30 March 2021

Ifold, Alfold, Loxwood circuit, Local

 Staying very local this week ... the recent relaxation in lockdown had made the roads very busy and we wanted to wait for the novelty to settle down and traffic reduce.

I still had a couple of local routes plotted and we took one of these that headed through Sydney woods to Alfold and then back through Loxwood.

Heading up through Ifold on the Ride before turning down the Hogwood road. It was quite busy first thing with all the resident dog walkers on a short circuit. Once we had met the Sussex Border path we turned north heading for Sydney Farm, through a number of grass fields.
Close to Sydney Farm we entered some kind of animal rehabilitation zone with lots of smaller fields each with one or more styles between them. A bit of a challenge with some of the heights.
From Sydney Farm we turned onto the drive way an extension to Rosemary Lane - a back lane that wound around a number of isolated cottages, however it proved a dry route to walk.
At the entrance to Sydney Wood we passed over the canal path we had been down before. Continuing on the lane we cut over yet another path we had been on with a prior route and entered into the village of Alfold.
Taking a path around the side of the village between a new development, we crossed the road to Loxwood, and came out into more grass fields
The grass gave way to a field that grew sweetcorn last year, but had recently been spread with slurry ...  the path had disappeared under it - a very smelly paddle later even Bertie needed to wash off!
Looking across to the clay pits proposed development, before we met up again with the Sussex border path
A pause on the same log as last time we had been here for coffee and some sustenance ... Bertie of course wanted everything
Across the fields heading to Loxwood, passed the clock tower of Loxwood Hall behind some trees.

Looking across towards Hindhead/ Haslemere and, I think, Black Down and the temple of the Winds.
Closing in on Loxwood we passed this "sculpture" .. it looked good next to the pollarded tree.
Down the lane to the canal we then picked up the tow path route back home
Passing Sue's favourite tree, and the root tangle. Back home along the well trodden route.
Home in time for second lunch.


23 March 2021

South Harting and Beacon hill circuit, South Downs

 Another lockdown walk however a day later this week ... because of issues over at Uckfield. Heading again to the South Downs, and beyond Midhurst on small country lanes to a small village called South Harting, A carpark on the South Downs way just outside the Uppark country estate grounds. When we arrived there were a few cars doing the early dog walk thing, and a complex set of instructions on how to pay via an app on your phone all for £3.
The route today would go down to the village along the bottom of the ridge then up to meet where we had been last week and then back along the top. I think we should have gone the other way around, as I had not anticipated the amount of undulation on the tops.

The first part followed the South Downs way to the west in some recently "managed" woodland under the ruined tower in the Uppark estate gardens. this contoured around gradually descending into the village of South Harting
Close to teh village and before the recreational ground they had been doing some replanting.
In the village itself the church was a mixture of styles and a green copper roof visible from a long distance.
Following the road out of the village to Elstead, we picked up a footpath across the fields into East Harting (there was a west as well, but we did not see any sign of North)
Here we took a path that went through a fam yard, filled with Sheep in lambing pens, so Bertie had to be on his best behaviour, before cutting over towards the ridge again and picking up a chalk track heading under the ridge.
This track mutated into a path besides the fields - still quite dry compared to some recently, and we could now see the bobble on the ridge we would aim for - Treyford Hill.
After diverting around some new building works the track ended up on a paved road - actually the access road to Buriton Farm, which switch backed its way up the steep side to the ridge.
As the road cut back a second time we departed off to the left and up the side of the treyford hill, As we got out of the trees the view opened up to the north.
Time for some sustenance and a rest ...  to the west we could see the path on the ridge we would follow later
After our early lunch we dropped down the back side of the hill passed the Devils jumps, where we had been last week, to pick up the South Downs Way as it curved around the hill top we had just been up and back down to a hanging valley with the road and farm. In hindsight this detour may not have been worth the effort expended, but it did add 100m ascent to the daily total.
From this road we continued on the South Downs Way as it gently rose on the other side to Penn Hill, keeping to the northern edge of the ridge.
The top of the hill was marked by a cattle grid, and looking back we could see the top we had come from behind.
Ahead was a fairly steep drop before a seemingly viscous climb up to Beacon Hill ...  the South Downs Way skirts around the south side of this hill, but it was a more direct route.
The descent from Pen hill looked quite daunting from half way up the other side, but as the slope eased up we began to see everything open up.
North and south panoramas.

The top used to hold a Semaphore in the Napoleonic wars, and you could make out Portsmouth in the misty haze.
Unfortunately there was yet another bump before we got back to the car, and it stretched out before us ... the descent was almost as steep as the ascent up the other side. Going down to a large pasture area hanging valley.
A nice sign post on a cairn at the bottom pointed the way onwards and up the other side to the top of Harting Downs.
The top itself had a copse of trees like a mini Chanctonbury.
The copse nestling on the last top before going down to the car park.
On the other side we could see the ruined tower we had passed (but not seen) at the start.
Back at the van ...  14kms and 400m ascent ...  the furthest on our lockdown walks.