Length: 13¾ km (8.5 miles). Toughness: 3/10
10:03 Portsmouth Harbour service from Waterloo (Clapham Jct 10:12), changing at Guildford (arr 10:44, dep 10:57) for the Gatwick Airport service, arriving Chilworth at 11:06. Buy a return to Chilworth.
Trains back from Shalford to Guildford are hourly at xx:37, with a 5-minute connection for the Waterloo train. There are also trains from Shalford at xx:02 in the other direction, but returning via Redhill is much slower. If you just miss a train the #53 bus runs hourly from outside the station to Guildford at xx:58 until late, and there's also a #32 at 15:53 & 17:53.
I'm curious to see if the weather gods will keep up their campaign of unleashing spells of grim weather on my new walks, which was fairly consistent throughout 2025. If they relent I'm advised that the sandy soils in and around the Tillingbourne valley south of Guildford should be comparatively mud-free (hah!) but your boots will probably still get a decent workout.
As the full Shalford Circular is too long for winter I've chosen one of its short options (although anyone willing to prove me wrong could start from Shalford two hours earlier and meet us at Chilworth station). The first half of the walk is a circuit around Blackheath Common and back to Chilworth, which means that the lunch pub is right outside the station; if you haven't been able to book a table beforehand at the Percy Arms you might be able to do so in person before setting off. Unless you choose to divert to Guildford in mid-afternoon you'll find the Queen Victoria pub as a convenient watering-hole next to Shalford station.
Please bring the directions from the L=swc.448.c page. If you're printing them from the web page, you can save a few sheets of paper (and make the Walk Map a bit clearer) by clicking Option c.
1 comment:
N=6 set off an a w=cloudy-damp-but-dry-day (I.e. damp air but no rain).
Mostly mud-free apart from the occasional gloopy lapse.
Back at Chilworth, most picnicked at the Gunpowder Works but there was a mass reconvene in the Percy for drinks. It was crowded but we just managed to perch round a table.
It was decided to take a high level route after lunch to avoid any water related unpleasantness. Arriving in Shalford, wen had intended to visit the Queen Vic but it was packed to the gills so we didn’t. We just got the train.
A pleasant walk. 100% cohesion. Another Grand Day Out.
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