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Rule of Thirty: up to June 21 (at least)Length: HOOP Route – from 10.3 km to 26.8 km
Ascent/Descent: from 215/169m to 563m
Net Walking Time: from ca. 2 ½ hours to ca. 6 ½ hours
Toughness: 8 out of 10 (full route)
Longer versions possible by walking
to and/or from the Orbital Route along one of the spoke routes (see below).
Walk
only parts of the HOOP and take a bus back to Haslemere or walk back along
one of the spoke routes (see below for more details).
Take the 09.30 Portsmouth Harbour train from Waterloo
(09.55 Woking), arrives Haslemere at 10.20.
Then take Bus 70 from opposite the station (direction
Midhurst) at 10.30, arrives Kiln Meadow, Kingsley Green 10.41.
Return buses: xx.18 to 18.18, then 19.23. Return trains: xx.02, xx.14, xx.30.
This is an interesting circular route orbiting around Haslemere, covering
plenty of areas and sights familiar from other SWC walks, but also lots of new
ground, for example Bramshott Common, the Waggoner’s Wells ponds, Whitmore
Vale, Grayswood, Ansteadbrook and the woods west of Black Down. The Haslemere Outer Orbital Path (HOOP) was originally conceived by Neil
Hook and is featured – with written directions – on his website.
The route starts at a bus stop in Kingsley Green served by an hourly
service (Mon-Sat), 3 km outside of Haslemere, but additional start or finish
points can usefully be accessed either by other bus lines or on foot, along
spoke routes from Haslemere Station, using some of the existing SWC walks. For
details see below. Fully written directions for the spoke routes are available
in the walk directions pdf linked on the SWC webpage.
Walk Options: four bus lines and five fully written up spoke
routes enable you to:
- walk just parts of the HOOP,
- avoid the bus journeys at start or finish by
walking from/to Haslemere Station.
For details see the webpage and study the route map.
Lunch and Tea: The Prince of
Wales, Hammer Vale, 4.6 km into the route; Molly’s Cottage Artisan
Bakery, Grayshott (pre-order for pickup from a box on the route), 9.2 km into
the route; The Fox & Pelican,
Grayshott, 10.3 km into the route; Café Twenty5, Hindhead, 12.6 km into
the route; The Devil’s
Punch Bowl, Hindhead, 12.8 km into the route; The
National Trust Café, Hindhead, 12.8 km into the route; The
Wheatsheaf Inn, Grayswood, 16.7 km into the route; Harper’s Steakhouse & Bar,
Haslemere Station.
3 comments:
The walk author has indicated he may be on the walk on the day, let's give him a warm welcome if so.
10 walkers off the bus, including the creator of the walk (up from Goring-by-Sea), plus 1 car driver waiting already, making for 11. There had been spottings of some other SWCers at Haslemere Station, but no one was quite sure whether they were doing their own thing, or were delayed Midhurst - Arundel walkers or indeed walking one of the spoke routes of this walk. It was the latter: those 4 stalwarts were initially behind the bus takers, overtook us while we were at the lunch pub, only to be overtaken again by us.
It was a w=sunny-and-warm day, but as more than 80% of the route is shaded that didn't bother much. In contrast to autumn and winter when I did recce-walk the route, it was now a very green walk, so much so that at times I didn't recognise the next turning!
It's a pretty faultless route without any bad or boring bits, I'd say, and I think everyone enjoyed it. Most of us lunched (or just drank) at The Fox & Pelican, and 4 (I think) took the bus home from there (or maybe they walked to the station?).
My (eventual) group of 7 added the small loops to the Devil's Punch Bowl viewpoint and to Gibbet Hill, for superior - if a little hazy - far views.
Back at Kingsley Green bus stop at 6, meaning a 18 minutes wait for the bus, and then a slick connection to the (slightly delayed) 18.30 train.
The 4 spoke route starters also took a spoke route or a bus back to the station, I believe, so - all in - all kinds of lengths were walked.
n=15
I thought this walk worked well on such a hot day with plenty of cool and shady woodlands. I was one of the 4 who followed the main directions, walking from Haslemere station up to Marley Common, from where we headed clockwise around the HOOP.
We stopped for lunch in dappled sunlight in the woods, where some convenient logs served as seating and a deer was spotted.
After a coffee stop at cafe Twenty5 in Hindhead, 2 left the HOOP to walk across Polecat Valley back to Haslemere and 2 carried on. At Imbhams Farm, 1 other left the HOOP to walk back to Haslemere and I strolled on alone at a gentle pace.
I took the footpath back to Haslemere via Barfold Copse, which is about halfway between the official HOOP exit points of Imbhams Farm and Ridden Corner - this is is not listed as a "spoke route" on this walk but it was a nice return route and perhaps could be added. I've added the details to the comments section of this walk's webpage.
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