Length: 14.2 km (8.8 miles)
Toughness: 2 out of 10 (a bit more when muddy)
London Waterloo: 10-15 hrs South Western service to Haslemere Clapham Junction: 10-22 hrs
Arrive Witley: 11-09 hrs
Return
Haslemere to Waterloo: approx 00, 15, 32 and 37 mins past the hour
Rail ticket: buy a day return to Haslemere
Please see - and comply with - our Covid Rules on the This Weeks page, plus Track and Trace - and Hands-Face-Space
It's best to do this walk before winter sets in, as the bridleways - particularly in the morning - can be horribly muddy. Hopefully they will be firm(ish) under foot today.
Alas, one of the morning highlights - the Lockwood Donkey Sanctuary - has closed down permanently, with the last of its resident horses, ponies and donkeys being rehomed last week to another of the RSPCA's centres. I have fond memories in the late Mrs Lockwood's days of buying buckets of chaff to feed the donkeys. Never mind, all things must pass, and there is a lot more to be enjoyed on this walk through classic West Surrey countryside.
Lunch today is taken in the historic village of Chiddingfold, with its interesting church, and two pubs. The Crown Inn is THE place to dine, if you can get a table. There is also a pleasant tea room nearby.
After lunch you wend your way through woods and National Trust estates to Haslemere, for tea at Hemingways (Darnleys is closed for refurbishment) before the short walk to the railway station for your train home.
T=1.44
Walk Directions are here: L=1.44
3 comments:
N=18 on a w=sunny-mild day. Attempts to arrange the group into sixes was described as ‘like nailing jelly to a tree’. A sizeable chunk slid off with the words “into sixes” ringing in their ears. The remainder were moulded into neat jelly portions. And one slow gobbet.
Not much mud today. If there was a hazard it was nuts. Falling nuts. Chestnuts, then conkers and, later, a barrage of acorns. How lucky we are we don’t get coconuts here. The slow guy at the back, in his group of one, accidentally took a short cut and arrived at the Crown not long after the others. 7 dined there a few just drank. Others must have picnicked.
The slow guy had a frisson of doubt on Mill Lane because the Ukrainean Home doesn’t seem to be called that anymore. Like everything else up that road it’s called 'Sydenhurst'. However, being an observant sort of chap, he noticed the bins had 'UH' written on them. And all was well. Tea was partaken at Hemingways. Nice cakes, tea in posh cups. Home.
The Ukrainian care home was demolished and replaced with https://www.countrylife.co.uk/property/truly-spectacular-21st-century-georgian-mansion-199836
They’ve still got the old bins, though.
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