3 Men on a walk 2017: Up and over the hill for lunch

Plumpton to Lewes and back

Hills; We love them but big ones like todays need a BIG incentive for us old codgers and today it was the draw of an old friend - The John Harvey Tavern in Lewes.

It was scheduled to be a dry day but windy and certainly up on the top of the South Downs the wind was both strong and biting. Fortunately on the way out we had the wind on our backs and so we enjoyed the occasional glimpse of the sun and the spectacular views. On our way back the wind in our faces made our eyes water but with the legs aching from the second big climb of the day we hardly noticed!

The climb up from Plumpton is exceptionally steep, straight up the north side of the Downs. But once the climb to 680 ft is made the views all around are magnificent. And today as we headed South East towards Lewes we had the benefit that the walk along this section of the South Downs Way was entirely downhill!

We entered the town and walked down to the River, using the smoking chimney of the "Harveys Brewery" as both a guide and a stimulant. The John Harvey Tavern sits directly across the road from the Brewery and is an old favourite watering hole for us.

After lunch we followed the Sussex Ouse path out of the town until the village of Offam where for the second time in the day we had to climb up to the top of the downs and re-join the South Downs Way. Finally we hit the "down" trail to Plumpton and arrived back to the car. At 11.3 miles this was our longest walk so far this year.