Length: 16¼ km (10.1 miles), or 14¼ km (8.9 miles) with shorter ending. Toughness: 5 or 4/10
10:00 Portsmouth Harbour train from Waterloo (Clapham Jct 10:09), changing at Guildford (arr 10:40, dep 10:57) for the GWR service to Gatwick Airport, arriving Chilworth at 11:06.
A return to Chilworth is valid for travel back via Dorking or Redhill as well as Guildford. Trains back are every two hours in each direction: 16:33, 18:33, etc to Guildford; 17:06, 19:06, etc to Redhill. However, there are also two-hourly #32 buses in each direction which stop outside Chilworth station: the last ones are 15:48 & 17:48 to Guildford; 16:24 & 18:24 to Dorking and Redhill.
A few years ago I posted the “Western Walk” option from the full Guildford Circular via Albury Park walk, and this “Eastern Walk” is its companion. The travel arrangements are less convenient than starting or finishing at Guildford, but this option does pack many of its best features into a 10-mile walk: the Chilworth Gunpowder Mills, two vineyards, heathland, an old Saxon Church now isolated in private parkland, a haunted pool, a famous viewpoint at Newlands Corner and finally the hilltop church of St Martha-on-the-Hill.
I haven't tried the food at the William Ⅳ since it reopened after a long period of closure; I'm sure it will be OK for drinks but I suggest booking a table (arriving 12.30/12.45pm) if you want to be sure of Sunday lunch. There are other refreshment places along the afternoon route at Sherbourne Pond and Newlands Corner, with the Percy Arms to revive you while you're waiting for a bus or train at the end. If you're going for the Guildford train be sure to allow plenty of time before the level crossing closes and cuts you off from the far platform; there's no footbridge.
You'll need to bring the directions from the L=swc.185.a page. You'll see that there's the option of a shorter ending (bypassing St Martha's Hill) and you could also do one of the Guildford endings from the Main Walk. If you're printing the directions from the website you can save some paper by clicking one of the headings on the Walk Options line: ‘East’ will show both the Chilworth endings, while ‘Chil.’ will show all the options starting there, including the Guildford endings. Try it!
1 comment:
About n=10, including 1 newcomer, on a w=warm-and-sunny day. A very nice walk. Thanks to Sean for both writing and posting. Nice mix of trees, heathland, hills, viewpoints, a haunted pond and 2 very nice churches (one on a hill which served tea, and very old deconsecrated one surrounded by impressive trees). Early lunch pub was full for lunch, standing only. Some had sandwiches by the church. Group cohesion was lost on the way up to the North Downs Way. Some has tea at St Martha's. I skipped the station pub as the way in was via a queue and receptionist. As the trains were 2 hourly, I hope others had a nicer impression.
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