Distance covered: 14.5miles
Max height: 176m Min height: 32m
Total ascent: 619m Total descent: 512m
Seven of us – Anne, Sara, Valerie, Chris, Sally, Simon C & Dave - (plus Zuka, Anne’s dog) met at Newlands Corner (today’s finish point) at 9.30am. Quite atypically for a British April, the weather forecast was ‘hot, dry and sunny’ so most of us wore shorts. Crazy weather we were having this spring! We took a couple of cars to Farnham station and met our final member there – Simon S had come from London by train.
Official Start - Farnham
River Wey, Farnham
We posed for photos by the official start, which is unfortunately near the traffic lights on the main road – things could only get better! I had intended to record our route on the GPS for posterity, but in the excitement (?), had forgotten to turn it on at Farnham station while we were preparing to leave, and it wouldn’t pick up our location as we walked away from the start. I therefore abandoned this idea until we had our first rest break. As I was also in possession of the guide book, it was also down to me to navigate, and we nearly went wrong almost immediately as I was chatting too much as we walked along by the River Wey, and missed the right turn by a carved oak seat. Luckily this landmark was sufficiently unusual for other members of our party to notice it. Built specifically to commemorate the NDW, the back forms the shape of an orchid, and it provided another early photo opportunity.
Orchid Seat
Woods - leaving Farnham
After a mile or so we crossed the river and then had our first fairly stiff climb, up the road by Moor House. There followed some easy flat walking along quiet roads and through woods running alongside expensive ‘commuter belt’ houses, before passing Farnham golf course (the first of quite a few in this affluent area). Entering Payn’s Firs woods we came across ‘Tree House’, an unusual tree trunk decorated to look like the front door of a small forest creature’s home. There was even a little slate at the base of the tree saying “2 pints please”. Quite charming, and an awful lot nicer than the more usual carved graffiti.
Tree House - Payne's Fir Wood
Rest stop above Seale
At about the two hour mark we had our first rest stop, on a pleasant hillside with views north across the valley towards the nearby village of Seale, and glimpses of traffic on the busy Hog’s Back (A31). Continuing through attractive woodland, our doggy companion unfortunately caught a diseased, but alive rabbit, and there was a slight delay while Anne persuaded her to give up her trophy. On reaching Puttenham, everyone did well to resist the temptation of the pub, although Anne did nip in to wash the ‘rabbit’ off her hands!
Where the trail passed under the A3 and B3000, there were large crosses on the bridge – a reminder that much of the NDW follows the old Pilgrim’s Way to Canterbury.
Loseley Estate Nature Reserve
West Warren
On such a hot, sunny day, the pleasant woodland tracks and soft, sandy footing along much of our route were much appreciated. Passing through the Loseley Estate nature reserve however, we could have murdered an ice-cream – a dream that unfortunately went unfulfilled until the end of the walk. We had a late lunch near Piccard’s Farm, a mile or so west of Guildford, trespassing (very slightly) by sitting in a field close to the NDW under the shade of trees.
So many rules...........!
Pixie seat and bridge - River Wey, Guildford
Another minor navigation error, near the College of Law on the A3100, resulted in an extra 0.4miles on our journey – sorry folks! Back on track, we passed a quaint rocky seat before crossing the River Wey on an attractive wooden bridge. It was a popular place on such a lovely day, as was Shalford Park which followed.
The Simons
Leaving the outskirts of Guildford behind, we soon reached an open clearing which used to be the site of a medieval fair for Pilgrims. Today however, it was the scene of an unscheduled llama race - yes, really! A number of these animals were being walked in halters along the track and some of them broke free, much to our amusement as their handlers scurried after them.
And they're off............!
Then followed the stiff climb on a sandy track up St Martha’s Hill to a church at the summit. The views at the top were good, but rather hazy – apparently, on a clear day you can see eight counties from here. It was very hot up here in the sunshine, and after a quick break, we descended on very soft and sandy going which I think would have been pretty tough had we been travelling in the opposite direction.
View towards South Downs from St Martha's Hill
Life's a beach.....
Finally we began the slow ascent up Albury Downs towards the Newlands Corner Visitor
Centre. We were all hot and tired by now and that last hill, although not steep, seemed to go on forever. There were lots of people enjoying the unseasonable weather on the Downs, although (typically) most had not ventured far from their cars. Anne was virtually hallucinating about ice creams now and we all made a bee-line for the refreshment kiosk to end an enjoyable first leg of the NDW.
Albury Downs
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