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This Week's Walks - Archive

Please see the Saturday Walker's Club This Week's Walks page.

This is an archive of walks done by the Saturday Walker's Club. You should only need to use this page if the SWC website is down.

Wednesday 3 January 2018

Wednesday Walk - Book 1 Walk 14: Gomshall to Guildford

Length: 16.2 km (10.1 mi) [longer options possible, see webpage and route map]
Ascent/Descent:  150 m; Net Walking Time: ca. 3 ½ hours
Toughness:  2 out of 10 

Take the 10.39 Tonbridge train from Victoria, (10.45 CJ, 10.57 EC), change Redhill (11.08/11.34) onto the Reading train, arriving Gomshall at 11.53. From Reading, take the 10.34 train to Gatwick Airport, changing at Dorking Deepdene.
Fast return trains: about every 15 minutes.  

A Book 1 walk that hasn’t been posted for nearly 3 years…?
It starts in Gomshall, passing some of the pleasant buildings on its outskirts, before crossing fields to the interesting church and village of Shere on the Tilling Bourne stream, a place packed full of fifteenth and sixteenth-century timber-framed buildings. Then the walk continues past massive gnarled trees in Albury Park and through the pine woods of Blackheath Common. From there, the route follows the Downs Link path. There's an optional detour in the afternoon to visit Chinthurst Hill Tower, a folly with a view.
The final stretch is along the River Wey into Guildford for tea.

Lunch: William IV in Little London, Albury (3.5 km).
Tea: the website recommends the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre or a Wetherspoon’s by the station, but there are plenty of good pubs just off route by the Castle.
For walk directions, map, height profile, photos, and gpx/kml files click here. T=1.14

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Going. One of the most interesting walks in the splendid 'SWC Festive Walking Festival.' Thank you, Thomas.

Anonymous said...

Lovely walk today
Kevink

Marcus said...

A baker's dozen off the train at Gomshall, with one other joining us at Shere, so that made n=14 for our first mid-week walk in the New Year, a good turn out.
The weather forecast was not too promising, but once again we were lucky, as rain held off and at times it was w=sunny-with-light-winds, not the strong winds forecast.
Mud levels were as expected - high, but the mud was of the slubberdub variety, sloshy and slippery, but manageable for those wearing gaiters.
The William IV pub was not serving food today, so we stopped early in the walk, in Shere, where six of us enjoyed a nice lunch, promptly served, in the White Horse. Our sandwichers found comfy benches nearby, overlooking the Tilling Bourne stream, most joining us later for a drink in the pub.
Carrying on with the walk, on entering Albury Park our group slit into two, with our walk poster leading nine on a loop of the Park, which included a visit to the Saxon church, whilst I joined five content with just doing the scheduled walk. The adventurous nine later added the the detour to the Tower viewing point.
On Blackheath Common us five witnessed what could have been a fatal accident: a horse reared up, lost its balance and footing, then fell on top of its teenage girl rider. She got up, shaken and appeared outwardly unhurt, but methinks she will be badly bruised this morning. Having made sure the rider was receiving plenty of attention, we continued on with our walk, soon encountering more muddy bits.
The last section of the walk along the Wey Navigation is relaxing and we reached Guildford shortly after 4 pm, with the light beginning to fade. Tea was enjoyed at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, where we just resisted the temptation to stay on for the late afternoon performance of their Dick Whittington panto. By this time the adventurous nine had completed their walk and we said hello to them in a nearby pub before we headed for the railway station, and a fast train back to London.
A lovely day's walking was enjoyed by all, in excellent company - and once again, we were lucky with the weather.