Length: 11.5 km (7.1 miles) finishing in Leatherhead, or 6 miles if returning to Box Hill
Toughness: 7 plus out of 10 Two steep, tough ascents, one steep descent, remainder steady going
London Waterloo: 10-24 hrs SouthWestern service to Dorking CJ: 10-33 hrs Wimbledon: 10-40 hrs
Arrive Box Hill: 11-11 hrs
Please Note: The reopening of Southern Rail's platforms (8 to 19) at London Victoria after Xmas engineering work has been delayed until 10 January, hence there is not the usual Victoria service today to Box Hill.
Return: Box Hill to Waterloo: 35 mins past the hour
Leatherhead to Waterloo: direct trains at 10 mins and 40 mins past the hour
Rail ticket: buy a day return to Box Hill & Westhumble
Most of you will be familiar with this walk, so I will not ramble on for too long. Leaving Box Hill railway station we head for the River Mole which we cross on stepping stones (or if covered by the river, we cross a footbridge a short distance east). Then we have a steep climb to the top of Box Hill via six flights of steps. At the top, we take a breather whilst enjoying a fine view from the summit's viewing point. Onwards then to Ashurst Rough and through woodland to Juniper Top, where we have more panoramic views as we drop down this grassy way to the bottom of White Hill. The climb up White Hill - again, via a long flight of steep steps - is hard work, but from the top the going becomes easier. We need to take care when descending the hill - a walking pole comes in handy - but once at the bottom we come out beside St Michael & All Angels Church, Mickleham. Opposite the church is our recommended pub stop - the Running Horses. There is another excellent pub in Mickleham, the King William IV - directions to it are noted in the main Directions. Today's picnic spot for sandwichers is in the grounds of the church.
After lunch in Mickleham, we have a choice of onward route. The Book 1 route to Leatherhead is not that exciting: it's neither unpleasant nor pleasant, just unremarkable. So I usually choose to double back to Box Hill via woodland - it takes 55 minutes. If you wish you can by-pass the station and head for Denbies for tea, before returning to the railway station for your journey home. Other refreshment options are noted in the Directions.
T=1.49
Walk Directions are here: L=1.49
4 comments:
Does anyone know what happened to the walk route in green gone to? The map of the walk is there but not the green directions?
Monica
@Monica. Yes, something was broken.
(Long answer: I started to change something to handle the edge case of 2+ markers in the same place, e.g. 3 walks starting from the same station. Then I forgot about it. This broke the bits I hadn't yet changed. Later I came across these broken bits and, wondering why, fixed them, thus breaking the bits I had previously changed. Javascript doesn't handle errors very gracefully, it just stops. The 'green' lines are drawn after the start/stop markers, so they never got drawn)
Many thanks Andrew I can see the green line is back on SWC walk routes. Many thanks for for fixing it.
Monica.
With some later starters, some of whom caught up with us at lunchtime, we numbered a nice round n=20 today. After the dreary, mild, yucky weather over most of the festive period, what a joy it was to walk today in proper winter weather: w=crisp-and-cold-and-delightfully-sunny-all-day. More, please !
It was muddy in places, as to be expected, and the ascents of Box Hill and White Hill proved challenging for some of us oldies: with the passing years these climbs do not get any easier - and I cannot think why.
Arriving in Mickleham at the Running Horses pub, eight of us dined in the pub's restaurant area, and a number of our picnickers had a drink in the cosier bar area. Our dishes arrived promptly - beautifully presented, and although helpings looked to be on the modest side, the food was delicious and surprisingly filling. With friendly staff attending to all our needs, this pub lunch experience was an excellent one. More, please !
After lunch, most walkers set off to return to Box Hill, by two routes, and one walker called in to Denbies for tea - I'm not sure what the others did. I donned my anti-social hat and set off alone to Leatherhead, to book check the afternoon leg of the official TO Book route.
A lovely winter's day walk - but after all those steep steps, some of us will have a few aches come tomorrow.............
Post a Comment