Backup Only

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.

Saturday 31 October 2015

Saturday Second Walk - Box Hill autumn colours

SWC Walk 64 - Box Hill Circular
Length: 15km (9.3 miles)
Toughness: 8 out of 10

9.31 train from Victoria (9.38 Clapham Junction, 9.59 Sutton) to Box Hill, arriving 10.21

Buy a day return to Box Hill & Westhumble (Look and see if there is a cheaper Southern only ticket to Dorking: if so, take it, as all your travel will be on Southern).

For walk directions click here.

Autumn colours seem to be developing nicely, so I have picked a walk with plenty of woods, though this circumnavigation of the Box Hill area also has some fine views. It is a strenuous outing with some good hill climbs and descents, so even though it is a short walk you still get a good leg stretch. Be careful on the chalk paths, which can be slippery when the ground is wet.

Lunch is early in this walk - after just 5km/3 miles - and a 10.30 train is usually recommended for this reason. But since days are now short, and since there is a tea option at the Box Hill Visitor Centre before the end of the walk, I thought we might profit from all the afternoon daylight we can get.

So my scheme is to get to the two very excellent - not to say delectable - lunch pubs on this walk when they open at midday. If you walk too fast in the morning, you might even get there before they open. So stop and look at the view at some point.

Trains back are at 28 past till 18.28 and then 19.00 and on the hour till 22.00

1 comment:

Walker said...

N=20 on this walk in w=lovely-warm-sunshine. The autumn colours were wonderful too, much more advanced than I expected - coppery beeches, yellow field and Norway maple, golden birches. We got to lunch slightly before midday but that meant empty pubs and quick service. The King William IV contingent ate outside on the terrace, an unexpected delight at this time of year.

In the afternoon Headley Heath looked especially beautiful - I have never seen it looking so nice. I think most at some point had tea at the Box Hill kiosk, and there was then a dreamlike descent in golden sunshine to Burford Bridge, where a bunch of us got the 4.28 train, some apparently having got the 3.28.