Length: 12.5 km (7.8 miles)
Toughness: 3 out of 10 Flat all day until a climb up onto Reigate Park Hill
Either
London Victoria: 10-25 hrs Southern service to Horsham CJ 10-32; Sutton 10-54; Epsom 11-05 hrs
Arrive Dorking (Main): 11-21 hrs
Or
London Waterloo: 10-24 hrs SouthWestern service to Dorking CJ 10-33; Wimbledon 10-40 hrs
Arrive Dorking (Main): 11-13 hrs
Waterlooers please wait for Victorians outside Dorking railway station
Return
Reigate to Victoria: 00 and 30 mins past the hour
Rail ticket: try a day return to Dorking
Another nice shorter walk for our mid-week walkers (verily, I am spoiling you). Today's walk is the 'sister' walk to Holmwood to Reigate which we took for a spin early last month, and although the ending is the same, the main part of today's walk takes us through quite different Surrey countryside and through some picturesque picture postcard villages. We stop for lunch in one of them - Betchworth - at the Dolphin Inn which was fine when I last tried it some three years ago.
After lunch we cross the River Mole a couple of times before continuing to Skimmington, then we ascend Reigate Park Hill - the only steep bit today. We follow the ridge path before taking the easier descent to cross the park below and enter the town of Reigate. Last month we stopped for drinks at Cafe Rouge before heading past the statue of Dame Margot Fonteyne as we head up the hill to Reigate Railway station.
T=swc.16
Walk Directions are here: L=swc.16
9 comments:
well done Marcus👏 lovely walk, later start, shorter mileage and mostly flat, ideal for my arthritic knee😊 however have an appointment that day for one of my other ailments so can't go.. Damn! would be v grateful if you could please post more walks such as these 🙏
Unfair and selfish to expect schedulers to cater for individual requirements with pleas of this sort. Please spare them this added pressure. Many like more challenging walks. Lots of Ramblers groups do short mid-week walks. Easy to find, and you would enjoy them -)
FFS! it was meant to be a light hearted comment! Heat getting to you mate?😐
As a walk poster, can I say that (polite) feedback on our walk choices and requests for particular walks are always welcome. Please do remember that the walk poster is considering various factors when choosing a walk, however, so may not accede to all requests. But all ideas are considered.
My favourite walk and will be leading this walk for the Forest Ramblers on Thursday 9 September departure from Waterloo train times if anyone would like to join me then. A walk check is recommended as there is one place I’ve gone wrong a couple of times where the walk instructions are unclear and I’ve gone off piste. The steep ascent to Colleys hill can be avoided by those of us with arthritic knees by the way.
Hi Marion Can you post the deets for your walk in September please? Thanks
15 at the station with 2 joining later made for N=17 today.
A sudden downpour delayed our departure but, after a while, the walk orderlies decided enough was enough and out we marched out into the rain. No point resisting, there was nothing to hold on to. Luckily, the rain soon stopped and the weather brightened, so there'll be no strongly-worded complaint today. It was even sunny. The ground was firm, my new boots stayed mud free, my tootsies were dry, everybody happy. Well me, anyway.
We arrived at Betchworth without further incident. Some picnicked in the sun in the churchyard. But most headed for the Dolphin. Having catered for four weddings and a funeral in the past, they were busy gearing up for another (not sure which), but they took us in, they fed us, they watered us, and sent us on our way again.
I'm not one to boast but I think I may have been one of the first to reach Priory Park. Here, we admired ducks and flowers while waiting for others to arrive, which some soon did. There were suspicions that some of the earlier arrivals avoided the hill. But who am I to cast aspersions on others' achievements?
Some went to Cafe Rouge while others headed for the station. One went shopping. Later arrivals may have been caught in a second downpour, seen from the train.Good day out, easy walk. Weather was w=largely-sunny-with-occasional-showers
Just to add to the above walk report those dining at the excellent Dolphin were confined to 3 outside tables as the funeral party had reserved all the others for 3pm and out of bounds to all other diners. 10 had booked and I can vouch for the quality of the beer battered cod and chips and excellent service. Our waitress thanked us for our custom saying we were the first walking group to have booked since freedom day. Our walk author accompanied 6 of us in the afternoon clarifying the route and was persuaded to enjoy tea and ice creams at the excellent Skimmington Castle outside tables but here the service was a bit disorganised. Finally to Reigate avoiding the Hill but enjoying the lakeside wildlife to catch the 5pm fast train to Victoria. If anyone wants to do this walk again please see the walk details in the Forest Ramblers website for Thursday 9 September where the pace will be leisurely.
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