Length: Main Walk: 17¾ km (11.0 miles). Toughness 4 out of 10.
Short Walk Options:
1. Main Walk, omitting Tandridge 14½ km (8.7 miles).
2. Main Walk, finishing in Hurst Green 13 km (7.8 miles)
10:15 (Thameslink) Brighton train from London Bridge, changing at Redhill (arr 10.42, dep 11.00) for the (Southern) Tonbridge train, arriving at 11:10. The start and finish stations are on different lines but a return to Edenbridge Stations via East Croydon is valid on the return journey from Oxted or Hurst Green as well as the outward journey to Godstone via Redhill.
Return trains: From Oxted at xx:20 to London Bridge and at xx:23 and xx:53 to Victoria. From Hurst Green xx:16 to London Bridge and xx:20, xx:50 to Victoria
This route allows the group to walk together for most of the walk, since the shorter options would be taken about half way along the afternoon stretch.
It's mostly through low-lying farmland with occasional stretches of woodland in the valley of the River Eden, with good views from the low hills to the south of the river and the Greensand Ridge to the north. Along the main route, you can compare two of the largest British yew trees (the Crowhurst and Tandridge Yews), each at least 1,000 years old, although the two shorter endings both miss out the Tandridge Yew.
You reach the Royal Oak (01883-722207) on the edge of Staffhurst Wood, after 8¾ km. It has an attractive garden with fine views across the Low Weald. It appears to be open and is popular so it would be wise to call ahead/make a booking.
There are various options for tea on the Main Walk and Short Walk Option 1 (see the walk directions for details). If doing Short Walk Option 2, there's nothing near Hurst Green station but you could take the train 1 stop to Oxted and visit the Wetherspoons pub or one of the several cafés and coffee shops there.
You'll need to bring the directions from the L=swc.277 page.
4 comments:
There are also options to travel directly from Clapham Junction to Redhill (dep 10:16 arr 10:48) or from East Croydon to Redhill (dep 10:29, arr 10:42)
Thanks Sean for authoring the walk. It was great! Just what I needed and good to meet everyone. Tim
There were 12 of us on various trains, plus 3 car drivers so n=15 started from Godstone on an w=autumnal-feeling-and-cloudy day. The walk author was very modest about the quality of the walk but I found it had plenty of variety and interest, especially the historic yew trees and forest sections. The majority ate very substantial portions and/or had some refreshments at the Royal Oak, which we were pleased had survived the pandemic, as it is in the middle of nowhere. As usual we set off in different groups after lunch, with two car drivers returning to Godstone. My group had dwindled to four by the time we had a chilly tea/coffee/cake outside the Everyman cinema in Oxted high street, produced just in time for us to catch the 1723 train. Many thanks to Daisy Roots for suggesting this different walk.
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