Splendid Springtime Commons and Bottoms

As we cross the commons of Hankley, Ockley, Witley and Thursley, we should feel that spring is on the way. We might also feel a sense of déjà-vu. If Hankley Common seems familiar, it could be because you've seen it on film or TV pretending to be somewhere else. It has appeared as the Scottish Highlands, Derbyshire, the edge of the Caspian Sea, the Korean Demilitarised Zone and Indonesia. It has also stood in, historically, for the Atlantic coast of France. Of course, the commons do have their own character: exhilarating expanses of birch and bracken, separated by bottoms with woods and watercourses. Equally characterful is the pretty village of Thursley where we'll have a drink.

The sights:

Hankley Common: A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) of birch, bracken and common and bell heather. On TV and film it has been shown as the following: the Scottish Highlands and the setting for James Bond's ancestral home (Skyfall); the edge of the Caspian Sea (The World Is Not Enough); the Korean Demilitarised Zone (Die Another Day); Derbyshire (Doctor Who and the Silurians); French Great War battlefields (1917); various settings of destruction (Black Widow) and Indonesia (Tenko). In history it was used for training for Operation Overlord, where troops and tanks practiced for their assault on the Atlantic Wall in France using a 100m-long, 3.5m-wide reinforced concrete replica; we'll see the substantial remains of this along with other relics. Sadly, some of the heath was ravaged by fire in the heatwave of August 2022.

Witley Common: An area of woodland and heath, and an SSSI. It features Bronze Age burial mounds and has been used as common land by many generations. During World War II it was home to 20,000 soldiers prior to D-Day. Today it is managed by the National Trust to provide a mixture of habitats for wildlife.

Thursley and Ockley Commons: Another SSSI and National Nature Reserve. Crossbill, red kite, woodlark and stonechat are seen regularly, and Dartford warbler, whinchat, wheatear, redstart and tree pipit may be. The series of ponds, linked by a boardwalk, are especially biodiverse.

Thursley: An immaculate and unsuburbanised village. The Norse name and origins of the place are interesting: 'Thor's Lee', and the village sign depicts the god wielding his hammer. St Michael's Church is almost all new after a restoration in 1860, but C12 and C13 century fragments remain. In he churchyard is a stone in memory of a sailor who was travelling to Portsmouth but was murdered by three villains at Hindhead in 1786. The murderers were caught and hanged before their remains were gibbeted at Hindhead. The cottages in the village are among the best in Surrey, for instance Olde Hall and Wheeler's Farm are C17, and Badgers and Vine Cottage are early C18. Horn Cottage C16.

Dogs:

I love having dogs on my walks and this walk is ideal for them with very few stiles, busy roads and fields with livestock. Any dog off the lead must be under control.

The route (click the link to see it): 

We'll follow Rake Lane to the A283 then go north along it, turning west at Milford Heath Road. We'll then turn south and use a bit of Haslemere Road before entering the heathland at Sandy Lane and using a bridleway to go to under the A3 at Mousehill and all the way to Ockley Common and Pudmore Pond. At Moat Pond we'll cross Thursley Road and use a bridleway to go along Woolfords Lane north. Footpaths will then take us east to Hankley Common and Yagden Hill for lunch. After lunch we'll see the Atlantic Wall at the Lion's Mouth, walk a little way south across Kettlebury HIll, then cross the valley to pick up Houndown Bottom. A short section of the Greensand Way will take us to Thursley and we'll walk up The Street to Dyehouse Lane and go to The Three Horseshoes. At Foldsdown we'll pick up another bridleway to go under the A3 and bridleways will take us along Millhanger and French Hill where a meandering route will take us across Witley Common and Mare Hill until we get to Wheelers Lane which we'll walk east along to the A283 as far as a bridleway at Crossways to go back to the station past Enton Lakes.

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(Picture credits: Thursley Common from the Plateau: Photo © Stefan Czapski (cc-by-sa/2.0); Thursley Common: Photo © Colin Smith (cc-by-sa/2.0); Thursley Common Boardwalk: Photo © Mark Percy (cc-by-sa/2.0); Thursley Common: bridleway by Parish Field: Photo © Stefan Czapski (cc-by-sa/2.0); Hankley Common, the Atlantic Wall: Photo © Alan Hunt (cc-by-sa/2.0); Badgers, Thursley: Photo © David960 (cc-by-sa/2.0); Horn Cottage, Thursley (2): Photo © Stefan Czapski (cc-by-sa/2.0); Thursley - Sunset Cottage: Photo © Colin Smith (cc-by-sa/2.0); Bridleway on the edge of Witley Common Photo © Dave Spicer (cc-by-sa/2.0); All images are copyrighted but are here credited to their copyright holders and are licensed for reuse under either Creative Commons CC-BY-SA/2.0)