Length: 19.8km (12.3 miles)
Toughness: 4 out of 10
Catch the 9.23 train from Waterloo to Ash Vale, arriving 10.14.
If you miss this, catch the 9.28 Weymouth train and change at Woking, arriving 9.54, departing 10.00. This is also the Clapham Junction option, departing at 9.35.
Buy a day return to Ash Vale. You also technically need a single from Worplesdon to Woking (one stop) on the return leg.
For walk directions click here. For GPX click here (and you also might find the walk's home page useful too). T=3.136
I apologise if the train journey to this walk seems like "deja vue all over again" for those who were on the Farnham to Godalming walk last week: you are indeed taking the same train from Waterloo. But you are getting off a stop earlier and the walk has quite a different character.
You start off along the Basingstoke Canal and then are out on heathland that is used as an army range - but not, the walk notes insist, having any restricted access if you follow the main walk route. On past outings of the walk there have been some issues following the directions on this section, but in this GPX era maybe that will be less of a problem. Stick to someone with a gizmo, is my advice.
If there is no firing at all on the army ranges, a shortcut across them is possible: how much this saves is not specified.
Otherwise, it is back to the canal and then into more normal rural territory to arrive at the lunch pub, the Royal Oak in Purbright. This is 7.2 miles into the walk, but it seems to do food all afternoon.
There is also a later lunch option in another 2.4 miles, the White Lyon and Dragon, which does Thai food. Alternatively this could act as your tea stop (it is open all afternoon), allowing you to go straight to Worplesdon station in another 2.7 miles. For a later tea stop there is the Jolly Farmer in Whitmoor Common: there is a 500 metre diversion to reach this.
At Worplesdon station itself there are no refreshments and trains are only hourly at 14 minutes past the hour. It is a lonely spot, so time your arrival there carefully.
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5 comments:
I have just checked the train times for this and currently (as of Friday am) there are no issues showing for the trains for this walk due to snow.
was hoping to do Tonbridge walk but weather appear to be better for this walk. Any takers for ending at Brookwood Station (about 10 miles in total)
Weather forecast here is sunny. Plan to do Ash Vale to Brookwood but 9:53am start at Waterloo, everyone is welcome.
There were 9 of us on the delayed 1014 and at least 3 on a later train,so let's say n=12 on a w=beautiful-day-with-snow-underfoot especially along the canal and in the first woodland section. The Royal Oak only just fitted us in for lunch, those who dined seemed satisfied. Two of us returned to the canal and walked to Brookwood after lunch; I wasn't aware of the other comments till later so don't know if anyone else took a short cut. Anyway, great to have a wintry day out in the sunshine.
n=13, as there were 4 on the later train. The remaining 11, walked to Worplesdon in separate groups and caught 4:14pm train. Lovely snow covered countryside and sunny all day make this an excellent outing. In the afternoon we saw Alpaca, Ostrich and Lama etc. The only disappointment of this walk (ie walk design) was no refreshment anywhere nearby at the end of the walk, all felt the earlier pub was too soon (just an hour after lunch).
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