Haslemere and Blackdown: Autumnal Hues and Awesome Views

‘You came, and look’d, and loved the view long known and loved by me: green Sussex fading into blue, and one gray glimpse of sea’.

Substitute carotenoid orange and anthocyanin red for Tennyson's chlorophyll green and you'll share his sentiments about the view from his handsome hillside home on this strenuous but satisfying stride. Starting from Haslemere yet again, we'll soon leave Surrey, enter West Sussex and ascend its highest hill: the great whale-backed bluff of Blackdown. There, from the Temple of the Winds viewpoint, we'll survey the landscape that we'll explore: the low-lying but pretty patchwork of meadows, ponds, copses and villages of the western Low Weald. Probably prettiest of the villages is Lurgashall, where we'll have lunch on the village green and a pint at the Noah's Ark pub.

This event will be the lovely Mark Morgan's assessment walk as he ventures to become a Lowland and Hill Walk leader for OutdoorLads.

The sights:

Blackdown: A rugged greensand plateau, 280m high, cared for by the National Trust. It is named after the dark pine trees that cap its summit. Its human history is interesting: Middle-Stone Age (6000BC) people dwelt there; smugglers hid their contraband in caves there; London was alerted to the coming of the Spanish Armada by a beacon there; and in 1967, Iberian Airlines Flight 062 crashed there due to a faulty altimeter reading; Alfred, Lord Tennyson, lived there at Aldworth House; and from 1796 to 1816 the navy had a shutter telegraph station there.

Low Weald: "The wooded and watery Low Weald...is a low-lying gently undulating landscape of clay vales and gentle ridges of limestone and sandstone. The landscape is small-scale, intimate and tranquil with a medieval pattern of small irregular pasture fields enclosed by a strong network of shaws [thickets] and tall, thick, species-rich hedgerows." (West Sussex Landscape: The Low Weald Character Area) 

Lurgashall: A beautiful village around a triangular green. The houses are mostly stone, but with some tile-hanging to indicate the closeness of Surrey. St Laurence's Church is attractive, C11, with a C13 chancel, and C16 aisle. The Noah's Ark Inn (named thus because drinkers had to cross the village pond on a gangplank to reach it) is C16. It also has a village shop.

The route (please check this at the OS website to see the elevations): 

We'll head southeast through Haslemere through Shepherd's Hill and Haste Hill to pick up Chase Lane which will take us up, along with the Sussex Border Path and Serpent's Trail, Blackdown's plateau. After breaking at The Temple of the Winds, we'll go on a zigzag descent to Quellwood Common and Windfall Wood Common. Here, High Lane and Dial Green Lane will take us to Lurgashall for lunch. Blind Lane will take us to Crossways, and then Hillgrove Lane to Hillgrove. Bullock Lane track will take us to Jobson's Lane and a footpath to Roundhurst Common. Arriving at Aldworth, we'll walk beside the B2131 (there's a pavement) back to Haslemere.

Dogs:

I love having dogs on my walks and this walk is suitable for them although there will be considerable lane walking and fields with livestock. A dog off the lead must be obedient.

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• Anyone with COVID-19 symptoms, even if they are extremely mild, or who lives or is in a support bubble with someone showing symptoms, is asked not to attend. This is in line with the government’s coronavirus advice.
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(All pictures taken by the leader in November 2021. OutdoorLads is welcome to reuse them.)