Soft Southern Climb
Last week I'd been metaphorically, under the weather and had truly missed the opportunity of my weekly adventure. This week, I got a head start on the real thing, so to speak. I doubled down and outdid myself because there are two major climbs on this lengthy route. I got good value. The walk begins on the Surrey heaths and then rises significantly to cross the harder greensands and then the North Downs. This a wealthy land of charming sleepy villages that bely their industrial past, wooded hills, traversed by pilgrims and chalky slopes that support the many vineyards.
Gomshall is roughly an hour from Burgess Hill via Gatwick. Dorking Deepdene is on the same line for your return. Delays are common and Horley is often a good place to change to make a connection south, when things go awry.
From Gomshall station, navigate the very accommodating walkways to reach the carpark on the northern side of the line. Exit west and join the Station Road. Turn left on Goose Green with the Gomshall Mill on the corner. Do not go under the railway but continue on High View to where it meets a bridleway on the other side of Queen Street. Take Gravel Pits Lane and over the Gravel Pits bridge to cross the railtrack. Turn left on the footpath south and then west on the bridleway. South again to cross Hook Lane.
Turn right then left to go south on the footpath and you'll make it through to Hound House Road. On the other side is the tree covered Shere Heath. Go straight through to the bridge back over the track. Bear left and west to the junction with Park Road. Very briefly, you will be on the Fox Way but bear left again to meet the bridleway and then Park Road. A little way along you can dive into Albury Heath, my favourite bit yet. Continue roughly west through the heather, on a path that crosses the New Road and past a sports ground. The hill falls away to the south where there are views. You can parallel Sandy Lane and then join it to go under the track. The path fords Lowbrook and enters the pines.
You are now at Blackheath Forest and Blackheath Common. Follow the bridleway and at the next junction turn left on that that meets Mustard Copse. Go west on its edge and then continue on this line as it bears south then west. Here, I heard woodlarks amongst the heather, dotted with fly agaric. I then, unintentionally followed a lady and her dogs, over the Fox Way and all the way west to the car park.
Over Littleford Lane, keep west on the Fox Way. Follow the edge of the cemetery and rejoin the path up the hill. The Barnett Hill Hotel is having some work done so this path may be diverted slightly. Descend towards the village. Take a right, going due north and before you meet the main road. Join Barnett Lane and go over Blackheath Lane and Tangley Field on your way to Great Tangley Manor. Continue on the bridleway beside Brooks Wood and turn left at the side of the recreation ground at the junction.
Go right on New Road in Chilworth and then cross to take Blacksmiths Lane. Just before the bridge over the Tillingbourne, you will be upon Chilworth Gunpowder Mills. There is some interpretation here beside the West Lodge and old entrance to this site. This industry was just one iteration, with a timeline stretching from 1626 to 1920. The river has been very busy in its time. Alongside the various explosive manufacture, corn-milling, paper-making, tanning, iron-forging and wire-drawing have taken a turn. This is somehow difficult to imagine on this sedate waterway that politely pools, eddies and slips discretely around Surrey. Take the path through the Middle Works. I took the track behind the 1880s incorporating Mills to exit onto the Downs Link or Lockner Farm Lane.
Turn left and continue on the bridleway west through Chilworth Manor Vineyard. There are more permissive paths to discover on the southern slopes of St Martha's Hill and down towards to the shop. Pillboxes also dot the area, a memory of old threats from WW2. Ignore the Downs Link that ascends the hill but take the next footpath directly up to the church. It is worth the climb. I settled on a bench in the churchyard.
The path east is worn through to the sand and is a pleasant piney descent on the Pilgrims and North Downs Way. This is access and National Trust Land with leeway for exploration but make your way to the Guildford Lane car park. Follow the signs for the Deer Trail which continues to be the pilgrim's path. Navigation is now easy. It was somewhere along here that I ended up behind a shooting party. A reminder that some people's idea of pleasure, at this time of the year, is to shoot pheasants. Beyond Water Lane, a bright yellow sign indicates a permissive sign to a viewpoint on your right. Well you can't not. From the pipes sticking out of the ground, you might guess that this is landfill. An old sandpit and redundant dump turned Albury Landfill hill. Enjoy the novelty and descend the steps back to the path.
