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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 11 November 2018

Sunday Walk – Banstead Heath and the Langley Wood Remembrance Trail

Extra Walk 4c – Tattenham Corner Circular
Length: 14¼ km (8.9 miles). Toughness: 3/10.

09:54 Caterham & Tattenham Corner train from London Bridge, calling at most stations in south London on its leisurely progress to East Croydon (10:26). The train divides a bit later at Purley and it's usually the rear section which continues to Tattenham Corner (TfL Zone 6), arriving at 11:09. Use Oyster PAYG or contactless.

For a slightly quicker journey you could take the 10:05 Reigate train from Victoria and change onto the above train at Purley (arr 10:28, dep 10:45).

Trains back from Tattenham Corner to London Bridge are at xx:20 & xx:50. You can change at East Croydon (on the xx:20) or Purley (xx:50) for a faster service to Victoria.

This is Remembrance Sunday and in this centennial year it seems particularly appropriate to do something to mark the end of the 1914-18 War. The Woodland Trust have been planting four new Centenary Woods and this walk goes through the largest of them at Langley Vale. A new self-guided trail will be open during November and I suggest that you download the trail guide from this Langley Vale Wood page and go off piste when you reach the wood in §8, towards the end of the walk.

To give sufficient time to explore the Centenary Wood I've chosen the Circular Walk option. This was redesigned earlier this year, so it will confuse others if you march off with an older printout or GPS track. The suggested lunch pub is still The Sportsman at Mogador, with a later option available at the Blue Ball at Walton-on-the-Hill (which you could reach sooner by cutting across Banstead Heath if you wish). If you want an inside table at either of these pubs it's advisable to call ahead. There don't appear to be any refreshment opportunities at Langley Vale, but there are usually kiosks on Epsom Downs and there's a large Beefeater pub overlooking the racecourse.

You'll need to bring the walk directions from the Merstham to Tattenham Corner walk page. You can save a few sheets of paper by clicking on Option c (or the word Circular on the Walk Options heading line) to hide the directions you won't need.
T=swc.4.c

2 comments:

SamClark said...

Will meet at Tattenham Corner station if that is ok, am bringing a friend,
thanks, Samantha

Sean said...

A downpour just before the start seemed to clear the air and n=10 walkers enjoyed a w=dry-and-partly-sunny day. As is usual these days the group split up in the afternoon, with some of the sandwichers setting off for the afternoon leg half an hour before the pub-lunchers. At least four of us explored the new Remembrance Trail in Langley Vale; something of a work-in-progress with a few broad grassy paths laid out but other sections a bit rough and ready. There were some interesting memorials and information panels and when it's finished I'll incorporate part of it into the walk route. We crossed Epsom Downs just in time to enjoy a colourful sunset and catch the 16:20 train.