SWC Walk 155 - Petersfield to Cocking Length: 12.4 miles (19.9km) (with
shorter option - see below)
Toughness: 6 out of 10: 400 metres of ascent
9.30 train from
Waterloo to
Petersfield, arriving 10.31
(The 9.27 Exeter St David's service from Clapham Junction connects to the above train at Woking, arriving 9.45, departing 9.55, but this train may be crowded...)
Buy a day return to Petersfield.
Book this via the South West Trains website or buy in advance from a SWT ticket office to get its summer £16 day return offer, though in fact with a Network card the fare is only £17.90, so it is not a huge difference.
This walk had a recent outing with the midweek walkers, but on a day of heavy rain when I don't think anyone turned up. But I wanted to give it a Saturday outing anyway
(with fingers crossed for nicer weather...) It is a simple walk along a section of the South Downs Way that is not otherwise covered by SWC walks. For the most part there are
no directions (though you can read more about the walk and find a map of the route
here) but none are needed, because the route is well waymarked. The exception to this is the initial section south from Petersfield to Buriton, where the SDW is joined. Directions for this can be found at the start of
SWC Walk 18 Petersfield to Rowlands Castle which are
here.
Towards its end, this document also gives brief details of the South Downs route to Cocking (
walk 18, option a) so is worth printing in its entirety.
Lunch on this walk is either at the
White Hart in
South Harting, approximately 6 miles into the walk, requiring a descent from the downs (it may be worth calling 01730 825 124 before doing this to check they have room), or at
Uppark, a
National Trust property just to the south of the route, which has the usual NT cafe serving limited hot food options till 2.30pm and tea and cakes until 4pm
(note: this is open Saturdays too, not just Sunday to Thursday as the walk details say).
I have no idea if this cafe is accessible without paying admission to Uppark, however (for NT members this is not an issue, obviously)
SHORTER OPTION If you want to visit
Uppark, or are just feeling lazy, there are
buses (number 54 or 91) from outside the pub at
South Harting at
16.15,
16.21 and
18.22 to Petersfield station, taking 20 minutes. I calculate the walk to South Harting as
6 miles and if you visit Uppark,
7 miles. You could even be ultra laid back and have an
early lunch at the Five Bells in Buriton, just 4km/2.5 miles into the walk.
MAIN WALK AFTERNOON Just after lunch, note that SDW skirts to the south of
Beacon Hill, but you can save 1km off the walk (though adding a strenuous ascent) by simply climbing straight up over the hill: excellent views on the top. You rejoin the SDW on the far side of the hill.
After that you can just stay on the South Downs Way until it crosses the
A286: there is a bus stop here, served by the same buses as Cocking, only a few minutes earlier. Better, though, to take the path slanting down to
Cocking a kilometre earlier (see route map). Here the
Bluebell Inn offers end of walk refreshments and is open all afternoon.
To get back from Cocking, you need to take
bus number 60 north to Midhurst -
40 minutes past the hour until
18.40 - 14 minutes journey time.
All buses have a ten minute
connection at Midhurst to the
number 70 (departing
on the hour till
18.00, then
19.05), which then takes you to
Haslemere station, a 25 minute journey.
Alternatively a joint
taxi to Haslemere is not out of the question and may not be any more expensive. The walk document mentions a taxi firm that did an 8 seater taxi to Petersfield for £30, but does not give a phone number. If anyone knows more, please add a comment.
Trains back from Haslemere are at
02,
15,
32, and
39 past, the 02 and 32 being a bit faster.
