A large number of people got off the train at Dorking on a dull overcast and windless day. How many would be difficult to say, since a number headed straight for the station's woefully inadequate facilities. It turned out that the majority of walkers belonged to a supervised wellness group doing exactly the same walk as us. It took almost twenty minutes for the queue of needy walkers to subside fully, by which time other walkers had already set off. There was at least one other walker who caught a later train from Waterloo and met us at lunchtime. So, perhaps we numbered about10 in all. Any other estimates? The later starters caught up with a couple of earlier starters at the Dolphin Inn. Apparently, those who didn't phone the pub in advance were told there was no food available, whereas other more organised people were able to eat there. A group of about five picnickers used the bench across the road. The walk directions were generally easy to follow, though ratherless detailed than the SWC norm. Some of the walkers took a slightly different route just before the Skimmington Castle pub, and didn't go right to the top of Reigate Hill opting, instead, to turn right at the top of the steps and follow the well-trodden, level path, before descending towards Reigate Priory. They were in time to catch the 15.06 train to Victoria.

River Mole at Rice Bridge can flood and be impassable after heavy rain. There is no published info for Rice Bridge but Env Agency site indicates Mole at Cobham was about

0.5m above normal maximum at 12.00 today.

Thank you, John.

Just to highlight for anyone doing the walk that Piont 18 in the written directions gives a way around the bridge if one is needed.

The mole at Rice Bridge is now passable. According to a local and evidence of debris the water level had been about 1 meter above the bridge on Tuesday / Wednesday but it has now dropped and is flowing under, not over, the bridge. The field before is soggy and there is a very muddy section after the bridge but no problem in walking boots.

A short-ish walk just to the south of London was always going to be a popular pick at this time of year, and jolly crowd of 18 duly assembled at Dorking station. About 20 minutes later, once all toilet activities had been completed, we set off.

The skies were cloudy , but the scenery was pleasant and undemanding. We seemed to get to Brockham very quickly and steamed on through it to Betchworth and its church and pub.

The usual fragmentation happened here in that around half the group presumably had sandwiches and disappeared from history. Four of us ate in the pub (a fairly basic menu, but tasty enough) and a similar number had drinks. Two more may have booked a table in the restaurant but we did not see them again, so I don’t know.

In the afternoon we meandered across fields. The river was not high and the ground was not particularly muddy - not enough to notice anyway. Near Reigate Hill we caught ourselves doing an inadvertent short cut but soon corrected ourselves. Someone was keen to see Skimington Castle and was disappointed to find it was a pub.

On Reigate Hill we were amazed to see a white squirrel. A passing local said there were at least two of them. We encountered various dogs, none of whom were being aggressive even though they barked at us.

Despite the shortness of the walk, darkness was falling as we got to Reigate. The cafe in the park was closed, so six of us went to Gail’s, where we had nice cakes. We caught the 17.00 train direct to Victoria and the pre-Christmas chaos of London.

As I did this walk today here are comments on the Rice Bridge situation: Although there is water lapping at the approach to Rice Bridge, the bridge itself is not flooded and easy to cross. But the gully path beyond is partially flooded and broken up, with more than 1 route as walkers have tried to avoid deep puddles. Under these circumstances I didn't find it possible to locate the narrow path mentioned in para 19. Instead, I came out into a field via a metal kissing gate from which by a succession of paths, mostly well-signed, I did get to Skimmington but not by the route in the directions. You may be better at finding the right path or you may prefer to avoid the potential problem by following the alternative in para 18.

Waterloo train cancelled.Five heading to London Bridge for the 10.36 train which arrives Dorking 11.32. Hopefully we'll catch up with Earlier starters at lunch if not before.

Rice Bridge not a problem today.No left turn as indicated in the instructions. After crossing the bridge just follow the path. GPS accurate

5 set off from Dorking under blue skies and warm sunshine . We didn't find any earlier starters but encountered two pub lunchers just before Betchworth and 2 of the 5 joined them, going to the Red Lion as the Dolphin was fully booked. The remaining 3 sat in the sun at tables outside the Dolphin to eat our sandwiches with the kind permission of the barman. Clouds started to gather on the afternoon stretch and there was one brief shower as we neared the end of the walk. By the time we had put on our waterproofs,the rain had eased off and clouds started to disperse. We didn't stop for tea and caught the 15.26 train from Reigate. A good walk for this time of year and not too much mud despite recent rain. Home before dark despite the late start.

20 on this delightful short walk, 4 joining at the lunch stop. Some ate in the pub, some had a drink and/or a picnic. As usual the group divided after lunch. A few had tea in the park, a few had a second drink at the Castle and I guess some stopped in Reigate. sunny and hot .

