Length: 13¼ km (8.2 miles), or 16¼ km (10.1 miles) with extension to Dorking. Toughness: 5/10
09:40 Dorking train from Victoria (Clapham Jct 09:47, etc), arriving Box Hill & Westhumble at 10:34. I suggest buying a return to Dorking – it's the same fare as Box Hill and there are ticket barriers at Dorking to negotiate if you choose to finish there. [Or buy two singles: this is one of those lines where off-peak singles are now half the return fare.]
Trains return from Box Hill & Westhumble at xx:08 to Waterloo, xx:16 and xx:46 to Victoria (4 minutes earlier from Dorking).
This is a fairly strenuous little walk taking in a succession of hills: up and down the southern slopes of Box Hill (though passing below the summit), across Headley Heath and then over Mickleham Downs. There's the option of an equally tough afternoon (back over the downs and up Juniper Top to the summit on Box Hill), but unless you're in training for something I suggest doing the simpler and much easier route around the bottom of Norbury Park, which you could extend through Denbies Vineyard to Dorking.
There are two nice but fairly expensive pubs in Mickleham, with the walk route passing the Running Horses by the churchyard. You'll almost certainly need to book in advance if you want a table for a pub lunch there (or at the King William Ⅳ). At the end the Stepping Stones pub is five minutes' walk beyond Box Hill station; there's lots of choice if you carry on to Dorking, including the informal Conservatory Restaurant in Denbies Visitor Centre.
Please bring the directions from the L=swc.450 page. #2026-10-04T10:35
20 comments:
A w=warm-and-sunny day made for perfect walking weather and indeed I watched fifty or so fit young things alighting from the train ready to tackle Box Hill. Unfortunately only one of these confessed to membership of the SWC so just two of us set off for a long morning of ups and downs. My companion gathered half a kilo of plump sweet chestnuts on Headley Heath so perhaps some exotic delicacies will make their appearance on a future outing.
At the Running Horses a third member who'd had transport problems turned up so n=3 completed the short afternoon leg. A field of cows with calves threatened to delay us and two tried unsuccessfully to hack their way through undergrowth to a lane, but in the end the beasts were docile and let us pass without incident. I dropped out at Box Hill but the others pressed on to tea'n'cake at Denbies and perhaps onwards to Dorking.
It was a mistake to press ahead with a second Sunday posting when a bunch of walkers were known to be away. People tell me they like to have a choice but I reckon prospective newcomers are more likely to show up if they can expect a decent turnout. If we continue to attract just a handful I'll be tempted to stop posting a second Sunday walk.
We absolutely totally should have ONE walk on a Sunday. Choice is all very well, but ensuring a reasonable sized group will get more people coming. We get one group’s worth of walkers on a Sunday: that is just a fact. It is nuts to split them between two walks just because that is what we have always done.
Our best attended walk many weeks is the midweek walk where there is no choice but you can pretty much always guarantee a good turnout. It also enables posters to try more left-field walk ideas that if posted on a Saturday or Sunday would almost certainly get hardly anyone attending. It works for midweek walks: it will work for Sunday walks.
Next stage is to go to two posts on a Saturday. Face it: we don’t get the numbers these days to support three walks on a Saturday. One poster always ends up posting a walk hardly anyone goes to. I find myself tending towards easy choices close to London to avoid being that poster. I like to walk in a reasonably sized group, and so, I suspect, do quite a lot of walkers. I regard it as a social outing. Many walkers, I suspect, are looking at the three Saturday choices and thinking “Which will be the best attended?”
Is it time for Ye Olde Walk Numbers and Walk Lengths debate again? Great!
We started out as "TimeOut Country Walks near London", and now far too often we are the "Suburban strolls within London Club" [or at least not too far from London], i.e. 10 milers with plenty of shortcuts, bus dropouts and many punters doing just half of that short walk anyway. That's just one step above the London Strollers, and so bad that even most of the London Ramblers groups now have a more demanding walk offer than us. Fact!
