Length: 14½ km (9.0 miles). Toughness: 6/10
10:02 Dorking train from Waterloo (Vauxhall 10:06, Clapham Jct 10:12, etc), arriving Dorking (Main) at 10:54. Buy a return to Dorking.
Trains return from Box Hill & Westhumble at xx:10 to Waterloo, xx:16 and xx:46 to Victoria (4 minutes earlier from Dorking if you choose to finish there).
This is a fairly strenuous little walk taking in a succession of hills, each a bit bigger than the last: Norbury Park, Mickleham Downs and finally Box Hill itself. You might remember it as the ‘Box Hill Circular’ walk but because of the effects of Ash Dieback I've had to simplify its route through Norbury Park; to prevent the morning being too short it now starts from Dorking with a stretch through Denbies Vineyard.
There are two nice but fairly expensive pubs at the walk's midpoint in Mickleham, with the walk route passing the King William Ⅳ. You'll almost certainly need to book in advance if you want an inside table for a pub lunch there (or at the Running Horses by the churchyard), but there's usually space in their garden if the weather's OK. Later in the walk there's the café inside the National Trust Visitor Centre at the top of Box Hill and the Stepping Stones pub on the road to the station.
Please bring the directions from the L=swc.64 page.
1 comment:
A w=murky day and perhaps the rival attraction of the UK Wife Carrying Race (look it up!) taking place on the other side of town kept the turnout down to a select n=3. Plenty of spring flowers including a few bluebells in the woods around Denbies, but the butterflies which had been enjoying the sunshine a few days ago had gone back into hibernation. Not too much mud but care was needed on the steep descents.
As it was just about warm enough to sit outside two were able to get a pub lunch in the King William IV with no fuss. Later we had plastic mugs of tea at the Box Hill Servery, although the cakes on offer didn't appeal. One then returned to his car in Dorking while the others should have made it to Box Hill & W station by 4pm.
Post a Comment