I have booked a table at the Dolphin for 6 inside at 12:30

18 dry and sunny . About 15 at Mainline and another 3 joined from Deepdene. Arrived at the Dolphin a little early but we were welcomed and found we had two tables side by side, one thanks to a walker who had booked one but was unable to come on the walk. Food and beer was up to the usual good standard for the Dolphin. A very muddy patch just after Rice Bridge in the afternoon but the track up from the Skimmington Castle is now much better. Some went for tea in Reigate other to the station. Some of the direct trains to Victoria were cancelled and two of us had to walk round Homebase to keep warm waiting for the Dorking train.

well done Marcus👏 lovely walk, later start, shorter mileage and mostly flat, ideal for my arthritic knee😊 however have an appointment that day for one of my other ailments so can't go.. Damn! would be v grateful if you could please post more walks such as these 🙏

Unfair and selfish to expect schedulers to cater for individual requirements with pleas of this sort. Please spare them this added pressure. Many like more challenging walks. Lots of Ramblers groups do short mid-week walks. Easy to find, and you would enjoy them -)

FFS! it was meant to be a light hearted comment! Heat getting to you mate?😐

As a walk poster, can I say that (polite) feedback on our walk choices and requests for particular walks are always welcome. Please do remember that the walk poster is considering various factors when choosing a walk, however, so may not accede to all requests. But all ideas are considered.

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My favourite walk and will be leading this walk for the Forest Ramblers on Thursday 9 September departure from Waterloo train times if anyone would like to join me then. A walk check is recommended as there is one place I’ve gone wrong a couple of times where the walk instructions are unclear and I’ve gone off piste. The steep ascent to Colleys hill can be avoided by those of us with arthritic knees by the way.

Hi Marion Can you post the deets for your walk in September please? Thanks

15 at the station with 2 joining later made for 17 today.

A sudden downpour delayed our departure but, after a while, the walk orderlies decided enough was enough and out we marched out into the rain. No point resisting, there was nothing to hold on to. Luckily, the rain soon stopped and the weather brightened, so there'll be no strongly-worded complaint today. It was even sunny. The ground was firm, my new boots stayed mud free, my tootsies were dry, everybody happy. Well me, anyway.

We arrived at Betchworth without further incident. Some picnicked in the sun in the churchyard. But most headed for the Dolphin. Having catered for four weddings and a funeral in the past, they were busy gearing up for another (not sure which), but they took us in, they fed us, they watered us, and sent us on our way again.

I'm not one to boast but I think I may have been one of the first to reach Priory Park. Here, we admired ducks and flowers while waiting for others to arrive, which some soon did. There were suspicions that some of the earlier arrivals avoided the hill. But who am I to cast aspersions on others' achievements?

Some went to Cafe Rouge while others headed for the station. One went shopping. Later arrivals may have been caught in a second downpour, seen from the train.Good day out, easy walk. Weather was largely sunny with occasional showers

Just to add to the above walk report those dining at the excellent Dolphin were confined to 3 outside tables as the funeral party had reserved all the others for 3pm and out of bounds to all other diners. 10 had booked and I can vouch for the quality of the beer battered cod and chips and excellent service. Our waitress thanked us for our custom saying we were the first walking group to have booked since freedom day. Our walk author accompanied 6 of us in the afternoon clarifying the route and was persuaded to enjoy tea and ice creams at the excellent Skimmington Castle outside tables but here the service was a bit disorganised. Finally to Reigate avoiding the Hill but enjoying the lakeside wildlife to catch the 5pm fast train to Victoria. If anyone wants to do this walk again please see the walk details in the Forest Ramblers website for Thursday 9 September where the pace will be leisurely.

No official word from the participants, but photographic evidence, obtained from the internet, suggests there were at least 6 on this walk.

Weather was overcast and bright sun and occasional spots so almost ideal walking weather for this very good walk - though I would put it at a 4 or 5 out of 10 - quite a few hills after lunch.

16 nature lovers on this walk and several hordes of ramblers all walking the other way - which was somewhat disruptive. One of our group did mention that our group were better dressed (and better looking) than the ramblers - so this extrapolates to ‘this is the better group’.

Before lunch we saw a kestrel hover and swoop several times but never coming up with any lunch and we saw a jay towards the end of the walk on the ground eating in the grass quite unconcernedly at a group of 6 walkers strolling by.

For those who don't read the walk notes, the French heir apparent - the Dauphin apparently used to drink in the lunch pub during the French revolution hence it is named the Dolphin. The food was nice enough though a few suggested that their prices were a bit high, used to entertaining royalty maybe? As the Dolphin is only 5 k into the walk the lunch came a bit early so when I do the walk again then I will use the pub the Skimmington Castle (01737-243100) serving food all afternoon which is say 9.5 k into the walk and thus leaving only 3k after lunch to the station at Reigate.

