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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, 19 November 2022

Autumn Color Along the Greensand Ridge (Holmwood to Shamley Green, Shalford or Guildford)

SWC 287:  Holmwood to Shamley Green, Shalford or Guildford t=swc.287

Distance:  11.6 miles (18.7 km), 14.5ish (23ish km) or 17.4 miles (28 km), respectively

Difficulty:  8 out of 10

Train:  Take the 9:41 AM Horsham-bound train from London Victoria arriving in Holmwood at 10:47. Unless walking on to Shalford or Guilford, the return journey requires a bus from Shamley Green to Guildford (bus number 53 or 63), each bus runs hourly and takes about 10 minutes, the 53 at 12 past the hour and the 63 at 42 past the hour with the bus stop located conveniently opposite the pub!  For those walking on to Shalford, trains run hourly at 31 past the hour (additionally the 53 and 63 buses both stop near the station). Buy a “any permitted” day return to Gomshall.

This walk provides a great late autumn outing with some invigorating hills to climb….Hopefully, there will also be some good flashes of color from the beech trees along the route….This is a largely map-led outing with a GPX file available for guidance. If you decide to walk to Shalford, you will need to consult the map and deviate from the GPX…it is a short diversion….With the short days upon us, the walk into Guildford would likely be in the dark, though it may be possible to make it to Shalford before darkness falls. You can find more information about the walk and download the walk instructions here.

The recommended lunch stop is the Royal Oak in Holmbury St. Mary (about 5 miles/9 km into the walk). Tea or afternoon refreshments can be enjoyed at the Red Lion in Shamley Green while waiting for the bus or at the Queen Victoria in Shalford also while waiting for the bus or train.

Enjoy the walk!

3 comments:

Austen said...

One hour ahead to beat dark.

Austen

Stargazer said...

16 emerged from a train laden with walkers -- most having fortunately alighting at Box Hill. We set for Leith Hill and admired the views -- the brighter south downs with Chantonbury Ring visible and a gloomier northern aspect -- but with the towers of the City and Canary Wharf still visible. We carried along the undulating escarpment enjoying more views and some wonderful tree color. Along the way, we picked up another who has driven to near the lunch pub...

Most lunched at the Royal Oak with mixed results -- some food arrived quickly and was tasty; other orders took ages and were disappointing....The Kings Arms has reopened -- so it may be worth trying that in the future...Leaving the pub we emerged into bright sunshine and some even more spectacular views that we admired in the soft winter afternoon sun....in fact, we did so much admiring that most of the party finished the walk in the dark...then enjoyed a drink at the Red Lion while waiting for the bus to Guildford.

So, with the earlier starter, n=18 in w=initially-cloudy-clearing-to-bright-sunshine-then-dark. A fine day out!

Sandy said...

Great news that the Kings Arms has reopened - I had lost hope