Change of walk start due to South Western trains now operating a restricted timetable during duration of RMT strikes (no service to Wanborough outside of peek commuter hours)
Length: 13.6 km (8.5 miles)
Toughness: 3 out of 10 some ups and downs but nothing steep
London Waterloo: 10-30 hrs South Western trains to Southampton Central Clapham Junction 10-38 hrs
Arrive Woking : 10-56 hrs Change trains
Leave Woking : 11-13 hrs South Western service from Woking to Portsmouth Harbour
Arrive Guildford: 11-23 hrs
Return
Godalming to Waterloo: South Western's once-an-hour service from Portsmouth Harbour to Woking, leaving Godalming at 48 mins past the hour. Change at Woking for on-going services to Waterloo (total journey length about 1 hr 8 mins)
Rail ticket: Buy a day return to Godalming
Today's hybrid walk is a bit of a bugger's muddle of a concoction which might just work if we are fortunate with the trains. The length of the walk is also appropriate for the shortest day of the year. Leaving Guildford we head for the river and follow it for a while before leaving it for a stretch along the North Downs Way to the village of Compton and Watts Gallery, where an early lunch can be taken in its excellent cafeteria (your only lunch option if you do not have a reservation at the Withies Inn).
For a pub lunch you continue through a stud farm then along the edge of a wood to the far side of Compton, where you find the popular and very good Withies Inn. Making a reservation is highly recommended. Your e.t.a is (now) 1-15 pm. I suggest you book on-line.
After lunch the walk continues through woods and along field edges before you take an undulating woodland path before walking beside the River Wey all the "way" into Godalming. There should be some tea shops open although our beer buffs make straight for the Star pub. Keep an eye on the time as train services home are only once an hour.
T=2.12
4 comments:
@Marcus. This walk, too, has a problem with an emergency "overtime ban" timetable. Wanborough is rush hour only.
Many thanks, Andrew. It's back to the drawing board - once again ! South Western are now operating a greatly restricted timetable. I will manufacture a walk between Guildford and Godalming - but I hope our walkers accept the longer journey times.
I cannot wait for the New Year and my retirement from walk posting ! !
The connection at Worthing didn't work because of delays , so the 5 of us are, an hour later, doing an ad hoc walk from Milford to Godalming.
N=9 on this walk, though only 4 did the specified route. Let me explain….
I shall not repeat the rather un-woke expression in the walk post, but the muddle today was all provided by the South Western Railway. Yesterday I went to York on LNER, who were operating a full service, despite the RMT overtime ban. Today SWR were operating a pathetic skeleton service, and failed to run even that properly.
To cut a long story short, the specified train from Waterloo reached Woking a few minutes late, at which time the connecting train to Guildford was still on a parallel track. It could not depart without crossing the route of the Waterloo train, but still pulled out of the station just after the Waterloo train arrived, and then sat outside the station at a signal while the other train passed. The result was that five walkers on that train missed the connection. After a 45 minute wait at Woking they entrained to Milford and improvised a six mile route to Godalming.
Three of us, including the walk poster, happened to have got earlier trains to Woking. So we got to Guildford more or less on time. There we met a fourth walker who had come on the slow line via Cobham. We set off to do the specified route in a mix of w=cloud-and-sun, with the odd splash of rain.
A very pleasant walk - the autumn colour now nearly all gone - some oak leaves only - and blue tits starting their mating song (no, not early at all: normal time for this). Happily our walk poster had booked for four in the Withies Inn, though in fact we would have got a place anyway (the restaurant was fairly full, but not the bar: less busy than might be expected at this time of year).
After lunch we had a bit more mud, but generally this walk was dry underfoot - until we got to the riverside section near Godalming. The Wey here had burst its banks, and after finding all routes through the marshes waterlogged we headed along a not unpleasant suburban road into the town.
Here in the Star we met the Milford party, already in their cups. We too had cups - of tea and coffee in big pots.
On the way home a busy ten car Portsmouth train terminated at Woking and its occupants were funnelled after a 20 minute wait onto an equally busy train from Southampton to Waterloo. It is a hell of a way to run a railroad….but hey, we survived and had a fine day out.
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