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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.

Saturday 31 December 2016

Saturday Second Walk - A North Downs gem

Book 2, Walk 14 - Effingham to Westhumble (or Dorking)
Length: 14.3km (8.8 miles) or 16.3km (10.1 miles)
Toughness: 5 out of 10

10.03 train from Waterloo to Effingham Junction (10.12 Clapham Junction) to Effingham Junction, arriving 10.45.

There is also a 10.09 from Waterloo (10.18 Clapham Junction) but this is slightly slower, arriving Effingham Junction at 11.03: don't get this train by mistake - unless you just miss the earlier one, of course.

For walk directions click here. (These directions are more up to date than those in the book)

Buy a day return to Effingham Junction. On the way back you technically need to buy a single from Dorking to Leatherhead (two stops).

I figured that a New Year's Eve walk needs three qualities: not too far from London, a lunch stop one could rely on being open; and not involving Southern trains.

This walk ticks all three boxes, with lunch being at the National Trust self-service restaurant at Polesden Lacey (The Granary, not the little cafe by the entrance) which usually has some hot dishes, even if portion sizes sometimes leave something to be desired. If you want a pub lunch the 10.1 mile version of this walk diverts to one - the Sir Douglas Haig in Effingham Village, just three miles into the walk. But you might want to ring up on the day to check it is open/serving food.

For tea the Denbies Wine Estate Conservatory Restaurant (self-service) will be open as far as I can ascertain. Its website doesn't say it won't be open, at all events. It may close at 4.30pm, however.

Trains back: Because of the Southern dispute you may prefer to use the Dorking ending of the walk, from whence there are South West Trains services to Waterloo at 04 and 34 past. If Southern trains to Victoria are not affected by strike action, they are at 26 and 58 past. All these trains take around 55 minutes and all call at Clapham Junction.

Trains from Box Hill & Westhumble are Southern ones hourly at 28 past. I wouldn't rely on these unless your mobile phone train tracker definitely says they are running. On Box Hill station there is the Pilgrim's Cycle Shop cafe and there is the Stepping Stones pub nearby: though New Year's Eve may affect the opening/closing times of either.



2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Pilgrim's Cycle Shop cafe on Boxhill station is open until 4pm on 31st December. Stepping Stones pub (01306 889932) claims to be open from 11am -11.00pm Monday to Saturday all year round.

Anonymous said...

N=25 and weather w=grey_with_a_smidgen_of_sunshine
A good day with nothing untoward happening