SE500 Challenge: Satanic Scenery - A Devilishly Fine Walk from Jumps to Punch Bowl

And a quite diabolically demanding one too. This event covers two set-pieces of southwest Surrey scenery, both ascribed to Beelzebub because of their bizarre beauty: the huge wooded amphitheatre that is the Devil's Punch Bowl at Hindhead and the isolated outcrops of sandstone that are the Devil's Jumps at Churt. Surrey heathland and high-class suburbia connect the two. One extra highlight will be the decidedly un-dark, un-Satanic Barford Mill. The infernal inheritance of our Luciferan labours will be vast views, prodigious pride, cracking camaraderie and heightened health and happiness, and all gained without any pacts with the Prince of Darkness. Consult the forbidden lore below.

Selections from the grimoire:

Barford Mill: A pretty little mill on the stream that drains down Whitmoor Vale to Frensham Great Pond.

The Devil's Jumps: Three small hills, more prominent than their heights (around 120m) suggest, topped by crags of hard ironstone (sandstone). William Cobbett wrote about the Devil's Jumps in his Rural Rides, first published in 1830, "At Churt...three hills out upon the common, called the Devil's Jumps...in the shape of three rather squat sugar-loaves, along in a line upon this heath...with a rock-stone upon the top of one of them as big as a church tower." Back in the Jurassic Period, when layers of iron-rich greensand were laid down on a river delta, periodic floodwaters disturbed the beds, contorting them. As a result, the Jumps look to me like the ends of giant Cadbury's Flakes jutting from the ground. It was said that Mother Ludlam of Farnham (who was a witch) had her cauldron stolen by the Devil, who kicked up the hills as he made off with it.

The Devil's Punch Bowl and Hindhead Commons: This is a large hollow of sandy heath, fringed with oak woodland and thronged with birdlife including redstart and wood warbler. Legend has it that the Devil tormented the god Thor by pelting him with enormous handfuls of earth, leaving the great ravine. In reality it was created by glacial meltwater percolating down through the sandstone until it hit an impervious layer of clay and so eroded the sandstone out. See more here. 

What the Devil is SE500?

SE500 is a series of challenging hill walks in the South East. They include 500 metres of ascent and a distance of around 20km (12.5 miles). Sometimes paths may be steep; other walks may include ups and downs. That’s more than the average Lowland and Hill Walk, and great practice for a mountain! An average man can expect to burn 2000 calories on one of these walks. Why not build up your fitness and gain a sense of achievement? 

Hounds of Hell:

There'll be none of these on the walk, as dogs will be welcomed who are obedient and tolerant of walking along lanes and on leads when livestock are present. The walk could be exhausting for them in hot weather. Otherwise, it will be a great dog walk with abundant woodland and heathland for them to roam in.

Route 666 (please click the link to see it at the Ordnance Survey website):

We'll follow Wey Hill west until Farnham Lane and The Avenue heading northwest to Lion Lane, where we'll leave the tarmac and cross Polecat, Craig's Wood and Nutcombe Down before using the footbridge over the A3 to Grayshott. A path along the edge of Whitmore Vale will take us to Beacon Hill and and Whitmore Vale Lane will take us to Barford Mill all the time heading northwest. At Kitts Lane, we'll turn east and follow Green Lane to Hale House Lane, then a track north to Jumps Road. After lunch on the jump and a drink at Bel and the Dragon, we'll follow Tilford Road south to Hyde Lane where a footpath will then take us from Hyde Hill to the Devil's Punch Bowl. At Coombe Head we'll go on to cross Bunch Lane down to Farnham Lane where we'll retrace our steps back to the station.

(Image credits: The Devil's Punch Bowl, from the viewpoint: Photo © Mr James D (cc-by-sa/2.0); Stony Jump, Surrey, England: Photo © weesam2010 | Flickr (cc-by-nc-sa/2.0); Polecat Copse: Photo © N Chadwick (cc-by-sa/2.0); Coniferous woodland: Photo © Robin Webster (cc-by-sa/2.0); Whitmore Vale, Pondside: Photo © Colin Smith (cc-by-sa/2.0); Bell & The Dragon, Churt: early July 2024: Photo © Basher Eyre (cc-by-sa/2.0); Rocky terrain atop the Devil’s Jumps: Photo © Peter S (cc-by-sa/2.0); View south east from the Devil’s Jumps: Photo © Peter S (cc-by-sa/2.0); Grazing by Highcomb Copse: Photo © Colin Smith (cc-by-sa/2.0); Sun and Shade at the Devil's Punch Bowl in Surrey: Photo © Peter S (cc-by-sa/2.0); Looking down on the Devil’s Punch Bowl in Surrey: Photo © Peter S (cc-by-sa/2.0). All images are copyrighted but are licensed for reuse under Creative Commons CC-BY-SA/2.0 or Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-SA/2.0.)