Guildford to Witley - Surrey - (20 miles linear) - W2P S4
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Join me for a nice long linear hike from Guildford to Witley - it'll be a long day out but very rewarding with some of the finest country views in Surrey. We will need to set a good pace (2.5 miles / hr) to finish at a decent time, so keep that in mind when signing up.
From Guildford we head out of town following the Wey Navigation. We soon bid farewell to the canal and head east up onto the North Downs to St Martha's Hill. It's a bit of a climb up to Martha's Hill but the views are a fine reward. We now head south downhill towards Blackheath passing through the remains of the Chilworth Gunpowder Mills (https://www.surreyhills.org/surrey-hills-60/chilworth-gunpowder-works/). Gunpowder would have once been taken from here to London via the Wey Navigation which we followed on previous walks.
At Blackheath we'll visit the isolated War Memorial (https://www.blackheathvillagearchive.com/about1) on Rosemary Hill from which we can look back to see the church on St Marthas Hill where we were earlier in the day. Continuing south through heath and woods we finally meet up with the Greensand Way - which we follow for the rest of the day all the way to Witley. Before getting to Witley though we head up Hascombe Hill for more impressive views across the Surrey countryside.
Time permitting we'll duck into the pub in Hambledon for a well-earned thirst quencher before a final short(ish) walk to the train station
What's the W2P S4 mean in the title? It stands for Waterloo to Portsmouth Stage 4 - This year I decided to lead a series of ~9 linear walks which will take us all the way from Waterloo to Portsmouth (W2P). Current plan is to finish up sometime in September. Each stage of the walk will pick up where the last one finished off. The walks will largely start/end at stations on the Waterloo to Portsmouth line, with most stages being 18-20 miles. If you haven't done any of the previous stages - or can't do any future ones - please still free to join. Each walk on its own should still be a great day out.
What to bring
Water: bring a couple of litres of water
Medicines: if you have hay fever, diabetes, minor ailments etc.
Rucksack: or any other bag
Footwear: hiking boots.
Layered clothing: lets you quickly adapt to changes in the weather and body temperature. Go for a base layer (vest or t-shirt) and a mid layer (a micro fleece or shirt) and in cooler weather add an outer layer (a windproof jacket or thick fleece)
Trousers: ideally not jeans which become heavy and cold in the rain, breathable fabrics are more comfortable and dry.
Waterproof jacket: breathable fabrics are more comfortable and dry
Hat or cap: stay warm in winter and shaded in summer
Sunglasses: you never know ....
Sun cream: can be useful even on cloudy and winter days
Snacks: bring biscuits, energy bars, gels, bananas, chocolate or dried fruit for example and put them somewhere easy to get hold of
Food & drink
Bring a packed lunch, plenty of water (a least 2L) and some energetic snacks - it's going to be a long day. There may be a brief pub stop depending on progress.