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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, 10 September 2022

Saturday Walk - Alice Holt Ancient Forest, Surrey Hills, Scotch Pine Forest, remote heather filled heathland, Frensham Ponds (swimming): Bentley to Farnham

Length: 26.0 km/16.2 mi [shorter options available, see below]
Ascent/Descent: 416/429m
Net Walking Time: ca. 6 hours
Toughness:  6 out of 10 
 
Take the 09.00 Portsmouth Harbour train from Waterloo, change at Woking (09.24/09.30) onto the 08.48 stopping service from Waterloo to Alton (Clapham J 08.57, Surbiton 09.08). Train arrives Bentley at 10.02. Buy a Bentley (Hampshire) return. 
Return trains: xx.04 (change Guildford), xx.28 (direct), xx.34 (change Guildford) and xx.58 (direct or change at Woking for a faster connection). 
 
This is a varied walk on the Hampshire/Surrey border, incorporating ancient forests (Alice Holt Forest, Farnham Heath and Bourne Wood), some large and popular heathlands on Frensham Common (with several large ponds, one of which has dedicated swimming areas, and the Devil's Jumps) and the more remote Hankley Common, a large Scots Pine and heather-covered area including the heathland ridges of Kettlebury Hill and Yagden Hill, which make for some very scenic views.
On Hankley Common you have an opportunity to explore a D-Day training site with a replica section of The Atlantic Wall and assorted other defensive structures. From the picturesque village of Tilford, north of Hankley Common, with its pub and cricket pitch on the green you follow quiet woodland paths and lanes (with the occasional steep ascent) to Farnham.
 
Before embarking on this walk, please read the section on Managed Access on Hankley Common on the webpage. 
Dog Owners: On the Commons, dogs must be kept under close control at all times.
 
Walk Options:
Bus 19 (Haslemere to Aldershot via Farnham, hourly Mon-Sat) to/from Great Pond Car Park (after 9.1 km of walking) enables a very short walk or a late start or a circular or a ‘Lasso’-style route. 
A Shortcut from Frensham Little Pond to Tilford cuts out the Flashes area of Frensham Common with the Devil’s Jumps and all of Hankley Common. [cuts 6.8 km/4.2 mi and 136m ascent, rated 4/10]. 
An Alternative Ending from Tilford along the Greensand Way and the River Wey cuts some steep ascents. 
Circular Walks or ‘Lasso’-style routes are possible by following the main walk route either from Bentley or from Alice Holt Forest or from Frensham Great Pond Car Park/Bus Stop to Tilford and reverse-walking a slight variation of the shortcut route back to Frensham Great Pond (16.5 km/10.2 mi for the Frensham Great Pond Circular, fully written up) or on to Alice Holt Forest (add 5.3 km each way, map-led to Alice Holt) or Bentley (add 8.3 km each way, map-led to Bentley).
 
Lunch: Several options for elevenses (see the pdf) plus two principal pub stops.
They are the Bel and the Dragon in Churt (13.7 km/8.5 mi, lunch served to 15.00) or The Barley Mow in Tilford (12.6 km/7.8 mi into the short walk, food served to 15.00, pizza thereafter). 
Tea: a café en route along the short walk, a pub and a village store in Tilford on all options, plus three pubs in Farnham at the end. See the pdf for details. 
 
For walk directions, maps, height profiles, photos and gpx/kml files click here. T=swc.184

1 comment:

Thomas G said...

Just n=4 walkers alighted at Bentley, 1 of those being a first-timer of sorts (he had been on a previous posted walk without seeing anyone else [Tring, I think]). The day was w=cloudy-initially-then-mainly-sunny.
What we didn't get was mud, despite the heavy rain this week, on account of the mainly sandy soil and - presumably - the rain keeping bikes and horses off the wooded bridleways, so that the one very cautious walker that had brought gaiters (for those notorious bridleways in the woods) looked a bit sheepish.
What we did get was loads of sailing boats on Frensham Great Pond, reasonable colours from the heather, some gorse and plenty of lovely birch trees, some deep sandy paths, dragonflies, one startled grown-up deer just 10m away, a baby slow worm (we think), a very large burnt-down area of heathland on Hankley Common (according to the www, it's been on fire three times in the July heatwave, at times needing the attention of 19 firecrews!), a far away concert of a rock tribute band as we were crossing Farnham Heath Nature Reserve (plus numerous art pieces scattered about there), and two delightful stops inbetween all that: a fine lunch at the Bel and Dragon, and a longish tea stop at The Barley Mow (minus the first timer, who marched on). And we then made the 18.28 with 5 minutes to spare. A very good day indeed.