in Brighton, and passing through the local golf course, before crossing the main road into the woods. A large number of “little loops” later saw us eventually arive at the Stanmer tea-rooms, where we were met by Tina and Maggie, who joined us for the second half. The afternoon section saw us take a similar route in reverse, although it was shorter and more of the walk was downhill.

Many thanks to Steve for leading the walk; if you attended and want to leave a comment, feel free to do so.