Amberley Circular, 13 June

Train: The train is the 8.35 from Victoria (towards Bognor Regis & Portsmouth Harbour), calling at Clapham Junction (8.42) and East Croydon (8.53), arriving Amberley at 9.58. Buy a day return to Amberley (unless you are planning to dropout at Arundel – see below).

IMPORTANT – please listen to train announcements to make sure that you are in the correct carriage. Firstly, the train splits at Horsham. Usually, the first 4 carriages go to Portsmouth Harbour which is no use to us. We need to be on the rest of the train which goes to Bognor Regis because Amberley is on the way there. 
Secondly, the platform at Amberley is short – only the front 5 carriages will allow access to the platform (The doors in the other carriages will not open.)

My suggestion is that we all meet in the 5th carriage from the back of the train as that should ensure we are in one of the carriages that arrive at Amberley station on its platform.

The Walk: This is a beautiful ramble, with lots of lovely views. We walk by the side of the River Arun and through woods, fields & parkland with waterfowl on a lake. A particularly stunning section is just before lunch when we see Arundel Castle initially to our right then, as the river bends through 90 degrees, the Castle, Cathedral & town appear dramatically in front of us.

The morning is about 5 miles and the afternoon about 4 miles. However, there is a relatively long steady climb in the middle of the morning which will slow us down as we will stop regularly to get our breath back. The exertion is worth it for the stunning views.

We are unlikely to arrive back at Victoria before 6.15pm and it could be as late as 6.45pm.

Lunch: We have lunch in Arundel. There are some benches near the river for those with a picnic lunch. Nearby is The Swan for those wanting a pub lunch and where those picnicking can join us, if they wish. No need to book as, in the unlikely event that we cannot get into The Swan, we will go to the Norfolk Arms further along the High Street.

Dropout: It is easy to dropout at lunch in Arundel because there are regular trains back to London Victoria leaving at 14 & 44 minutes past the hour. Arundel station is 10 to 15 minutes walk from the town centre. You will need to buy a single ticket from Arundel to Amberley or have already bought a return ticket to Arundel, because Arundel is further away from London than Amberley.

There are no other dropout options.

Hazards: There will be mud on some of the paths and some will be slippy as will the wooden boardwalks in the early part of the walk. Bring walking poles if you use them.

There are a couple of short sections on country lanes with no pavements, so please walk single file along them and follow the leader’s advice.

In the morning, there is 1 stile and there is 1 gate to climb over. In the afternoon, there are 3 stiles, one of which has its lower step missing.

Terry