Length: Main Walk, via Wotton and Friday Street: 18.5 km (11.5 miles). Short Walk, omitting Friday Street : 16km (9.9 miles).
Difficulty: 6 out of 10 for the main walk, 4 out of 10 for the short walk.
There are no trains to Dorking Main today due to engineering works so take the 10.00 from London Bridge to Redhill (10.35) where you have 5 minutes to hop over to platform 1b for the 10.40 train to Dorking Deepdene, arriving 10.52. If you want more time to change trains at Redhill, you could take the 09:51 from London Bridge arriving at Redhill at 10:22
Trains back from Dorking Deepdene are at xx:00, xx:25. There's also a train from Dorking West every 2 hours 1454, 1654 etc... (also changing at Redill)
Buy a return to Dorking Stations.
"The walk starts with a long stretch along the lower chalk slopes of the National Trust's Denbies Hillside, a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The Main Walk then heads south into the wooded Greensand Hills, going through the extensive Wotton Estate to the picturesque hamlet of Friday Street with its large Hammer Pond. The return leg crosses a number of ridges on open access land managed by the Surrey Wildlife Trust and the Forestry Commission. After passing the large ponds of Bury Hill Fisheries a final climb takes you along the top of The Nower, a semi-natural woodland reserve with splendid views". There should be some pretty wildflowers.
The suggested lunch pub on the Main and Short Walks is The Wotton Hatch (01306-887694) after 7½ km. Anyone having a picnic could stop about 5 mins before the pub in the churchyard of St John the Evangelist.
Back in Dorking, there are several cafes and pubs. Last time, we went to Harts At The Courtyard (01306 743528), which has outside seating in a courtyard setting away from the main road. It's at 3, Old Kings Head Court, 11 High St, Dorking RH4 1AR
Please remember that these walks don't have a leader so come prepared with the SWC directions, gps route and/or map from L=swc.274 page.
3 comments:
Many thanks for posting.
Came across two coffee stops on the short route back after lunch at The Wotton Hatch.
https://www.instagram.com/brewbird_box/
https://www.instagram.com/coffee_inthe_copse/
I hadn't expected to post a walk this weekend and this walk was a last minute choice so I was more than a little suprised to see #20 walkers turn up. I heard one turned back and hopefully is ok. The rest of us were lucky to have #a_mild_sunny_day and there was also lots of shade along the route which was really nice. A few did the 11.5 mile version. Most did the 9 mile route which now passes 2 new cafe in the afternoon. Some stopped at Brew Bird, a cafe set in a private garden which sells very nice home made cakes and home made ice cream. Coffee in the Copse, a little further along the route, is set in a small woodland and had just closed when I got there. All in all, a nice day out.
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