Today’s walk led by myself was an 11 miler stroll along mainly the North Downs Way from just outside Guildford. It would be a linear walk, finishing at Ash and therefore making good use of the public transport. I turned up at Reading station expecting to see a usual crowd of perhaps numbering around six to eight but there were only three. However, at the start point of walk, just outside Guildford station there was a total of fourteen of us, a couple who had happened to be on same train as me but hadn’t spotted whilst others had either caught different trains or driven.
It is hard to write these blogs and not give a brief mention to the weather so I make no apologies in highlighting the fact that we were greeted with the finest and probably warmest day of the year so far. It was certainly a far cry from the previous week’s walk which had been a wet and soggy affair. Today it was t-shirt weather from the off from me.
The walk was mainly flat with just a few ups and downs along the way with the exception of one steepish section not long after we left Guildford railway station. We did have a long stretch of perhaps a couple of miles to walk along that was mildly uninspiring except for a brief stop to look at the Guildford skyline beaming in the spring sunshine.
Before long we picked up the North Downs Way which would be our footpath for perhaps about fifty per cent of the walk. Within a mile or so, after walking through some sand, we had the opportunity to take in refreshments at The Tea Shop at The Watts Art Gallery. We arrived and were welcomed by the friendly staff who offered us a place to sit together outside. It was crazy to sit inside in such glorious weather as this. Anyway, one look at the tea menu and I decided to go and push the boat out and instead of going for the usual standard English Breakfast Tea that is very much my default, I took the plunge and went for the smoky option; the Lapsang Souchong. Before anyone asks, I did have to look online again for the menu to confirm what I had! Anyway, it was a great choice. Other people went for variety options (about a dozen varieties of tea to choose from no less!) and some plundered into cake.
Refreshments finished, we were off continuing along the North Downs Way circuiting the edge of Wanborough Common and having passed through a golf course we arrived at the picturesque village of Puttenham. Progress was steady, good chat was had by all including a debate on chocolate bars and which were our personal preference. Mine is a topic. I ate seven in one day once!
Leaving Puttenham behind, we sat down on some dry ground where ate our picnic lunches bathing in the beating sun. Oh how could anyone be doing anything other than enjoy our lovely countryside on a day such as this.
Eventfully we left the North Downs Way at another lovely village, this time Seale. Some road walking had to be undertaken here but worse was to come as we had to find a way of crossing the very busy A31. The footpath we were on had to be rerouted when this road was opened. This added a few hundred metres to our walk but there was designated spot for us to cross. With traffic travelling at national speed limit we certainly had to take great care in getting to the other side.
