Length: 11.5 km (7.1 miles). Toughness 5/10
10:24 London Waterloo SWR Dorking service, 10.33 Clapham Junction, arrives Box Hill and Westhumble 11.11
Buy a return to Box Hill and Westhumble (or Dorking is the same price)
Return trains are at xx.35 to Waterloo and xx.46 to Victoria
This is a short walk but quite a strenuous one, with two big hill climbs in the morning. In the afternoon do a Box Hill Circular, looping back to Box Hill Station after the Mickleham pub, following the higher route which climbs up onto the ridge, with fine views down into the valley. For an easier afternoon option, you could follow the lower route or the route to Leatherhead - both are included in the directions and distances are roughly the same.
Lunch: Mickleham has two pubs. The Running Horses (tel. 01372-388422) on Old London Road, opposite the church. and The King William IV (tel.01372-372590). Booking ahead is necessary for both these lunch pubs. The church at Mickleham has benches and makes a good picnic spot. Tea: The Stepping Stones pub is a possible choice: or for an open air tea option, carry on past the pub to the main road, take the underpass to cross the road and turn left: just beyond the roundabout is Ryka's open air cafe popular with bikers.
For full details and to download your copy of the directions see the L=1.49 page.
3 comments:
I'm told by someone who did this walk recently that the higher return route to Box Hill has has re-opened again, following tree works there, but there are some fallen trees. If you don't want to navigate those, you can instead take the parallel path higher to your right. To do that, carry on past the picnic benches then take the wide path on your left, rejoining the official route via the steps down later on. This path also has the benefit that it's usually firm underfoot.
The current edition of my walk notes has this walk's Toughness rating as 7 - due to the two steep climbs in the morning, which some find challenging. A rating of 5 might reflect the short length of the walk, but could mislead someone new to the walk in believing the ascents - and one steep descent - are easier than they are. But it makes a great winter walk, with two excellent lunch pubs to choose from - so suggest leave the sandwiches behind !
The weather was unspeakably foul when I left home but after the recent run of bumper turnouts, I was still surprised that only #3 south London residents gathered on the Westhumble platform. It's customary at this point to say "Where was everybody? It turned out fine"; in fact it was #misty all day, with initial drizzle followed by heavier rain on the hilltops, easing into a dry, quite pleasant afternoon. There was lots of mud though.
We all had sandwiches so ate in the Mickleham church porch before looking round the church in more detail trying to work out which were the old bits: among others there is a bit of 10th century wall. We stopped for warming drinks at the Wild About Coffee kiosk by the sawmill, then managed to find a way back to Westhumble that avoided climbing over any tree-trunks, and got there just in time for the 1535.
Post a Comment