Greensand Way legs 3 and 4

On two quite different winter days, our small band of walkers ventured into the Surrey Hills to continue our long distance challenge on the Greensand Way. Still reasonably well signposted, our third walk, 18th January, took us from Winterfold Heath 2kms north of Cranleigh to Friday Street in the Surrey Hills. This was a walk of 9 miles. Many great viewpoints such as Pitch Hill, Holmbury Hill and Leith Hill, the highest point in Southern England awaited us, but eluded us as we peered through the fog at nothing but fog!! We did manage to see Ewhurst windmill though! This section was memorable for its climbs adding up to almost 1500ft, but was nonetheless rewarding and a farm coffee shop at Holmbury St Mary provided the boost we needed for the final big climb up to Leith Hill. The Tower was closed this Sunday but another coffee shop there, run by the National Trust, greeted those needing more sustenance!

Leg 4, 9th February, was a different, slightly brighter day with some views possible from the higher spots, it was around 12 miles in distance. The climbs added up to about 1200ft and were quite challenging in short spurts providing more access to beauty spots such as The Temple at Dorking in the Surrey Hills. The route gradually drops down to the flatter landscapes of the Tillingbourne, then Mole valleys and broadly follows the line of the rivers for parts of the route. A little boost was given on this Sunday, roughly two-thirds of the distance along, when we reached the picturesque village of Brockham. Here, a pub owned by some lovely ladies with an obsession with Meercats provided us with a warm place to stop for some remarkably slowly provided coffee, wine or, in my case, apple crumble and custard! Along the way, the wet winter weather had made many of the field paths very muddy as we slithered along through Betchworth to the drier ground of Reigate Heath where the cars were parked. On a summers day this would be a truly fantastic walk but I know we all enjoyed it even in some muddy conditions! Roll on Leg 5 at Easter!