Length: 23.6 km (14.7 mi) [many longer and
shorter options]
Ascent/Descent:
384/447m; Net Walking Time: 5 ½ hours
Toughness: 7/10
Take
the 09.30 Portsmouth Harbour train
from Waterloo (09.55 Woking, 10.03
G’ford), arrives Haslemere 10.22. From
Clapham take the 09.27 Salisbury/Exeter St. David’s train to Woking (09.46).
Return trains from Farnham are hourly
xx.27 to 20.27 (change at Woking). [Later in the evening a bus replacement service kicks in from Farnham.]
Buy
a Haslemere return, you then may
have to buy a separate Farnham – Woking single.
The
route leads out of Haslemere in a northerly direction along the quietest and
shortest possible route to ascend through Coombswell Copse and along the wooded
Invall ridge up to Hurt Hill and the Temple
of the Four Winds, the ruin of an
early 20th century belvedere, and one of several viewpoints with
striking vistas. Turn westerly up to Gibbet
Hill (the second highest top in Surrey),
with more far reaching views, out to the North Downs and London, as well as
back to Black Down and to the South Downs.
Skirt
around the Devil’s Punchbowl along the course of the old A3 and descend into
the remote Highcomb Bottom, a
stunning sandy heathland valley to re-join the Greensand Way to Thursley.
Its
common (a NNR) is one of the largest heathlands as well as one of the last
lowland peat bogs in southern Britain and an optional extension gives you
prolonged exposure to it. Next up is Hankley
Common, another large heathland, and mostly MOD terrain, for an exploration
of a D-Day training site with a replica section of The Atlantic Wall and assorted other defensive structures. On to the
picturesque village of Tilford with its pub and cricket pitch on the green,
followed by quiet woodland paths and lanes along the River Wey’s North Branch
into Farnham, with an optional extension past Waverley Abbey House to
Waverley
Abbey’s ruins along the way.
Lunch: The Three Horseshoes in Thursley (10.5 km/6.5 mi, food to
14.30), or The Duke of Cambridge in
Tilford Common (15.9 km/9.9 mi, food
to 15.30) or The Barley Mow in Tilford (17.5 km/10.9 mi, food to 15.00).
3 comments:
Trains times amended with the Strike Timetable's Info. Clapham Junction options not yet clear. Will check again tomorrow.
Clapham option added as per the SWT Strike Timetable.
n=7 walkers (only) in w=sunny-with-a-breeze weather on this varied walk. The early woods felt quite autumnal in fact, despite the leaves not quite turning, but the mushrooms/fungi were out in force, in all shapes and colours (bright red!). The views from the various viewpoints from the wooded ridges, the Temple of the Four Winds, Gibbet Hill and Highcomb Bottom were clear and far (although not quite good enough to see London). The heather and gorse were colourful, the long-horned Highland Coos (if that's what they were) pretty and docile. In Thursley 3 went to the Three Horseshoes for very taste lunch in the large garden, joined there later by the picnickers. And on we strode: through Thursley Common (incl. the extension and the extension-within-the-extension were walked and much enjoyed by all), then on to The Atlantic Wall, which 3 had a close look at. 6 stopped at The Barley Mow for refreshments in the riverside garden and all those also walked the extension to the Waverley Abbey ruins. 18.27 train for all. Back in London b4 half seven. All journeys were on time as per the revised strike day schedule. A brilliant day.
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