"Think Surrey, and you probably think of pretty villages, gentle green pastures. The first part of this walk conforms to that image, but the second, after lunch, takes you into the surprisingly wild and uninhabited Surrey heath-lands - a vast area of woods and heather-covered moors which is particularly colourful from late July to early September when the heather is in bloom."
I suggest the Hog's Back start to add a bit of a climb to the walk. Pay attention to the route on leaving the station!
Trains: Get the 1000 Portsmouth Harbour train from London Waterloo (Woking 1025) to Guildford 1032. Return trains from Farnham xx28 and xx58
Lunch: The Good Intent in Puttenham, (01483 810387), located 8.9km (5.6 miles) into the main walk with a small garden, well-hidden out the back. Food 12-2.30pm. Picnics: "the best place is on Puttenham Common at the place indicated in paragraph 88 on page 8 in the walk directions."
Tea: "If you want a takeaway tea for the train, a petrol station just before the end of the walk has a Wild Bean Cafe in its shop, a proper barista outlet serving coffee, tea and a selection of pastries and savoury snacks. There is even a picnic area around the back of the petrol station where you could consume your purchases, though this is by the busy A31.
The Mulberry, the pub by Farnham station serves tea and coffee well into the evening, but it becomes a party and sports pub on Friday and Saturday evenings. Quieter pub options nearby include The Lamb and William Cobbett on the other side of the A31."
1 comment:
I was expecting someone else to do the walk report….
N=14 of us? One of those w=sometimes-sunny-sometimes-not days. Basically fairly nice.
We got strung out early on (or rather I got left behind…), so I have no idea what happened to most people. There were crystal clear views on the Hog’s Back start, not that anyone stopped to look at them. Perhaps they wanted to get home early to watch the Olympics.
Six (?) of us ate at the Good Intent, with a couple having drinks. A somewhat basic menu but not bad. Last time I remember eating there was in March 2020 when we were discussing whether our government would impose a Covid lockdown…
The heaths after lunch were glorious - especially Puttenham Common. Too early for the true heather, but the bell heather was full out everywhere - a bright glorious pink. Quite a lot of butterflies on it too, including elusive small coppers and even more elusive silver-studded blues, the latter remarkably fresh for this stage in the season. A real treat to see them.
I got very footsore and weary as the afternoon wore on. This is a long walk (perhaps because lunch is relatively early in it). It seems that despite warnings in the walk document about it being a young person’s pub (with blaring music even in the garden), most walkers stopped at the Mulberry for end of walk drinks.
Two of us stopped instead at the Wild Bean Cafe at the petrol station. Sounds nuts, I know, but you get proper tea, the cookies are four for £2 (though we opted for Lindt chocolate instead), and it has a shady little garden area that was quite nice (nicer than the Mulberry…), albeit by a busy road.
Thence to the pub where three of us lingered till whenever we did, and got a train at whatever time that was.
A nice day out, and due to the bell heather a good pick, thought I.
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