The Devil's Punch Bowl and Black Down (Haslemere)

18 miles - ( maybe not quite the 18 we were intending, but still 18 miles :) 6.5 hours


A beautiful, bright, sunny day welcomed myself and Mnsemonye  to Haslemere in April. It is an area not far from where we both went to college, but of course in our teenage years we'd managed to miss some of the beautiful places on our doorstep.

The plan was to combine two walks, taking in the local land marks of the Devil's Punchbowl and Black Down, so we would end up walking a sort of figure of eight, with Haslemere at the centre.

Taking the loop around the Devil's Punchbowl first, we headed north, up towards Gibbet Hill, a lovely spot, where apparently they used to leave criminals to die in Iron Maiden cages hanging in the trees. Once this practice had ceased, the locals were still a little fearful of the place, so a large Celtic cross was erected and  the site was blessed in the hope of quietening any unhappy spirits still lurking nearby. We used the area to break out the cereal bars, apply sunscreen and Compeed.

Leaving Gibbet Hill behind, we started around the punchbowl itself. I had hoped that it would be particularly easy to wonder around a big hole in the ground without getting too lost..... however, there was a bit of confusion caused by having walk instructions a bit older than the new new tunnelled bypass. Luckily we figured it out and found our way around the punchbowl and were able to stop at handy cafe to re-hydrate before heading back into Haslemere town, where we stopped for a bit more lunch.

Weird conjoined trees

Map of three counties seen from Black Down

For the second leg of the walk, we headed south. After climbing stairs and then entering a wooded area we passed over a marshy area with the help of several short boardwalks. There were a few more climbs before we reached Black Down, the highest peak in the South Downs. The best views of all though came from a point called "The Temple of the Winds" which gave us clear sight out across the South Downs.

The view of the South Downs (in the distance) from the Temple of the Winds on Black Down.

After drinking in the natural splendour for a few minutes, we realised that we had to be at a dinner with friends in a very short period of time. I think it is probably the fastest either of us have moved on a training walk! Flying back to the car, as we retraced our steps, we realised how beneficial it is to actually be familiar with your route. It made life so much easier not to have to consult the map at every other junction because we had already made the mistakes on the way out. The way back was much faster and easier, allowing us to arrive at our friends' house just in time for celebratory bubbles!

P.S. Here are the links to the walks we used:

http://www.walkingbritain.co.uk/walks/walks/walk_a/1514/

 http://www.walkingbritain.co.uk/walks/walks/walk_b/3228/

Salford

4 hours (ish), about 12 -14 miles.

Whilst the rest the team threw themselves into (or rather up and down) the Malvern Hills, I headed north and grabbed a few hours walking taking in the the industrial chic of Salford in Manchester. Having run out of time for planning (and not really fancying heading out into the Peak District on my own) I based my walk along the Salford Canal, starting at the newly re-developed Salford Quays area, new home to the BBC, heading into the city.

The terrain was mainly flat and it was a bit of a road walk, but I did get some grass under my boots when the canal split in two and I must have taken the "road less travelled".

On the way, I passed Old Trafford, a sculpture trail dedicated to Salford's industrial past and lots of opportunities to try my hand at a few arty pics. Walking through the city centre and out to the west, I stopped for lunch by Salford Catholic Cathedral and called the other Titans to see how they were doing. They were having lunch too ....and were rather unimpressed at my canal walk, as they were sat on one of the Malvern Hills.

The journey back was nice and easy as it involved mostly re-tracing my steps, with a few slight improvements to the route. (There was a lot less scrambling up muddy embankments or climbing over broken fences anyway...) The rain very kindly held off for the entire walk, the Heavens waiting until I was safely back to Salford Quays before unleashing a downpour, as I smugly finished off my fruit pastels in the car.

                       

 

Malvern Link to Great Malvern the long way round

Soon enough it was time for another walk. We decided to do as the pet shop boys suggested and went west. In that direction we found the Malvern hills. We thought the walk between the two stations would do, although our route took us 17 miles instead of the usual 1.

Although the week before suggested rain for the weekend we arrived to find the weather was in our favour

The first three hilltops, (North Hill, Sugarloaf Hill and Worcestershire Beacon) were reached in quick succession. And the titans were impressed at their progress. However the joy of hills soon abated and the pace slowed.



Next came Summer Hill, Perseverance Hill (where we did as the name suggested), Jubilee Hill (ok to call us jubilant at the top of this one might have stretched the definition somewhat), Pinnacle and Black hills(? shrugs shoulders) before heading downward to the crossing before British Camp.

At British Camp, we realised none of had a tent so we kept going to Millennium hill and Hangman's hill where in our rush to get down to lunch we never played a game of hangman.



We headed down to Gullet wood and the Gullet Quarry after lunch before tackling Midsummer Hill. This satisfied the usual OUCH rule that its not really a walk unless there's huge mud puddles somewhere. With this requirement satisfied it was time to start heading back. We went up the missed Swinyard hill but otherwise kept to the not so low lower paths before heading into Lower Wyche then Malvern for the train to somewhere somewhat less hilly...

Aldbourne Circular - Part 2

...an extra 7 miles

After waving goodbye to Theia and co. at mile 12 ( I think) the remainder of the group sat down and ate cake. Very good cake too - poppy seed.

We then set out again, heading a little further east of our original route and eventually followed a nice quiet and fairly flat road back towards Aldbourne. There we made a stop at a local pub for "possibly the best Pepsi in the world!" before finally hauling ourselves out of our seats and persuading our stiff legs to start working again for the final stretch on the Ridgeway.

We were treated to beautiful sunsets and good weather as we retraced our steps back to our start point and even found time to pose for a few photos. Prom's other half was particularly impressive, keeping pace with us all the way round and smiling even though I'm sure the full distance of the walk hadn't been really been properly realised until about mile 15!

 

Back at the car, we piled in and set off to find a pub. Within 20 minutes, we all felt as if we had aged 60 years and found that staying still in one place was going to be the best option for the rest of the evening.

Aldbourne walk on a sunny day!

The weather was definitely on our side as we set off for what turned out to be a sunny, picturesque walk starting on the outskirts of Aldbourne. Us greek titans were joined by two other mortals (we did know them, honestly) which was a nice change to just the four of us. So with our rucksacks on our back we ventured onwards and uphill, very uphill.........

Once we had all caught our breath, hydrated ourselves and removed a layer or two (sweaty bodies is never an attracive thing) we continued ahead with beautiful views of rolling hills all around us and the sun continued to shine bright allowing us to appreciate what the countryside offerred us.

Eventually we reached the pretty, quaint village of Aldbourne where we met some very friendly locals, one even offered us a walkers special-buy one bacon butty and don't get another one free! Declining his very generous offer we ventured out of Aldbourne and turned onto a track near some barns, more 'steady climbs' and mud! (a walk isn't a walk without mud).


Not ones to be fazed by mud & hills we remained in high spirits and soaked up the outstanding views, passing landmarks such as Snap Village-a village abandoned in 1905. Up until now we hadn't walked much of the Ridgeway but as we continued ahead we met signposts for the Ridgeway in question and, of course, another 'steady climb'. Theia was very pleased in telling everyone that we were about to reach the highest point on the whole of the Ridgeway National Trail-a whole 276m above sea level! And the views? Fantastic!