Ascent/Descent:
282/333m; Net Walking Time: 4 - 4 ½ hours
Toughness:
4/10
Take
the 10.00 Portsmouth Harbour train from Waterloo (10.12 CJ, 10.39
Woking), arrives Witley 11.05.
Return trains from
Haslemere are on xx.17, and xx.49, journey time from 57 mins. Buy
a Haslemere return.
This
walk is one of 11 stages of the Greensand Way - a waymarked long-distance path
in the Southeast of England. This is the first section of it, but for
logistical reasons, it is posted in reverse, as Haslemere is a better place to
finish, having pubs, tea rooms, and more frequent trains.
The
walk starts gently over open agricultural land, and crosses the A3 to Thursley. Its St. Michael
and All Angels church is worth a visit. There are some benches with a lovely
view in the churchyard (a good picnic spot). A nearby grave has a poignant
'husband died 1917 wife died 1980' epitaph. Lunch is in The Three Horseshoes, a
gastro-pub with a nice beer garden, just off the route, north of the church.
After
lunch you climb a peaceful spur to Gibbet Hill
(272m), with dramatic views into Devil's Punch Bowl. The area was once
notorious for highwaymen. In 1786, a sailor (buried in Thursley's church, and
commemorated by the Sailor's Stone) was robbed and murdered after drinking at a
pub in Thursley. The three murderers were caught and hung here. After the
summit, the walk follows the rim of Devil’s Punch Bowl to Hindhead (NT visitor
centre and café, pub). Finally, it’s down the south side of the hill into
Haslemere. The centre has some nice old buildings, tea rooms, and a
Wetherspoon’s. The station is about 10 mins walk away.
Lunch: The Three Horseshoes in Thursley
(500m off-route, after 6.1 km/3.8 mi, food to 15.00).
Tea: Lots of choice in and
around Haslemere’s High Street, including Darnley’s and Hemingway’s
Cafés, plus The
Station House, opposite the railway station.
For
summary, map, height profile and gpx/kml files click
here.
T=swc.145
3 comments:
hi, is there a shortcut for this walk please? doesn't seem to mention anything in notes, thanks
As this is following the Greensand Way, in priciple: no.
In practice, there are (at least) 2: 1 is shown on the route map, the direct route to H'mere Station w/o going through the village centre. 1 other is fairly obvious on the route map: from Gibbet Hill follow the restricted byway along Hindhead's ridge in a straight line down to the road, rather than following the GW looping around the Punch Bowl to the Cafe and hotel pub.
As autumnal walks go, this had pretty much everything bar leafshowers (no wind = no leafshowers): w=blue-skies, colourful leaf displays, leaf-filled holloways, mushrooms galore, mud but not too much of it, grassy paths not being too wet, fine far views (from North Downs to South Downs) etc. pp.
n=16 walkers, of which 5 had lunch at The Three Horseshoes in a first wave, replaced by 2 more when we left: those 2 had studied the mushrooms and fungi with so much interest that they took twice the time! 2 of the picnickers had joined us at The Horseshoes, the rest were never seen again. 5 of us 7 then tried a different descent route from the Punch Bowl to Haslemere (and shortcutted in the process), 2 others followed the GW into town. All 7 met at The Station House for a convivial drink or three...
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