After lunch three of us were walking together ahead of the rest and the Scandinavian in our group spotted a rabbit off to our left and said ‘rabbit’ whilst pointing. The rabbit took off quite gently which seemed to prompt a fox that was hidden in a bush to leap out and miss the rabbit a couple of times (I have no idea how the rabbit dodged him) and then a cat that had been just lying there hidden from us reared up with a snarl and disrupted the foxes focus and all disappeared. It was like a poor comedy sketch and I did have a momentary concern that we were on camera.

Then later a woman came along who reminded me of Tin Tin in her hair style and clothing which I thought was nice but then following up a couple of moments later came snowy - very peculiar ‘You have been framed’?

There was the remnants of a Japanese garden with a Temple Gate falling into disrepair just before the end of the walk and there was a lot of very nice housing along the walk.

Throughout the walk bluebells were doing very well seeming to crowd out virtually everything except the garlic which gave a lovely smell as did the occasional lilac bushes - a very heady aroma.

A few people picked some wild garlic so here are a selection of wild garlic recipes

https://www.greatbritishchefs.com/ingredients/wild-garlic-recipes

Tea at the Monty Bojangles didn’t disappoint.

Thank you to the 15 others for the atmosphere and chat

Ed Beare

Great walk, thank you to Mike for posting it.

weather supposed to be better Sunday so anyone walking?

Setting off for Dorking sometime soon

It was a really mild day with intermittent sunny spells and a light breeze , so not surprising that 14 walkers started off from Dorking. There had clearly been a lot of rainfall in the area, and the River Mole was running higher than usual, as could be seen when we first crossed it, shortly after leaving Dorking. Good progress was made right up to Betchworth where six walkers managed to get a table in the supposedly fully-booked Dolphin Inn. Other walkers chose to eat their sandwiches in or close to St Michael's churchyard. Two walkers, feeling it was too early to eat at 12.15, pressed on towards Ricebridge and Skimmington. The directions from the metal kissing gate by the Snowerhill Road sign were a little misleading and should read as follows: "In 300 metres, the main path enters a wood, continuing downhill across a wooden bridge and then uphill for 80 metres to emerge through a metal kissing aget into an open field". The rest of the directions (from where you have to bear left by a two-armed signpost on an indistinct path) are fine, apart from the fact that all the stiles have been replaced with kissing gates in the first two paragraphs of the Betchworth to Ricebridge directions. In the third paragraph, the one-armed signpost is in fact two-armed. When we got to Rice Bridge, we discovered that the River Mole had flooded (fortunately, not extensively). We were able to get across, albeit with a some difficulty, but we had to skirt around the flooded gully to rejoin it about 100 metres later on, after the path emerged from the water. We arrived at Skimmington at about 1.30 and received a very warm welcome from staff at the Skimmington Castle pub, where we were unconditionally invited to sit at one of their outdoor tables to consume our sandwiches. The rest of the walk was uneventful and we reached Reigate station in plenty of time to catch the 3.06 train back to London.

Just to add to David' report, the church in Betchworth was holding an "alternative Christmas tree" festival and was also serving hot drinks and home made cakes. One walker took an alternative route after lunch, via the

viilage of Buckland, which is home to the Pheasant pub and the historic church of St. Mary the Virgin. This might be worth exploring as an alternative afternoon route to Reigate.

7 6 off the train and a. n. other. Weather was warm sunny dry It was, however, raining acorns, conkers and chestnuts. Just as well we don’t get coconuts here. Dry underfoot.

Some ate at the Dolphin. Seemed ok.

Yours truly went slightly adrift in the afternoon – did a hard right instead of a bear right. Took a while to get back on track. I’d like to blame the directions but it was the bear’s fault.

The Tea House is indeed shut on Sundays but a note suggests that this may just be temporary for this summer.

Although we didn't sample its wares on this occasion, an attractive option for tea looks to be Monty Bojangles at 57 High Street, Reigate, http://montybojangles.com/truffle-bar/. It has the usual range of teas, coffees and cakes, and specialises in all things chocolaty. Open till 6pm weekdays, 5:30pm Saturdays and 4:30pm Sundays and bank holidays.

9, warm and sunny A pleasant stroll through the autumn colours on a surprisingly warm day for the end of October. The bonfire being prepared on Brockham Village Green for November 5th was already 20m high and bigger that a house with a human chain adding more and more. We were able to sit outside at the Dolphin which was fully booked for sunday lunch but there was room in the bar area for those who wanted to be indoors us as we arrived before 12:30. Some diverted off around Reigate Hill. The newish Priory park cafe was in full swing. If you ask, you can have your cake on a plate and tea in pot but this not the default option.

I intend walk checking this as I'm leading it for the Forest Ramblers on 30 July. Any help would be gratefully received as I don't intend it to be a route march and need to time it for lunch arrival at the Betchworth pub Dolphin Arms. Food is highly recommended.