At the Sherbourne Road, cross and turn left with the trail along the Millennium Avenue. Cross the junction and turn left and right to Sherbourne Pond and Silent Pool. The Gin distillers are here but, more importantly, so is Mandira's Kitchen. I was ravenous and this was an excellent stop.
Energised and somewhat full, another direct ascent has to be made on the Fox Way. At the top, turn right, back onto the Drove Road and the North Downs Way. Continue of the West Hangar Staple Lane Car Park. Now follow the Surrey Hills Yew Trail, east of Hollister Farm and on a byway south and east through Netley Park. A great deal of pillboxes are on the slope below you and also a viewpoint where the Robertson War Memorial is. Here, William commemorated the death of his two younger brothers in WWI and donated the land to the National Trust. Take the bridleway back to the North Downs Way.
Next is Netley Heath and Little Kings Wood Viewpoint. As the North Downs Way turns south onto Hackhurst Downs, take the forest drive north instead. You will rejoin a bridleway through Honeysuckle Bottom Sawmill. Go east on Sheepwalk Lane in Effingham Forest.
William King, first Earl of Lovelace, was appointed Lord-Lieutenant of Surrey in 1840. He bought the East Horsley estate in 1840, moving there from Ockham Park. If he name Lovelace is familiar, know that Bill married the poet Byron’s daughter and mathematician Ada. With the flamboyance of a rich landowner, he had bridges built in the Moorish manner, from local flint and bricks. These were to facilitate the transportation of timber and were emblazoned with heraldry and finished with parapets. 10 are left and some are still available to view. A trail is provided here or here or maybe the best here but people moan about mud, disrepair and lack of signage. Looks like an ideal future mission, to me.
A Lovelace Trail marker will take you up the slope of Briary Hill, in sight of Troy Bridge. Follow the drive east and then north on Dick Focks Common. Birdwatchers like this area. At the bridleway, I spotted more flinty bridges. These are Briary Hill East and West. Go east to Crocknorth Road and cross it. Keep going east beyond the farm. We're not quite out of flint bridges but after Meadow Platt, the bridleway goes north. It divides into a footpath, left at the fork by Pump Pond Wood.
Cross the stile into a field with views east and cows and then back into Six Acre Copse. Now going northeast, you exit onto the Warren Farm golf course with a surprising view towards London. Continue north a little over the fairway before entering the trees and heading east as directed. Over Beech Avenue on the bridleway is Stars Wood. Cross High Barn Road and shortly after take the footpath north through Big High Grove. Just keep heading roughly east. More views north open up. I could see the Wembley Arch, some twenty miles away.
At Polesden Lacey, the road south was shut and so I entered the grounds to the north. This neoclassical style house was once the home of playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan and later, heiress and socialite Margaret Greville. Strictly speaking, out of hours and without membership, this might be off limits, although I did see dog walkers. Alternatively, you can take the route to the south of the property or the dogleg to the north.
Go east, just south of the car park and continue on one of the National Trust paths on the the northern edge of Preserve Copse. Turn South over the meadow and generally southeast. Go south in Freehold Wood and then turn east on its southern edge. Take Chapel Lane east and then first right on Ranmore Common Road. Turn left on the footpath through the sheep and Chapel Farm Fields. The path turns south beyond the wood and through the sheep at Westhumble. Keep going south now to merge with the Mole Gap Trail and to traverse Denbies Vineyard. The bulk of Box Hill is on your left. The path turns east once you're out of the vines and south on Chichester Road. The sky was beginning to darken.
Finally, be sure to go south on the London Road and cross it to finish at Dorking Deepdene Station. Gatwick is from the near platform.
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