If you restrict choice even further, this will inevitably cut the few 'proper' Country Walks of meaningful length, and we lose that part of the group that won't get out of bed for less than 20 km, small as it may be by now, accelerating further the decline of the once mighty SWC.
Not for me. I (and not just me) would rather walk a 'proper' walk with just a few people than go on a 'walk' that's not much more than an excuse for a pub/picnic spot and café visit.
Each to their own, but let's keep providing the options.
p.s.: "left-field walk ideas" have been posted on Wednesdays? Must have missed them...
Unless any walk north of London is left-field, in your mind...
Walk numbers have reduced for a variety of reasons not least due to engineering repair works, cancellations and cost of tickets to destinations not achieved and the group missed.
Ramblers groups have also experienced transport problems and the hot Summer has resulted in sensible cancellations.
I have only 1 train an hour on a Sunday which doesn’t make for a connection with the scheduled train and the Saturday schedule for country walks has often been disrupted for many hours with ‘trespassers on the line’.
I tend to go on shorter walks to avoid not being able to meet the group or not being able to get home under 3 hours.
There are no buses on a Sunday in some places and exhausting diversions or cancellations altogether.
Thomas is well aware of the benefits of having a walk leader even if he forgets to check his phone. I’ve had to ask Ramblers leaders on several occasion to wait for me and some leaders have been delayed arriving.
Not everyone can get a taxi in remote areas nor wish to pay for it.
SWC seems to be becoming a holiday company and attracting more people siphoned away from the groups at weekends.
The Meet up groups have excellent advertising and I’ve heard of up to 150 young people getting to a walk paying up to £10 to the walk leader.
As for the London Strollers I personally cannot cope with the slowness of pace waiting constantly for handicapped people to catch up so please don’t compare our shorter walks to this organisation which is extremely popular with medically challenged people trying to get some exercise.
SWC should have a what’s app group for each day’s outings as this helps with group cohesion and a sense of community. The Wednesday
Wednesday walks have fewer issues and have a What’s app group in case of emergencies . Pubs are usually open and easier to get served but best to check opening times and book.
Thomas you are notorious for being a bit too self motivated and only a handful of Ramblers are up to the speed and distance that you like.
Also I feel that the marketing of SWC needs revision with social media to encourage the younger generation as it used to do with Time Out otherwise the group will diminish in popularity.
It’s the only self guided group and most walkers feel more secure knowing that a leader or at least the walk author is looking out for them.
Marcus was always very considerate in this regard. A true gentleman and much appreciated.
More walks make for a better choice (what would you do if there wasn't a south of London option?), but for that the club would need more people for north/south/short/long options.
Cross-posting walks on Meetup is one option, Facebook would be another. Some new walking groups who post walks in our Facebook Group seem to have quite large numbers.
Techie aside: I can cross-post normal posts on to Facebook, but, I can't cross-post to Facebook "events". However, the reverse would work - I could cross-post Facebook Events to the website.
As an experiment, I did this: https://www.facebook.com/events/4348473258690731
The club's average age is slowly increasing, we need to do something.
I certainly like to go on a walk that is at least 10 miles. Exception is Princes Risborough this Saturday as I do want to check out a new route to Lacey Green now that The Whip Inn is almost certainly gone for good, plus also check out the Bird In Hand as a refreshment option at the end.
Maybe I'm in a minority in not being too bothered if there is a low turn out on a walk that I attend.
SWC seems to be becoming a holiday company and attracting more people siphoned away from the groups at weekends.
IMO an excellent development, although I've only managed to go on two of the trips over the last couple of years. Times past when SWC trips were few and far between. Fort William autumn 1999, IOW sometime early 2000s, Cornwall September 2007....
Thank you Andrew let’s try a few more platforms and see what results
I'm happy ith two Sunday walks. I was one of the 3 on the Boxhill walk. If it hadn't been posted I would probably have done a walk by myself.that day.
Maybe give it a few weeks and see how the numbers are? It may be a seasonal dip.
