Length:
from 18.6 km (11.6 mi) to 21.9 km (13.6 mi)
Ascent/Descent:
from 273/288m to 415/430m; Net Walking Time: 4 to 5 hours
Toughness:
5/10 to 6/10
Take
the 09.15 Haslemere train from Waterloo (09.22 Clapham J, 09.43 Woking), arrives Milford 10.05.
Return trains are on xx.25
and xx.53, journey time 48 mins. Buy
a Milford return.
This
walk is that rare beast, a Book 1 walk
that is extendable!
From
Milford Station, you come to the
lakes and the magnificent timber-framed Enton
Mill – one of the many houses on this walk that have 17th or
18th-century galleting – black pebbles lining the mortar of the
walls, a method much used in those days in Kent and the South. Near a pub and
church in Hambledon, you join the Greensand Way, a sandy bridleway through The Hurtwood.
Lunch
is at the White Horse pub in Hascombe, a village with
a remarkable church, described by
Betjeman as "a Tractarian work of art", and covered in wall
decoration, so that it looks almost Moorish.
In
the afternoon, the walk follows public rights of way through the National
Trust's Winkworth Arboretum
and its lakes. You leave along the fringes of its woods to a horse training
course and the rich outskirts of Godalming, with its many imposing buildings.
The
final approach to the town is along the River
Wey and Godalming Navigation‘s path, to the Church of St. Peter and St.
Paul and the ancient High Street.
Optional Extensions:
Hydon's
Ball (hill), a map-led diversion to the summit; adds 1.3 km
and 64m ascent.
Hascombe
Hill, map-led out-and-back from the lunch pub in Hascombe to
the summit; adds 2.0 km and 78m ascent.
Lunch: The White Horse in Hascombe (8.4 or 9.7 or 10.4 or 11.7
km, depending on if and when you walk any of the two optional diversions; food
to 14.30 [last orders]).
Tea: Hector’s on the Wey on the River Wey, plus lots of options on and
just off the High Street, good ratings are getting: Café Mila, Changing Perceptions,
The Branch Café and Arbor Tea Room. There are also some pubs…
For
summary, walk directions, route map,
height profile, photos and gpx/kml files click here.
T=1.20.a
1 comment:
The Brighton-bound walkers would have been better off pursuing Milford to Godalming, at least as far as weather was concerned: w=sunny_periods_in_the_morning_yielding_to_grey_but_no_actual_rain.
There gathered n=8 on the station platform. The disappointment that flowed from the realisation that our fearless walk poster had not himself appeared was enough to cause one of the number to feel unwell and elect to head straight back home.
The weather may have been good, but luck was not on our side so far as concerned lunch. The White Horse at Hascombe was grappling with both a group about to attend a wedding in the nearby church, and a smaller group celebrating a 50th wedding anniversary, and was completely full as early as noon. Only one of our number was quick thinking and assertive enough to grab a tiny corner table and order any food. Sandwiches or nothing for the rest of us.
Two stopped by Hector's on the Wey, which has the advantage of avoiding the need to seek tea in the depressing high street of Godalming and greatly improves the end of the walk. Those two and one other made the 1525 train.
Post a Comment