Length: 19.2km (11.9 miles), with possible short cuts of 11.7km (6.8 miles) or 17.2km (10.7 miles) T=2.13
9.36 (WEYMOUTH-bound) train from Waterloo (NOT the stopping train at 9.33...!!) calling at Clapham Junction at 9.44, arriving Guildford at 10.19 **
** There is engineering work at Woking today, so this train takes the scenic route via the slow lines: but it actually only takes a few minutes longer than normal to do this.
Buy a day return to Gomshall. (If bought at Waterloo or as a boundary zone six extension, this will automatically be "Any Permitted": if bought elsewhere, make this is what you are getting and not the cheaper ticket valid via Redhill only)
It is funny the way classic SWC walks fall out of fashion - or off the walk posters' radar, anyway. It is coming up to three years since this one had an outing. It is one of the very few walks that was actually conceived as a winter walk (I know, cos I conceived it...), combining some airy downland sections with fine views to lift the spirts, bits of woodland, and often sandy soils that are dry underfoot.
Lunch is in the pretty village of Shere. Last time I looked there were two pubs - the White Horse and the William Bray - and a tea room (the Dabbling Duck). Also an ice cream parlour. If these fail, a mere mile further on is the Compasses Inn in Gomshall.
It is actually possible to finish the walk in Gomshall (the 6.8 mile option): otherwise the afternoon route is another loop up onto the downs, with more fine escarpment views. A short cut on this trims off 1.2 miles (the 10.7 mile version of the walk), but honestly unless it is pouring with rain or getting dark, I would stick to the main version, which is much more scenic.
For tea, you might find the Abinger Hammer tea rooms (attached to the post office) open: otherwise the Compasses Inn in Gomshall is your home from home (or possibly also the nearby Gomshall Mill, if this has reopened...last time I passed it, it was closed).
Trains back are at 15.01. 17.01 or 19.01 (etc) westbound, changing at Guildford, or 15.52, 17.52 (etc) eastbound, changing at Redhill. In both cases the journey time to London is 1 hr 10 minutes or so.
3 comments:
Seems the 9.36 is going to WEYMOUTH not Portsmouth. It is still the right train, however, stopping at Guildford
How often is it forecasted to be wet on SWC walks, but then it turns out not to be? Well, today was not such a day. We got away with bits and pieces of rain in the morning but w=after-lunch-it-rained-relentlessly. It is fair to say that in the Gomshall Mill at the end of the walk my companion and I created a new water feature.
Nine got off the specified train, which for some mysterious reason decided to be a Weymouth train rather than the Portsmouth train that was predicted when I did the walk post. It was also very busy. Bizarrely another fast train ran just three minutes later, terminating at Guildford: that was probably much emptier. One person apparently got that, but I did not see her till lunch, and then only briefly. I also hear four or five did the walk yesterday in the bright sunshine. I don’t think we can count them, though, so n=10.
The morning was uneventful apart from a brief stop to look in St Martha’s Church. Getting to lunch five of us squeezed around a pre-booked table in the White Horse. I thought it a pleasant and cosy meal, but at least one diner complained about the quality of their pie. Three sandwich eaters tried to join us for drinks but were banished from the dining room despite there being empty tables. A pity as with one exception I did not see them again.
In the afternoon the pub lunchers had a look at Shere church and its anchorite cell: we then set off as a group but in the rain soon got split up. Leastways, two of us got left behind. We did the full route - no shortcuts: not sure what the others did. At one point as we walked down a flooded road a motorist stopped and wound down his window, seemingly to offer some witty comment on our plight. He turned out to be one of our group, offering us a lift. Being already at the point of maximum wetness, however, we declined and carried on walking.
Getting to Gomshall Mill in the dark we found one kindly sandwicher had waited for us and the three of us had a pleasant drink - tea, crumble and bitter for me, white wine for them. I heard various accounts of who got which train when and in which direction, but was frankly too focused on drying out to pay close attention. The three of us got the 5.52 train via Redhill. One didn’t have quite the right ticket and there seemed to be no ticket machine at Gomshall to rectify that fact, but luckily no one checked.
When I got home my boots were completely free of mud. So heavy rain has its uses.
At the White Horse the banished sandwichers were invited to join a local at his table. This gentleman was getting increasing irritated at the lack of staff behind the bar - his earlier conversation hinted that he wasn't a man you'd wish to annoy... The pub was notably featured in "The Holiday" movie according to the info panel. The sandwichers then set off ahead of the diners. We passed through woods blanketed in red and orange leaves, staying together until the large concrete circle on the North Downs Way. Here two pressed on for the 1552 train, experiencing atmospheric views down into the valley from the NDW escarpment. Making the 1552 our phones were suggesting to change at Dorking rather than the posted option of Redhill, a train guard also suggested Dorking due to Redhill train cancellations that day. In the Dorking ticket hall, two other sandwichers soon joined, kindly dropped off by the dissatisfied pie-eater. On the train back to London we compared the effectiveness of our rain jackets. Overall an enjoyable but challenging day out.
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