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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.

Saturday 17 March 2018

Saturday Walk – The Greensand Way to Haslemere

Extra Walk 145 – Witley to Haslemere, via Thursley
Length: 17.2 km (10.7 miles). Toughness: 5/10

10:15 Haslemere train from Waterloo (Clapham Jct 10:22), arriving Witley at 11:09. Buy a return to Haslemere.

There are four trains an hour back from Haslemere, at 02, 15, 32 & 39 minutes past.

There's an increasing trend for people to do these walks by simply following the line on a GPS device, and one or two have queried whether written directions are necessary. This section of the Greensand Way is one of several walks which have found their way onto the SWC site in this minimal format. It had a midweek outing in 2015 and the GPS route was fully revised after some helpful feedback, so it's overdue a weekend posting.

A short section at the start is the same as the Witley-Haslemere walk in Book 1 (#44) but the rest of the walk is completely different. The suggested lunchtime pub in Thursley is also on the Milford-Haslemere walk (#27), and as four Book 1 walks finish in Haslemere most of you will be familiar with the tea places there.

You can get more details of the lunch/tea places and download the walk's GPX/KML file (or print off a map of the route) from the Greensand Way 1 page (ignore the "Draft - under construction" notice).
T=swc.145

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

hi Sean am a bit confused so is this walk basically a map led one ? for those of us who don't use GPS'..

+ with respect really don't agree with those who say written directions are unnecessary..

Thanks

Sean said...

Yes, there are no written directions so you have to follow a line on a map. I'm not planning to make a habit of posting map-only walks but this one has a good lunch pub and tea places and it seems reasonable to give it another club outing, especially since our webmaster took the time to revise the gpx route after its debut (when 17 people showed up).

If there's a strong demand then one of our indefatigable walk authors *might* survey the route on the ground and write directions for it, then wonder if all this effort was worthwhile when he sees everyone whizzing along behind someone with a GPS device. In my experience very few people seem to want to find their way round using written directions these days.

What do other people think?

Anonymous said...

Prefer written instructions.

Walker said...

It pains me to have to agree with Sean, but on last Saturday’s Guildford to Horsley Walk the only person visibly consulting the directions was me - and I wrote them and was updating them. (Full disclosure - one stalwart walk direction reader apologised for having inadvertently left her directions at home.)

People seem to like to have the written directions just in case....but the person doing the navigating these days does often seem to be using the GPX. I wouldn’t mind, but the directions do take quite a bit of updating, rural landowners having the irritating habit of moving fences, letting stiles decay, etc....

Anonymous said...

regarding the GPS situation 'maps.me' is 'alright' imho with its spidery thin green line which one has to chase all over the screen.. I did try to get a subscription with the Anquet OMN but alas their Outdoor Map Navigator App messed up my phone good and proper & wouldn't even install properly! so it means shelling out about 400 quid or so for a decent dedicated unit..and quite frankly can think of other things I would like to spend £400 on...what to do.. what to do..

Anonymous said...

Thanks Sean for your input anyways

PeteB said...

Anonymous #5 needs to check out the Anquet/OMN web site as there are annual subscription deals for OS 25k maps at very reasonable prices.

(5 year user of Anquet OS maps)

PeteG said...

I'd recommend ViewRanger, which I used on Saturday along with instructions! As well as free open source maps, you can now subscribe to OS maps for £23 a year.

Thomas G said...

being guilty of over the last few years having written up quite a few formerly map-led walks that had originally been created by other people to a full-blown write-up, I'd say that well-waymarked and -signposted routes like stretches of the Greensand Way/South Downs Way/North Downs Way would be way down my list of priorities should I tackle more write-ups of existing map-led walks. even walkers that don't trust their ability to follow a line on a map should find these easy enough to follow, or in any case they would be good walks with which to start trying...

Thomas G said...

the wider point highlighted by those other eminently productive walk authors, sean and walker, is of course the slightly worrying and certainly demotivating trend of more and more walkers just following a fellow (and it usually is a man, so much for gender equality) with a handheld device with a line on a screen and a beeping noise should he stray off the gpx route. most of our gpx routes are precise enough to allow this methodology to be successful most of the time (but still sometimes leads to groups walking the wrong side of a hedge or following the wrong narrow path in a wood), but of course people who walk like that and all those that follow them, inevitably miss out on any auxiliary information contained in the text, may that be historical, architectural or other info, hints to turn around for a view or similar. seeing that quite a good few hours of work (days, in reality) go into producing a proper walk writeup, this is not good news for the writers, and will almost certainly lead to them loosing interest.

Handhelp Devices: just another 'advance in technology' that then becomes instrumental in the Further Stupification of The Masses? Discuss...

Anonymous said...

thanks PeteB for tip but as said b4 the omn app messed up my phone!

Anonymous said...

The write up says the walk is 10.7 miles, 5/10. The instruction says 10.1 miles and 4/10. Which one is it? There appears to be a short cut close to Haselmere, how many miles does it cut out? Thanks.

Sean said...

The walk length is as per the GPS, and my estimate of toughness. I suspect the walk introduction wasn't updated when the author revised the GPS route.

The shortcut at the end saves half a mile at most.

Frankie said...

Frankie

I for one greatly value the detailed instructions and the background information that is painstakingly provided, even if I am often guilty of assuming that I will read them on the train and then chatting instead.

Having recently gone on a map-reading and navigation course in the Peak District I am now, very belatedly, wakening up to the vast richness of a map. Without being a luddite I do enjoy the challenge of using a paper map and compass and look forward to the day when I will feel empowered by them.

Brian said...

Another fan of written guides. I always carry a 1:25000 OS map as well. Its battery never runs out. And the writer is free to add interesting details of points along the way.

MG said...

Just want to add my great appreciation for the written instructions and notes on points of interest - always used.

PeteG said...

Although I regularly use gpx as a backup for when I lose track in the instructions, I very much appreciate the prompts to take in the view etc, and the feel you get for the walk from the text. Also, the blue line can't tell you to divert to a good pub!

Anonymous said...

Two (n=2) on this walk along a snowy Greensand Way - one with GPS and the other with an OS map & compass. The w=snow was falling lightly as we set off and there was a covering of snow on the hills and trees creating pretty vistas. Only when the wind picked up did it feel cold, but we were sheltered by woodlands and valleys most of the time.

We stopped for refreshments (in the spirit of St Patrick's Day) at the cosy Three Horseshoes pub in the quiet village of Thursley. The food looked very appealing but alas, we had our packed lunches and didn't want get too waylaid. The nearby church (dating back to Saxon times) was worth the visit and judging by the visitors' book, attracts quite a number of travellers from near and far.

After taking in some far reaching views from the top of the Devil's Punchbowl, we made it to Haselemere in good time for a hot drink on the platform and the 16:02 fast train back to London (miraculously, without any delays) in time to see the rugby crowds disperse and an evening of films and relaxation. An enjoyable walk - just a couple of sections with the potential to take a wrong turn, but the GPS and local knowledge soon put us back on track. The only downside was the A3 that slices across the route - but we soon shook it off. Thanks for posting, E.