Toughness: 8 out of 10: some steep hills
9.50 train from Victoria (9.57 Clapham Junction, 10.10 East Croydon), to Hurst Green, arriving 10.34.
Best ticket: probably a day return to Hurst Green, but see ** below.
Splitting into groups of six must be observed on this walk: think in advance whether you want to be a speedy Gonzalez, stride-out type, or saunter sedately.
Please also book for the walk in advance, if you can, using Mike's www.lwug.co.uk site.
If you are unable or unwilling to book in this way, please bring a small piece of paper with your name and email address clearly written on it. I will put these in an envelope and only access them in the (hopefully very unlikely) event that a Covid case is reported after the walk which requires contact tracking.
To report a Covid case after the walk, use covid@lwug.co.uk
It is always touch and go choosing a bluebell walk this early in the season. On 11 April I saw quite a lot of bluebells out (a "blue haze" in places) in Staffhurst Wood, and the bluebell woods on Ide Hill, at the heart of this walk, have a similar tendency to be early. But there are no guarantees...
Even without bluebells, this variant on the Edenbridge to Westerham walk is a lovely outing, with gorgeous southward views in its early stages and all sorts of pretty corners. It is the essence of springtime in England (no pressure there, then - Ed).
The lunch pub on this walk, the Fox and Hounds in Toys Hill, is, I read, closed and up for sale. You might just be lucky and get food at the Cock Inn in Ide Hill mid afternoon, but on the whole I would advise bringing your own sustenance.
For tea or drinks, the National Trust cafes at Chartwell and Emmetts Garden might be accessible for takeaways, depending on what protocols are in place there, and the Cock Inn is also possible for drinks. Westerham at the end has various options, some of which may be doing takeaways.
** At the end of the walk, the best way home is on the 246 bus to Hayes or Bromley South. You can use Oyster or Contactless for this, and it costs £1.60 like any other London bus. Your Hurst Green return probably won't cut it at either Hayes or Bromley South, but you can try. The buses leave at 22 and 52 past until 18.22 and are then hourly. Journey time to Bromley South is 40 minutes
There is also a 594/595 bus (not TFL) to Oxted railway station at 16.33 and 17.33, taking 22 minutes. Trains from Oxted are at 20, 23 and 53 past, and your Hurst Green return IS valid.
7 comments:
Thank you, Walker.
https://youtu.be/cc-3wVQuD7k
Oh, so that is who Speedy Gonzalez is. I have used the name all my life without knowing.
Deprived childhood -)
Thank you to the schedulers for a wonderful choice of walks today. Brilliant.
Three absolute classics to choose from, yes. It is good to be back!!
For those wanting a longer walk in this area, this walk can be extended by walking into Oxted. You can follow the outbound route of the Oxted Circular (swc 63) from Oxted to W in reverse with the possibility of making a few short cuts here and there, for a total extension of between 4.5 and 5.5 milesish (depending on how you adjust the route)....
N=24 on this walk on a gloriously W=sunny day, which even felt WARM quite a lot of the time - what a novelty! Most came on the specified train, two found one that arrived three minutes later, and two came on a later train. Nearly everyone had used the LWUG site to pre-register - so thanks for that - and those that had not provided email addresses on paper slips, so that all worked very efficiently.
We split into small groups, so my account of the walk will inevitably be partial, but I know quite a few picnicked on the ridge, with fabulous views to the south. Five of us had tea at the community shop in Ide Hill, sitting on a grass bank to consume it. I think some got alcoholic drinks on the green in Westerham. Two walked on to Oxted.
The bluebells were only at the "blue haze" stage, but in places were getting a bit beyond that. The real star flowers, however, were lesser celandines and dandelions, both present in great quantities. The first swallows were seen, swooping low over the cow poo, and at last a handful of butterflies were also on the wing - brimstones, orange tips and peacocks.
Trains were a bit busy. Rail companies, I know you are not reading this, but having taken two to three months to cut services to correspond to January passenger numbers, I hope you are not going to now take the same time to ramp them back up again. Eg a four carriage train is not enough on the Uckfield Line.
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