Distance covered: 16.2miles
Max height: 269m Min height: 95m
Total ascent: 972m Total descent: 806m
Today we were to start becoming intimate with the motorway network of southern England. Sally showed how keen (mad?) she was by turning up today, having just completed the annual South Downs Way walk over the preceding 9 days. Chris was missing as he had a prior engagement watching county cricket (poor choice, I’d say).
Are you sure?
As Betchworth station is a little off the NDW, we managed to park further up the road at the start, thereby avoiding walking unnecessarily uphill at the beginning of what was to be a long hot day. Dave was nursing a migraine, but it did not seem to hold him back.
Walking round Mount Hill
View back to Betchworth from base of Juniper Hill
After a half mile walk up the road we turned west on a footway, and passing a small old quarry working, the path initially hugged the base of the scarp slope, wandering in and out of the woods around Juniper Hill. The first major climb then took us to the top of the downs on Colley Hill and the warm temperature was already taking its toll. Here we paused to admire both the views, and the attractive young Belted Galloway cattle grazing on the hillside.
Belted Galloway calf
Hazy view from Colley Hill
The noise of the M25 was very evident for a few minutes, as it was only about 50m away, behind a thin belt of trees. Fortunately the path veered away from this intrusion as we continued along the top of the scarp towards the next viewing area, where there were fine views along the North Downs, and also across Reigate and the Weald to the South Downs. Here we came across a building that looked like a miniature Georgian pavilion, with a lovely blue ceiling picked out by gold stars. This unusual structure was presented to the area by Robert Inglis in 1909. We initially had to share the space with a group of cyclists who were having a tea break (there were a few envious glances towards their fruit cake, and not just from Zuka), but we managed a few group photos and even got a rare shot of all of us when one of the cyclists agreed to take one for us.
Whole group at Colley Hill pavillion
View from Reigate Hill
Hurrying on (well, the guide book had informed us there was a car park coming up with refreshments, and once Anne gets the whiff of ice-cream she goes into overdrive), we walked along the top of Reigate Hill, before descending slightly to cross the busy A217 on a white painted footbridge. Here we found the aforementioned car park and enjoyed a short rest and an ice-cream.
A welcome break - Gatton
Millennium Stones
Our route next took us through Gatton Park school grounds near the start of which we discovered the ‘Millennium Stones’. At the time we rather pooh-poohed them as they looked rather feeble when compared with say, Stonehenge, but I have since discovered that they are ‘carved with quotations contemporary with each 200 year segment of the double millennium AD1-AD2000’. I particularly like the words on stone # 8 – “do not wish to be anything but what you are and try to be that perfectly”. We left the grounds by a very attractive thatched gatehouse called North Lodge (complete with thatched cat and bird on its roof) and continued through Reigate Hill Golf Club, which unfortunately ran parallel to the noisy M25.
Zuka at the gate house - Gatton Park
Reigate Hill golf course
We soon arrived in Quality Street, a delightful road with attractive buildings, leading to the village of Merstham on the outskirts of Redhill. The quarries here apparently provided sandstone for Windsor Castle and London Bridge in days gone by. The village has been rewarded (?) in modern times by surrounding it almost completely by the M25 and M23, with the A23 completing this nightmare ‘fence’. The M25, which we crossed on a scary footbridge, ran immediately behind the garden of a beautiful Tudor building called The Old Forge – it seemed outrageous, as the owners could surely never enjoy the beauty of their own outdoor space.
Crossing the M25
Warm work - climbing Ockley Hill
We were all getting pretty hungry now, but as our route continued over the A23 and then under the M23 we trudged on, looking for a more scenic and restful spot to have lunch. The map suggested a suitable viewpoint at the top of the next hill, but when we reached it the path was enclosed by hedges and there was no-where comfortable to sit. Passing through an unusually smart and tidy farm, we were more than tempted by the nicely mown grass verges along their driveway. We eventually found a bit of shade in the long grass under some trees in a field next to the footpath on White Hill, which unfortunately sent Simon C’s hay fever into overdrive – he was really suffering today.
Wooded path - Gravelly Hill
Caterham viewpoint
After a shortish road section, we entered an attractive wood, with the path set into the hillside - the trees clinging to the slope above and below us. The dappled sunshine added to the ambience. As we reached the grassy area and car park known as Caterham viewpoint, we were hopeful of another ice-cream, but were unfortunately disappointed on this occasion.
New bridge over A22
Hanging Wood
Oxted from Gangers Hill
Oxted steps
Soon we reached the formidable timber-supported earth steps down the scarp slope, above the Oxted Railway tunnel. They were hard enough to descend, but boy, were we glad we weren’t walking in the other direction. The trail emerged on to open downland overlooking the motorway. After a more leisurely descent south, through fields, we again turned west, walking past a limeworks, and continued along the bottom of the scarp slope, through Oxted Down and into the Titsey Estate. Here we crossed the Meridian line before reaching our final ascent of the day, a bit of a slog up Pitchfork Lane to our cars on the top of Botley Hill.
All strung out........
It had been a long day, and the warm weather had added to the general fatigue, but we had completed another good section of the NDW and were now well into our journey.
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