I would support advertising our walk on other media to attract new walkers to SWC. Perhaps emphasing the uniqueness of our club, not just no leader, but also no fee payable to the leader or subscription to the club, choices of picnic as well as pub lunch to suit all budgets, setting own pace, after walk Tea/cake/pub refreshment to round up the day, just to name a few.
Let's not forget our club is not just about walking or test of physical endurance, it is also about community and friendships, and having a great day out....
Unless any of us have decent instagram followership I expect Meet-up is the best place to get folk in their 40s but it costs…
And for walks lengths etc, I prefer 12miles to 9 but also hesitate to splash out £20-30 on a train ticket for a 4 hour walk
I used to walk with MetWalkers. They had up to 5 walks of different lengths on Saturdays and 2 of different lengths on Sundays . I see that now, they publish only 2 walks on Saturdays and nothing on Sundays. LDWA, also, has fewer walks, so it seems, for some reason, people are not that interested in group walks. In my opinion, it’s better to have variety of walks/different levels of difficulty to choose from. Personally I like walks of 15+ miles, with picnic stop and for those who want, a pub at the end.
And although I prefer not to walk on Sundays (due to work on Monday), I think, choice of a longer plus shorter walk, is a great idea. And off course- better advertising. I only found out about SWC when I missed train to join walk with ramblers and someone I knew, was at the station and told me about SWC group.
"Why as late as 6.30pm?"
Because some of the regular and occasional evening walkers are of that rarest tribe amongst the SWC: of working age. And they do still work!
SWC was founded for working professionals to relax on country walks in convivial company enjoying the benefits of nature. Working members have 3 walks on Saturday and two on Sunday. They do NOT need to walk in the dark!! unless you intend to track nocturnal animals such as beavers.
The emphasis seems to be on having drinks and a meal so why not make it a dining opportunity and book a decent restaurant?
The new SWC film club will hopefully cater for evening entertainment in the dark!!
Well, Marion, never one to let facts get in the way of a shouty argument, are you?
No one NEEDS to walk in the dark, indeed. And most people don't, as attendance numbers confirm. Contrary to your impression though, some people do like to walk on midweek evenings, and why not?
Also, the evening walks in the 'dark months' are overwhelmingly along lit streets and hardcore paths (with the exception of the Royal Parks and Gaslights walks and a couple of the suburban ones), and even when not, there's usually a good amount of urban light refraction or moonlight to not having to use head torches. It's not like we're traipsing through soggy woods under a dense canopy!
And for the purpose of them: I am a purist, I post walks on this club's website. And that's it. It's calling itself a Walking Club after all! If I wanted to join a Film/Theatre or Sailing Club, I would join a Film/Theatre or Sailing Club.
Going forward, you can just ignore the postings, or if you think you can do better and/or see an untapped demand for daytime short walks: just post walks yourself. It's not difficult, even I can do it.
Keep Walking!
Regarding attracting new members, whenever I see the crowds at Lewes Station en-route to Seven Sisters, I've always thought of telling them of the far nicer and less crowded walks a short train ride away. How about distributing SWC business cards/leaflets highlighting the walks are free and there are loads of them? Even getting 5% of people interested would be a good result. I don't think the lack of a formal leader is an issue for younger folk. After all it's South East of England not the remote Highlands, and younger generation are used to far off travel, backpacking etc
My independent walking groups have a membership fee and thus a budget for publicity. The Ramblers affiliated group’s likewise.
SWC has relied on word of mouth for too long which is why I’ve suggested Eventbrite for free and other platforms if our donations are insufficient to cover the cost of web hosting plus other expenses. We currently pay for the Christmas party overheads of several hundred pounds allegedly which I think attendees should cover so that we have some money to spend on Meet up for example.
Before anyone gets excited about Meet-up feeds: just a reminder that the last time we did auto-feed our posts onto Meet-up, the experiment was abandoned because most of the people who came were expecting a led walk, had neither gpx nor directions but a question a minute about this that and the other, i.e. they were well annoying and did not fit in.
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