Length: 10½ km (6½ miles). Toughness: 3/10
11:00 Portsmouth Harbour train from Waterloo, arriving Guildford at 11:32. From Clapham Jct you'll need to take the 10:53 Portsmouth & Southsea train, arriving Guildford a few minutes earlier at 11:26.
There are three fast trains back from Guildford every hour, at (roughly) xx:19, xx:35 & xx:49 in the afternoon.
It's been suggested that we could try a few short winter walks with no more than an alfresco pit stop in the middle but a choice of refreshment places at the end. It will be easier for the group to stay together and if it finishes at around 2pm you can choose whether to have a late lunch or an early tea, hit the shops or simply head for the station.
This particular short walk is similar to one of our popular summer evening walks: a steep climb (on a new route) up to Pewley Down, an undulating descent via Chantry Wood and a final leg alongside the Wey Navigation. There's the option of a more direct ending into Guildford; conversely you could easily tack on a 1½ km out-and-back extension up to St Martha-on-the-Hill. At the end of the walk in §Q note that the alternative ‘River route’ is still likely to be stymied by a missing footbridge, but the ‘Town route’ will take you past a wide choice of refreshment places on the High Street.
You'll need to bring the directions from the L=swc.185.c page. You can save paper by clicking ‘Short’ on the Walk Options heading line, which hides the directions for all the longer variations but shows both endings.
2 comments:
lovely late walk!
About n=14 assembled in front of Guildford station in w=misty_and_overcast conditions. I have been to Guildford many times but never walked through the castle grounds before. The things one misses in life ... At the bottom of St Martha's Hill, the author of the walk appeared and continued with 4 others towards the Wey while 10 climbed up to the top for an atmospheric view into the misty distance. Hugging the North Downs escarpment closely lead us to Shalford Mill where intelligence from the advance party informed us that there were some impassable flooded parts next to the Wey which made 3 of us walk along the road in order to bypass the flooded area while 7 adventurous types wanted to have a closer look. We found a 3m section of the path flooded deeply enough that crossing without wellies was not an option. A local standing in the middle of the flood, water almost lapping the top of his wellies, suggested to walk further south to cross the Wey navigation via Broadford Road which we did. Instead of following the walk instructions back to the castle grounds we walked along the Wey straight into Guildford, where some had drinks in the Wey Side Inn, others at the King's Head. One additional walker was found there who got a later train and did his own Guildford circular. Two continued walking around Guildford before finishing the day with dinner there.
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