Extra Walk 218: Midhurst Way:
Haslemere to Midhurst via Henley – Quiet hills, country pubs and Cowdray
Park (which includes a castle)
Length: 9.7 miles
Difficulty: 4 out of 10
Train: Take the 10:00
South West Portsmouth Harbor train from London
Waterloo to Haslemere, arriving
at 10:48. To
return requires taking one of the hourly buses (No. 70 -- from Stand D at the Bus Station) from Midhurst back to Haslemere
(a 24 minute journey). The buses are
every hour on the hour with the last one being 19:05. Return trains from Haslemere are frequent with regular services at 02; 15; 32 and 39 past the hour (reducing to 02; 15
and 32 at 19:39) until 21:32. Buy a day return to Haslemere.
This walk is
actually a longstanding special request – but, I liked the description so much that
I was keen to do it myself (so had to wait until after the swimming season to
post it)! With autumn tree color just
starting to show, this should also be a nice time for a walk in the Haslemere
area before the dreaded mud season returns.
The walk climbs two gentle hills with nice views and passes through
Cowdray Estate towards the end – in the heart of the South Downs National Park.
More information and the instructions for
the walk can be found here. The
instructions actually look a little light – so if you have a map, it would be
well worth bringing.
There are
two options for lunch – an earlier, more classic pub, The Red Lion (01428 643 112)
in Fernhurst and a later, more
gourmet pub, The Duke of Cumberland Arms
in Henley (01428 652 280), slightly less than halfway and slightly more than half way, respectively. Larger groups should call ahead and provide
some warning – especially for the later pub.
Tea can be
had at Cowdray Farm Shop & Cafe which
is open until 5:00 PM. Alternatively, Midhurst
and/or Haslemere undoubtedly have a few watering holes to re-hydrate after the
walk.
Enjoy the
walk!
5 comments:
As I'm short of time on Saturday, rather than chance the bus I may do a variation, with a route back to a train station after lunch at Fernhurst (Haslemere circular, or Haslemere to Milford or Witley).
This is the first time this walk's been done by SWC.
The start (to Fernhurst) is similar to the TOCW1 Haslemere Circular. The afternoon is all new.
The walk's raison d'etre is the Duke of Cumberland Arms, so it might be worth trying it for lunch.
n=20 (23 said one source, but my count was 20) on this walk w=cloudy This was a most pleasant outing, a perfect autumn walk. Lots of sweet chestnuts which were showing good golden colours (and lots of nuts on the ground to collect) but the beechwoods were still all green. In two to three weeks time it would have been a riot of colour, but then in two to three weeks time there would have been lots of mud, whereas we had none.
The route is simple, with long stretches on car-wide bridleways, but nevertheless the brief directions could do with more detail in places. There was a great deal of map study and comparing of GPXs. To be fair, we also kept complicating things by introducing variations of our own.
The morning, as the walk notes admit, is very similar to the book one Haslemere Circular. We lunched at the Red Lion, the usual Haslemere pub, and they were friendly and served nice food. Their kitchen seemed to be run on biblical principles, however - that is to say the last to order got their meals first, and vice versa. We were directed to sit in the garden, possibly for the last time this year as it was a bit chilly. It then later transpired a table had been reserved for us inside.
In the afternoon into new territory and it was delightful - wooded but with lovely views. The later pub, the Duke of Cumberland, looked mouthwatering but had been pre-booked by another walking group, which is why we did not lunch there. Lingering looks were cast up to the Temple of the Winds and some wondered whether we might combine the morning of the OTHER Haslemere to Midhurst walk with the afternoon of this one.
This one definitely has a much better approach to Midhurst than its sister, a lovely gentle descent with fine views. The slightly posh tea room at Cowdray Park is also nice, though some sampled a range of English wines in the adjacent shop as an alternative.
The ruins of Cowdrey Hall are a great end to the walk and Midhurst is a very pretty town. A pity the buses don't run beyond 7pm or we might have had dinner there.
n=20 (23 said one source, but my count was 20) on this walk w=cloudy This was a most pleasant outing, a perfect autumn walk. Lots of sweet chestnuts trees which were showing good golden colours (and lots of nuts on the ground to collect) but the beechwoods were still all green. In two to three weeks time it would have been a riot of colour, but then in two to three weeks time there would have been lots of mud, whereas we had very little.
The route is simple, with long stretches on car-wide bridleways, but nevertheless the brief directions could do with more detail in places. There was a great deal of map study and comparing of GPXs. To be fair, we also kept complicating things by introducing variations of our own.
The morning, as the walk notes admit, is very similar to the book one Haslemere Circular. We lunched at the Red Lion, the usual Haslemere pub, and they were friendly and served nice food. Their kitchen seemed to be run on biblical principles, however - that is to say the last to order got their meals first, and vice versa. We were directed to sit in the garden, possibly for the last time this year as it was a bit chilly. It then later transpired a table had been reserved for us inside.
In the afternoon into new territory and it was delightful - wooded but with lovely views. The later pub, the Duke of Cumberland, looked mouthwatering but had been pre-booked by another walking group, which is why we did not lunch there. Lingering looks were cast up to the Temple of the Winds and some wondered whether we might combine the morning of the OTHER Haslemere to Midhurst walk with the afternoon of this one.
This one definitely has a much better approach to Midhurst, a lovely gentle descent with fine views. The slightly posh tea room at Cowdray Park is also nice, though some sampled a range of English wines in the adjacent shop as an alternative.
The ruins of Cowdray Hall are a great end to the walk and Midhurst is a very pretty town. A pity the buses don't run beyond 7pm or we might have had dinner there.
Another fascinating aspect of the Cowdray Estate was all windows and doors were painted a deep yellow colour (gold/orange tint)
The Cowdray Farm Shop & Café staff were also adorned with similarly coloured aprons (and served scrummy cakes).
It might also be worth noting that this Café was open to 6:00 pm giving slower walkers an opportunity to sup a cuppa and relax before catching the bus back to Haslemere.
Super walk!
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