Length: 7.8 miles 12.5 km. Toughness 3/10
10:24 Dorking train from London Waterloo (Clapham Junction 10:33) arrives Dorking 11:14
You could arrive slightly earlier by taking the 10:11 Dorking train from London Victoria (Clapham Jct 10:18) arrives Dorking 11:07
Return trains are xx:00, xx:30 from Reigate direct to Victoria and at xx:08, xx:36 to London Bridge (changing at Redhill for London Bridge).
A return to "Dorking stations" covers both outward and return journeys.
This walk follows some parts of the Greensand Way and the River Mole through the picturesque villages of Brockham, Betchworth and Skimmington. The church in Betchworth dates from 1080 and was used as a location in Four Weddings and a Funeral. There's bit of a climb near the end of the walk, then a descent into Priory Park, once the grounds of Reigate Priory.
Phoning ahead for lunch is advised. Possible lunch stops are:
For end of walk refreshment, you pass the cafe in Priory Park first. The other cafes suggested in this walk's summary page have closed but I'd suggest strolling around an taking your choice as google maps shows a range of pubs and cafe's on or near Reigate High Street, including:
As usual, there isn't a walk leader for these walks so please download your copy of the directions and/or route map from the L=swc.16 page.
4 comments:
River Mole at Rice Bridge can flood and be impassable after heavy rain. There is no published info for Rice Bridge but Env Agency site indicates Mole at Cobham was about
0.5m above normal maximum at 12.00 today.
Thank you, John.
Just to highlight for anyone doing the walk that Piont 18 in the written directions gives a way around the bridge if one is needed.
The mole at Rice Bridge is now passable. According to a local and evidence of debris the water level had been about 1 meter above the bridge on Tuesday / Wednesday but it has now dropped and is flowing under, not over, the bridge. The field before is soggy and there is a very muddy section after the bridge but no problem in walking boots.
A short-ish walk just to the south of London was always going to be a popular pick at this time of year, and jolly crowd of n=18 duly assembled at Dorking station. About 20 minutes later, once all toilet activities had been completed, we set off.
The skies were w=cloudy, but the scenery was pleasant and undemanding. We seemed to get to Brockham very quickly and steamed on through it to Betchworth and its church and pub.
The usual fragmentation happened here in that around half the group presumably had sandwiches and disappeared from history. Four of us ate in the pub (a fairly basic menu, but tasty enough) and a similar number had drinks. Two more may have booked a table in the restaurant but we did not see them again, so I don’t know.
In the afternoon we meandered across fields. The river was not high and the ground was not particularly muddy - not enough to notice anyway. Near Reigate Hill we caught ourselves doing an inadvertent short cut but soon corrected ourselves. Someone was keen to see Skimington Castle and was disappointed to find it was a pub.
On Reigate Hill we were amazed to see a white squirrel. A passing local said there were at least two of them. We encountered various dogs, none of whom were being aggressive even though they barked at us.
Despite the shortness of the walk, darkness was falling as we got to Reigate. The cafe in the park was closed, so six of us went to Gail’s, where we had nice cakes. We caught the 17.00 train direct to Victoria and the pre-Christmas chaos of London.
Post a Comment