Marley Common and Black Down
Length: 14km (8.7 miles)
Toughness: 5 out of 10 (7 out of 10 if you climb Black Down).
This is a memorial walk to celebrate the life of Nicholas Albery the creator of Saturday Walkers Club who died twenty years ago. Those who remember Nicholas and those who appreciate this wonderful social invention might like to come along for the walk or join for lunch at the Red Lion in Fernhurst where a table has been reserved. If you plan to lunch at the pub, please email swc.wanderer@gmail.com so that the booking can be adjusted to the correct number.
The walk goes through very beautiful countryside. It is mainly National Trust land - mixed woods with blackberries and bluebells and heathlands of bracken, gorse, heather and bilberry, with fine views from Black Down (280 metres/919 feet), the highest point in both Sussex and the South Downs National Park.
Trains: Catch the 10am from London Waterloo (Woking 10.25) arriving Haslemere 10.53. This train does not stop at Clapham Junction but there is a slower train which stops at CJ at 9.52 and gets to Haslemere for 10.50.
Return trains from Haslemere are at xx.02, xx.14 and xx:30. Buy a return to Haslemere.
Lunch: The Red Lion in Fernhurst or picnic on the green.
Tea: options described in the walk directions.
For COVID contact tracing purposes, please email swc.wanderer@gmail.com or register on LWUG if you intend to come on the walk. In the event that you develop COVID symptoms in the week following the walk, please email swc.wanderer@gmail.com or covid@lwug.co.uk. Your contact details will not be shared with anyone.
For walk directions and map clik here
L=1.22
6 comments:
It was suggested to make this walk the annual memorial walk for Nicholas Albery, founder of the Saturday Walkers Club and editor of the first Time Out Book of Country Walks.
Nicholas died on 3 June 2001 in a car crash. I am his widow and will join you on this walk, which is close to a piece of land we once came across on one of our Saturday walks with friends in the late 1980's. It has been our country retreat for many years. So this walk is very special to us.
Looking forward to meeting you on Saturday!
The booking email link doesn’t seem to be working. Could this be checked please? I’m booking for 2 places at lunch.
The booking address is not a link. You need to type or copy and paste it into your email.
N=25 set off from the station in w=pleasantly-warm-cloudy-but bright weather. 12 had lunch at the Red Lion and most of the others joined them for a drink. The afternoon stretch was muddy on the ascent out of Fernhurst but otherwise not too bad. Bilberries are ripe - sweet but tiny. Around 10 caught the 16.02 train back to London.
Wanderer, many thanks for posting this ever popular walk and organising bookings at the Red Lion - much appreciated!
The Red Lion is a very good lunch stop able to accommodate all who wanted lunch or drinks under outdoor cover and the sea bass was an excellent choice in my part. Thanks to Wanderer for the booking especially as she didn’t eat there. On behalf of the less able 3 who caught the reliable bus after lunch we caught the 15.02 train having just missed the one half an hour earlier I can confirm that the burger cafe next to the station serves tea. We felt too under dressed to visit the lovely gastro steakhouse with rooms opposite the station but I have had drinks there on the outside terrace on previous Haslemere visits. We were delayed by the Raynes park signalling failure resulting in a queue to enter Waterloo and subsequent delays to onward departures.
It was good to see Josefine after such a long absence and we hope to welcome her again. I understand that she hopes to run the Poetry challenge in October where participants are asked to memorise and recite a poem. Nicholas Albery felt that learning something by heart helped to stimulate his memory.
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