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This Week's Walks - Archive

Please see the Saturday Walker's Club This Week's Walks page.

This is an archive of walks done by the Saturday Walker's Club. You should only need to use this page if the SWC website is down.

Wednesday, 1 December 2021

Wednesday Walk: Westhumble Circular


7.7 miles 12.4 km. Difficulty 5/10
A walk in the Surrey Hills, featuring the Polesden Lacey estate. We are doing option b, starting and finishing at "Box Hill & Westhumble" station. 

Transport: Get the 10:25 Horsham train from Victoria (Clapham Jct. 10:32), arriving "Box Hill & Westhumble" 11:18.
A return to "Box Hill & Westhumble" will do you. A return ticket to Dorking Main costs the same and gives you the option of returning from either station.
Trains return from "Box Hill & Westhumble" at xx:33 for Waterloo and xx:40 for Victoria. Trains leave Dorking 3 minutes earlier, should you choose to finish there.
It is also possible to travel from Waterloo. The 10:24 (Clapham Jct. 10:33) to Dorking Main would get you to Box Hill & Westhumble  for 11:11. Wait for the others ….or else! Travel from Waterloo costs slightly more.
Lunch: The National Trust tea-room Polesden Lacey is accessible without paying the entrance fee. (£15 or free for NT members).  Note that the former alternative lunch stop, the Sir Douglas Haig, is permanently closed.
Tea: First, you’ve got the Visitor Centre at Denbies Vineyard.  Nearer "Box Hill & Westhumble" station, you have the Stepping Stones pub.  

Walk Directions: here
t=2.14.b

3 comments:

anon said...

Many thanks to Marcus for today, you're really doing a great job with all the walk posts,appreciated👍few drinks should come your way at Christmas!

Marcus said...

It must be the way Ian writes them up, for today his walk attracted a near-record attendance for a mid-week SWC walk. 25 assembled on Boxhill & Westhumble railway station, having travelled on services from Waterloo and Victoria. 2 other later starters caught us up during the morning, so that makes n=27 . Not bad for the first day of meteorological winter.
As for the weather today, we had w=sunny-spells-clouding-over-later. It was not cold, although in open areas the wind was a bit chilly and most of us wrapped up well. Late finishers enjoyed a fabulous light show as we descended to Denbies, with the complex lit up by the late afternoon sun - and an impressive double rainbow as rain started to fall. We were comfortably inside the tea room when rain fell heavily, but Lady Luck was with us today as the rain had stopped by the time we left snd headed for Boxhill station.
Earlier in the day the opening leg of the walk over grassy fields was lovely, with fine views of Boxhill along the way. There was still some good leaf colour in the woods as we approached Polesden Lacey, where half stopped for picnics in the complexes courtyard and half dined in the cafeteria. The hot food on offer was rather limited today but all of us managed to find something to our liking. Per usual these days, I find myself with the late post luncheon leavers, and so it was six of us set off to tackle the afternoon leg, in sunshine at first. We soon caught up some others who had opted for an (unintentional) scenic route and we stayed together until we reached Denbies.
Today's choice of walk by Ian was near perfect for the time of year - and so today's walkers extend a thank you to Ian. We enjoyed a fine day out.

Marcus said...

Many thanks Anon, but today's walk was posted thanks to Mr M Tiger - I just bumbled along, per usual.