9.54 train from London Bridge (10.10 East Croydon) to Woldingham, arriving 10.26. T=swc.2
Buy a day return to Oxted.
Some people have social lives. I have heard of such people. They might like a walk that is not too long and has trains back to London Bridge. Conveniently, trains to Woldingham seem to leave from London Bridge today....
I say the above to explain (or not) why I have not posted a 15 miler for this, the last day before the start of the Great Darkness (aka the clocks going back, which they do THIS EVENING!!!!!). But I think this will answer pretty well as an autumn walk, with a fair stretch along the wooded ridge of the North Downs in the morning, and woods and fields territory in the afternoon. (And by the way, if you did the Oxted Circular walk last Saturday this walk has no overlap with it whatsoever. Quite different. They could be on separate continents...)
Lunch is in Godstone which has three pubs and a cafe (see the home page for this walk for a discussion of their respective merits). If Oxted had any more tea options, they would have to rename it Teaside.
There is a short walk (7 miles) missing out Godstone (and so lunch) if you want to be home early to prepare for your social life.
Trains back from Oxted are at 20, 23 and 53 past and they all go to London Bridge today, taking 40 minutes.
2 comments:
N=20 on this walk, on a day of sunshine and w=sticky-subtropical-heat. Really it was ridiculously warm for late October. Autumn is the new summer!
What to say about this walk? It made a lovely summer outing, albeit that there were some unseasonal tinted leaves. In places there was some - ahem - “creativity” about the walk route (we don’t use the L word) but mostly we found our way.
In Godstone four went posh by lunching at the Bell Inn. Many of the rest of us ate at outside tables at the Hare & Hounds whose simple pub fare was actually very tasty. Many and varied were the topics of our conversation.
In the afternoon we paid our respects to the amazing Tandridge Oak, still producing berries after 2000 years. We eschewed long cuts, to take the direct route into Oxted. Some went straight to the train, muttering about evening events they had to get ready for, three squished into the Papillon tea room in the brief interval before it closed, and six went to the Wetherspoon’s by the station where tea was £1-something for limitless hot water and the chocolate puddings were really scrummy. Then we got a train home.
A warm day indeed but does anyone remember October 2011 when the temperature in parts of kent reached 30C. I was doing a solo walk in the Chilterns and stopped to rest in a wood after a climb with the temperature around 27 degrees. The autumn leaves were glowing golden under the harsh sun and I remember thinking this is so, so wrong.
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