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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.

Saturday 8 June 2019

Saturday walk - Godstone to Oxted - Two magnificent yew trees

Length: 17.5km (10.9 miles)
Toughness 4 out of 10 T=3.277

10.21 train from London Bridge (10.05 St Pancras Thameslink, 10.37 East Croydon) to Redhill, arriving 10.52, changing there for the Tonbridge train, depart 11.00, arriving Godstone at 11.10.

You could also get the 10.09 from Victoria (10.16 Clapham Junction, 10.27 East Croydon), arriving at Redhill at 10.48

Buy a day return to Edenbridge Stations (via East Croydon, if there is a choice of routes)

Walk directions are here, a GPX file is here, a map of the route is here.

We have several walks in this area, but this particular combo has not had an airing since May 2017. It covers pretty and generally gentle terrain that I am sure will display the last flowery phase of spring to best effect. There is in particular one field just before Tandridge that has in the past been a great riot of buttercups, though these things vary from year to year. Oh, and you also get to see two of the most ancient yews in the country, apparently, both at least 1000 years old.

Lunch - slightly uneasily - depends on the popular Royal Oak pub on the edge of Staffhurst Wood (which is also the lunch pub on the Oxted to Lingfield walk). This is 5 miles into the walk. The directions warn it may be fully booked inside at the weekends - the slightly uneasy bit - but if the weather is fine it has a large garden.

In extremis, pushing on for another 3 miles gets you (with a very minor detour) to the Barley Mow in Tandridge, which serves food until 3pm, though you are fairly close to the end of the walk by this point.

For tea or something stronger, your way into Oxted is festooned with pubs and there are also several tea shops and cafes - see the walk directions for details.

Trains back from Oxted are at 20 past to London Bridge and 23 and 53 past to Victoria (London Bridge is slightly faster). Your Edenbridge ticket is valid for these.

3 comments:

JohnL said...

I have booked a table for 6 at 13:00... Sounds busy, said he could just about fit us in. Obviously if fine we can eat in the garden.

Mr M Tiger said...

N=17 people. The weather could most politely be described as “unusual” ( w=heavy-downpours-sun-hail-thunderbolts-and-lightnin-very-very-frightnin ) Rain so heavy my camera stopped working. One or two finished at lunch to avoid more of the same. The tough nuts kept going.
In the first paragraph, the “side gate on the right” no longer has a blue arrow but does have a “beware of the dog” sign. This was disconcerting. After a bit of a dither, we convinced ourselves it was the right gate and so it was. And no sign of the doggie.
Lots of sheep in the fields. One or two might have been goats.
The large number of stiles on this walk would be good training for gymnasts or ballet dancers - unfortunately, I'm neither.
The lunch pub was welcoming and walker friendly with little blue baggies provided for feet.

Anonymous said...

There was indeed a little dog, sheltering in the barn and looking a little forlorn. Some guard dog - he/she just sat and watched as we walked past