Length: 16¼ km (10.1 miles), or 22 km (13.7 miles) for the full Circular Walk. Toughness: 4 or 6/10
10:00 Portsmouth Harbour service from Waterloo (Clapham Jct 10:09), changing at Guildford (arr 10:40, dep 10:57) for the Gatwick Airport train, arriving Shalford at 11:01. You'll need a return to Chilworth if finishing there.
Trains back from Chilworth are two-hourly in each direction, so unless you duck out at lunchtime that will be the 16:34 back to Guildford or the 17:06 via Dorking or Redhill. [There's also a #32 bus at 15:48 and 17:48.] If you complete a Circular Walk trains from Shalford are hourly at xx:38 to Guildford and xx:02 to Redhill.
A small group tried out a version of this walk back in February and this one has the same circuit around Blackheath Common, but this time it comes in the afternoon. The morning leg starts with a deceptively easy stretch through Shalford Water Meadows but then climbs steadily through Chantry Wood and St Martha's Hill before descending via the Chilworth Gunpowder Mills (with picnic tables) to the same lunch pub next to Chilworth station, the Percy Arms.
After the Blackheath loop you can choose whether to return from Chilworth or complete the full walk back to Shalford, which involves another climb over a different part of Chantry Wood. There are pubs next to both stations to refresh you before the journey home, but remember to leave enough time to get over the level crossing at Chilworth.
Please bring the directions from the L=swc.448.a page. If you're doing the shorter walk and printing them from the web page, you can save a few sheets of paper (and make the Walk Map a bit clearer) by clicking Option a. #2026-07-12T11:00
No comments:
Post a Comment