<<< POP UP WALK: Poet's Stone and wild garlic

Sun 9th Apr 2017

Walk Details:

Event Details Updated
UPDATE 26/3 - DUE TO RAIL ENGINEERING, THIS “POP-UP” WALK HAS BEEN CHANGED – IF YOU DECIDE TO JOIN THIS WALK, PLEASE CHECK THE NATIONAL RAIL WEBSITE NEAR THE DATE IN CASE OF LATE CHANGES TO TRAIN TIMES & note the leader’s mobile phone no. 079 0512 5820
Event Type
Group Walk
Region
Southern England
Local Group
London
Distance
20ml.
Start Time
10:40
Route
Start and finish Petersfield station (Depart Waterloo 08:30, Clapham Jct 08:39, Woking 09:00. Then rail-bus to Haslemere to catch train at 10:24, to arrive Petersfield 10:40. The walk aims to start at 10:45. Car parking is available at the station or in the town.)

A circular from Petersfield in Hampshire - The walk explores a beautiful part of the South Downs National Park with a pub lunch after 7 miles at The Hawkley Inn (please see website www.hawkleyinn.co.uk if you wish to pre-order food) or bring your own food to eat on the attractive village green where there are several benches.

See Petersfield’s connections with John Small; King William III; Peter the Great; and Wetherspoons !
Find out about Steep’s connection to John “Day of the Triffids” Wyndham.
The climb to the Poet’s Stone and afterwards the descent on the Hangers’ Way to Hawkley are both steep, but the spectacular 30-mile sweeping view of the South Downs rewards the effort.
After 10 miles, there will be an escape point at Liss Station – eg, the 16:29 train, with rail bus, arrives Waterloo c.18:39.
For those who wish for a longer walk, the leader will return to Petersfield Station by one of several routes aiming for either the 17:04 (Waterloo 1915) or 1724 (Waterloo 1940) c.15-17 miles in total.

General Notes
A memorial walk, to mark the exact 100th anniversary on 9.4.1917 of the death at the Battle of Arras of the WW1 poet, Edward Thomas - see the poem Adlestrop and others ... There was a report he died without a mark on his body from a passing shell, but other reports say he was shot through the chest No dogs, please
Start and Finish

Entry Details:

Cost

Walk Report

The Poet's Stone and Wild Garlic, Sunday 9th April 2017
9 walkers, 15 miles - leader Roderick Smith
After many requests for a Sunday walk, a group of 9 met at Petersfield Station at 10:45 for a "pop-up" walk to mark 100 years to the day since the poet, Edward Thomas, was killed in action at the Battle of Arras in WWI. The idea for the walk arose from a chat between two Committee Members, both of whom were part of the group. The originally planned 20-mile walk south and west via East Meon was discarded, and a shorter 15-17-mile route to the north was substituted when it was found that Network Rail planned an hour-long bus ride from Woking to Haslemere. After an interesting short walk through the town centre, we joined the Hangers' Way (HW) for a short distance to Steep. Both Edward Thomas and John (Day of the Triffids) Wyndham lived in Steep. Diverging from the HW we walked through wild garlic in a shaded gully up 'Little Switzerland' to the Edward Barnsley furniture workshop, and along the ridge to the top of Shoulder of Mutton hill to enjoy the dramatic view down the hill and across to the South Downs. We descended to the Poet's Stone to read Thomas's "In Memoriam" and "Adlestrop". Returning up the hill, we continued on the HW for a 40-minute lunch in Hawkley. Minor paths took us to the trackbed of the Longmoor Military Railway and Liss Station. All joined Tankerdale Lane and the Shipwrights' Way to pass the rural Harrow Inn, and back to Petersfield Station for a train to London at 5pm, arriving Waterloo 19:45. c.15 miles, >3mph moving, on a very warm, sunny day under a cloudless blue sky throughout.
Photographs by Rod Smith and Keith Lane

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