*** AMENDED TRAIN TIME ***
Length: 18.7km (11.7 miles) T=1.27
Toughness: 6 out of 10
9.45 train from Waterloo (10.52 Clapham Junction) to Milford, arriving 10.38
Buy a day return to Haslemere.
For walk directions click here, for GPX click here or for a map of the route click here.
It is always difficult catching the heather at its best, but we are definitely into heather season now, and this is one of the best walks for it in the SWC canon.
One particular highlight, just before lunch, is Thursley Heath. There was a fire here in June, but as far as I can see it was in the opposite corner to the one crossed by our walk. This is based an analysis of news reports and drone footage, so no guarantees... But this is not the only heather area on the walk, so I am sure we will see some.
In the afternoon, there are several variations on the original book one route, all of which are recommended. The NT says there are several reports of dogs being bit by adders, so look out for them.
The one lunch pub is the Three Horseshoes in Thursley. Its website says you have to book by phone (01252 703900) - even to have a drink!! - see full rules here: scroll to the bottom of the page. But intriguingly it also offers takeaways if you call before 11am: see menu here. It does have a good sized garden. The pub is 8.4km (5.2 miles) into the walk, so you might expect to arrive there at 1pm or so.
For tea, the National Trust cafe at the Devil's Punchbowl is open (as a takeaway) until 4pm, as far as I can see: otherwise Haslemere has various options. When some of us were in town in mid June, Hemingways was very gamely open for takeaways when everything else was shut, so please support their enterprise by doing further business with them.
Trains back from Haslemere are at 11 and 32 past, the 32 being marginally quicker.
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5 comments:
Heather in full blooms up and around Temple of Winds, very beautiful
can't see a 10.15 train
Thanks, amended.
This happened before, did it not, two weeks ago for the Milford to Godalming walk? You know, at my age you do start to worry about Pre-Senile Dementia. So just to be sure I looked up the train times for Saturday 29 August. They show a 10.15 train. So every week SWT says the Milford train will be 10.15 and then at the last minute change their mind and make it the 9.45. Nuts!
On the other hand PSD is definitely to blame for me miscalculating the likely arrival time at the pub. What planet was I on there? I hope no one made a lunch booking based on my previous estimate.
I will now check the return train times. Sigh! It is not that I have anything better to do....
Just for the record I missed the scheduled train due to engineering works on my train line but did the whole walk on my own with a bit of help keeping on track from other walkers and horse riders. Navigation by the sun through the heather and heathland south by south west did incur a bee sting as the honey bees were very active and almost invisible. No lunch served after 2.30pm as the Three Horseshoes is a community pub and closes at 3pm! Probably can’t justify keeping a chef on any longer but it’s good to see the pub thriving and looking good. Luckily I had a baguette from Greggs purchased at the Milford petrol station on route which together with a large cappuccino cost £3.80. A bargain! Am on the 18.11 train with 3 other SWC walkers who no doubt had a nice tea in Darnleys. Sorry to miss everyone Marion
N=22 on this walk: 21 at the start, but one apparently ended up on a later train having missed the specified one: she did the whole walk alone and met up with others on the train home. The weather was w=sun-and-cloud: possibly a bit more sun as the day wore on. There were at least three newcomers who we hope enjoyed their day
The start of this walk is not good - too much main road walking. One of our number did an alternative route that looks like it would be worth writing up. But eventually we gained the peace of the heaths. The heather here was good, though one walker reckoned a week more would bring it to its best. I was happy though. Thursley Common in particular was awash with purple and wherever the fire was in June, it was not on the bit crossed by our route.
Three of us had phoned at the start of the walk to nab the last table in the garden of the Three Horseshoes. Two of the newcomers had also booked in advance. My apologies to any others who wanted to lunch and were disappointed. I later realised that one person on the train had expressed a desire to have a pub lunch and could have joined our table. I did not think of this until too late unfortunately.
We initially felt a bit aggrieved that our table was the only one in the garden under a tree. Two weeks ago the shade would have been welcome: now a breeze made it a bit chilly. But we had the last laugh, since while we were eating there was a sharp shower - the only rain of the day. The rest of the garden emptied, but with waterproof jackets and the shelter of our tree, we were able to remain at our post.
After lunch I think most took the rim route around the Devil’s Punchbowl, though one thought we had gone the wrong way and so did the original route down into the bowl. Many managed to get tea at the National Trust cafe, but when my backmarker group got there at 3.20pm it had abruptly shut due to problems with the water supply or staff fatigue or I don’t know what. This is not the first time this establishment has let me down in this fashion and to say I was most seriously displeased would not be exaggerating. My NT subscription just came out of my bank account, but I am not sure I will be renewing next year.
Anyway, I recovered, and a bunch of us pushed on to Gibbet Hill, where the view was fine but not quite sharp enough for London to be visible, except through binoculars. We got to Haslemere and the excellent Hemingways at 4.45pm, to find some other walkers at an outside table. I said to a staff member: “Are you about to close?” They said “We close at 5pm”. I said “Do we have time for a quick tea and cake?” They said “Yes, take a seat” and came directly to take our order. This is private enterprise at its finest and the kind of spirit we need to get the economy moving again. The chocolate cake was scrummy too - moist, gooey and chocolatey. The pigeons appreciated the crumbs I dropped for them too (the lockdown must have been tough for them...)
Afterwards three of us joined five others (at separate tables, outside) at the Swan, where government rules were being strictly (maybe even fanatically) enforced. We had beer, wine, chips and sweet potato fries and discussed decarbonising transport from a socialist perspective. Having discovered that the train service was now only hourly, we then rushed for the 19.11 train, back to a fairly busy Waterloo. So busy that it looks like the M&S store might finally be preparing to open.... Easy, tiger...
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