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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.

Sunday 12 August 2018

Heavenly Heather en route from Bentley to Farnham

SWC Walk 184:  Bentley to Farnham via ancient forests, Frensham Ponds and remote heathlands T=SWC.184

Length: 15.3 Miles or 24.5 km for those more metrically minded (for those wanting something shorter, a shorter version of 12.6 miles/20.1 km is available)

Difficulty:  6 out of 10 (or 3 out 10 for the shorter version)

Train:  Take the 10:07 AM South Western Alton train from London Waterloo arriving at Bentley at 11:20.   Return trains from Farnham are hourly and half-hourly until 22:30.  Buy a day return to Bentley. 

This walk explores a variety of terrains from ancient woodland to remote heathland, including the very intriguing Devil’s Jumps….Most importantly for this time of year, the full route passes through Hankley Common which should be ablaze with heather….Other features include a swimming spot at Frensham Great Pond – however, please take heed of any warnings relating to algae bloom which tend to affect the pond in the late summer.  More information and the walk instructions can be found here.

This walk is suggested as a picnic walk….though, on the full route it may be possible to have a drink and late lunch at the Barley Mow in Tilford (01252 792 205) – open all day with food served until 16:00 on Sunday. On both versions there are also some café options for snacks along the way…..On arrival in Farnham, there are numerous options for post walk bevies and meals….the Mulberry near the station and the William Cobbett a short distance further on are two recommendations….See walk page for details….

Enjoy the walk!

1 comment:

Stargazer said...

n=5 emerged from the train onto the platform and stepped almost directly into the surrounding woodland and countryside under w=grey-skies-followed-by-light-but-persistent-rain-for-a-spell-then-drying-out-for-the-afternoon. At the Visitor Center, the ranks split...one reconsidering options without a rain jacket, two doing the shorter option and two setting off on the longer main route for the Devil's Jumps.....This is a cracker of a heather walk...loads of the stuff encountered on the longer main walk and its extensive exploration of heathland...though, sadly, not really at its best this year -- some looking a bit like my house plants and back garden....somewhat parched....Although not really an ideal swimming day, disappointingly, the swimming hole had a number of signs warning of high levels of blue-green algae....so not even any paddling took place.....nonetheless, an enjoyable Sunday outing in good company....