SWC 139: Tadworth Circular t=swc.139
Distance: Short, Medium and Long on offer:
Short: 8.8 miles/14 km
Medium (Main Walk): 12.1 miles/ 19.5 km
Long: 14.5 miles/ 23.1 km
Difficulty: 6 out of 10 – depending on distance
Train: Take the 9:12 AM Caterham/Tattenham Corner train from London Bridge (changing at Purley arr. 39/depart 44), arriving at Tadworth at 10:04. Return trains from Tadworth are at 16 minutes past the hour. Tadworth is in London zone 6.
Given its close proximity to London, this walk has a very rural feel. It first crosses picturesque Headley Heath before approaching Box Hill from the “back-side”. There is a recommended option to climb White Hill for some fine views. The shorter option omits the Box Hill view point, but explores more of Headley Heath. For those on the main walk, after enjoying the classic Box Hill view point, you have a choice of route back to Tadworth, one more direct across the heathland and one taking in a longer section of the North Downs Way before circling back. You can find more information about the walk and the instructions here.
There are a couple of pubs doted around the route, one coming quite early (the Cock Inn) and one quite late on the main walk (The Tree). There are also some National Trust cafes on Box Hill providing light bites and of course Box Hill itself provides a lovely spot for a picnic.
Enjoy the walk!
5 comments:
The Tree did not serve food when we did this walk in January this year. It now seems to cater almost exclusively for events. I suggest to call before deciding to have lunch there.
Just n=3 on this pleasant little walk on the doorstep of London, including one first timer and one local who had not been on a walk for some number of years. The local brought us on a short tour of the village of Tadworth before we set off on the official route. On reaching the Cock Inn the local decided to circle back to Tadworth. The remaining 2 carried on and opted for the sharp up and down of the White Hill extension and then enjoyed the view from Box Hill. At this point, we parted company with our newcomer continuing on the main route and yours truly dropping down to Westhumble to catch a train back to London for an evening commitment. I hope our newcomer enjoyed the rest of the walk. As a note for future posts -- dropping down at Boxhill makes for a nice short option which does not exclude the highlights of the walk (though need to get a train ticket supplement). Also, the Smith & Weston pub on the Box Hill escarpment makes for a good lunch option -- located more centrally in the walk. W=Initially-humid-and-cloudy-clearing-later.
Make that #4. I took the 10.12 train. Not knowing which route option(s) others would be taking, I decided not to try and intercept the group and did the 14km version. The sections over Headley Heath were especially nice.
I popped into The Tree in Boxhill Village, which is open for drinks until Friday 14th July. After then, it's sadly closing it's doors and it's future is unknown.
Make that #5: as it wasn’t raining I made a last-minute decision to get the bus to Box Hill, walking the route in reverse from the visitor centre starting about 11. By the time I got to High Ashurst I realised any SWC walkers would have long since passed that point. I wandered around Headley Heath, not necessarily following the correct route, then decided to follow the reverse route back to Box Hill. My phone wrongly told me there were no trains from Westhumble so I cut downhill and walked into Dorking - a nice route except for the last km on the main road. Fantastic wild flowers and a few butterflies. Sorry not to have bumped into any of you
I did enjoy the rest of the walk thanks. Lunch at the Smith & Weston was welcome - I wouldn't have wanted to wait any longer. A picnic near the viewpoint would have been ideal in hindsight.
Post a Comment