10 off the train, but then rapid fragmentation until the lunch pub. Quite muddy, but not too dreadful. The expected rain held off with a sunny with couds . At lunch we regrouped but again some fragmentation but 7 of us stayed together for the lovely afternoon stretch with fine views and early autumn colours in the sunshine.

The Barley Mow looks to be closed, disappointing us and another group. However we enjoyed a late drink in the Hay cutter, enjoying the sun on its veranda. A great pub with a fine selection of beers. Got back to Oxted just in time for the 1653. A fine day out.

8 enjoyed sunshine throughout this scenic walk which had lots of long ascents leading to great views with autumn colours adding to the beauty. Some serious mud in the early low-lying terrain but most of it was washed off by wet grass and paths were good on the higher ground. Bletchingly seemed too early for lunch so we kept going until we reached the Barley Mow where 2 had snacks (pastie and sausage roll) - the pub being fully booked inside - and were joined by the picnickers in the garden where there were sheltered tables with electric heaters above them and the sun slanting in at the side. Someone spotted a small apple tree in the pub garden laden with large golden delicious apples. A few were picked and confirmed as truly delicious by those who ate them. One walker had branched off before lunch to finish in Godstone, the rest continued to Oxted with six stopping at The Haycutter pub in Broadham Green which had outdoor seating bathed in sunshine and a good menu with an enticing offer of hot drink and small pudding so, a possible tea stop on future outings. On their website they have a link to a 5km loop trail from the pub. All six caught the 15.59 train back to London with two sharing a hastily purchased bottle of wine and all nibbling pistachios.

21 on this walk, including two who got the train half an hour later. At St Pancras, Horsham and Brighton trains were being cancelled all over the place. But into the Valley of the Dead rode the Gatwick train, completing its journey with no more incident than a couple of extra stops.

At the start of the walk there was a very waterlogged stretch. Thankfully this did not prove typical, and the rest of the walk was only a bit muddy in places, probably saved from worse gloopiness by freshly fallen leaves.

Near South Nutfield those of us who were actually looking at the directions (ie me) did the main walk route, which is a short cut. The majority, following the GPX, stuck to the Greensand Way (more road walking). This produced at one point the amusing sight of two groups of SWC walkers coming towards each other from opposite directions, both correctly following a version of the route. But we soon regrouped and all went the same way.

I must just mention too the perplexing sight of a young calf in a field of sheep. How he had got there was a mystery, given that two fences and a particularly tricky stile separated him from the rest of his herd. He seemed a bit confused himself.

The Red Lion in Bletchingley was as accommodating as usual. Friendly, unfussy, happy to let us order at the bar, no complicated protocols. The two late starters caught up with us here, having apparently seen a steam train pass on the Redhill-Tonbridge line.

We lingered quite a bit over lunch and then set off through some very scenic sections with beech, oak and sweet chestnut trees all now fully gold. Only the rather cloudy weather muted the spectacle a bit. In the morning there were glimmers of sun; in the afternoon rain threatened but did not materialise.

The Barley Mow in Tandridge has had a big makeover, but this was not the time of year to be stopping there. Instead it was all sail, flying jibs and stuns’ls, to get to Oxted by nightfall, aka 4pm. Seven or eight of us went to the Spoons by the station to enjoy bottomless tea (or hot chocolate) for £1.35 and a “cookie crunch” (two spoons ice cream, crumbled cookie and chocolate sauce) for £1.55. Not only the cheapest walk tea ever, but only 346 calories, apparently.

Bill S, Sun 05 Jan 20, 12:43

Mud, mud, glorious mud! A few slippery, squelchy stretches at first leading inexorably soon afterwards to a length of fenced in path that would have made a grown hippo weep with joy. Boot topping liquid mud that would have kept a beauty parlour in face masks for weeks. Although there was plenty more to come, none of it came close to the quality of that early encounter. However conditions underfoot were such that it prompted one regular to talk shamefully of taking a bus after lunch. But most, I think stayed the course.

Thirteen of us gathered together on the platform at Earlswood station. Another walker, initially thought to be our walk poster, was spotted shuffling paper further down the platform. But he departed before us, and although our paths crossed a few times, and he seemed to be walking the same route as us he kept himself to himself and by doing so ruled himself out of the count. Later on we were joined by a dog with far too much energy which raced from end to end of our, by then, strung out group in a vain attempt to herd us together: poor thing would have had more success trying to herd cats. After 10 or 15 minutes we managed to collar it and, fearing that it might be lost (its tag showing that it hailed from Chiswick), tried to contact the owner by phone, to no avail. But moments later he appeared and, as he was following our directions and stayed with us for the rest of the walk, he qualified for the count. So 14 - of whom two were first timers - and one dog.

When we reach Bletchingley just after 12.00, five or six decided to head for the Red Lion, the recommended lunchtime pub, and were never seen again. Five of us, however, decided it was too early to stop and continued on to the Barley Mow at Tandridge where the service was prompt and the food fine. (Special mention must go the bowl of chips served to one of our number which was probably the largest in SWC history. So many were there that the recipient generously declared them a shared resource, and very fine they were to). There was a note in the bar to say that the current tenants (owners?) were leaving soon, but there was no indication that the pub was closing.

The three of us (and dog, who must have ran the walk twice over) who were out front after lunch headed straight for the station when we reached Oxted and caught the 15.53. Others were debating about stopping for tea and cake, but I don’t know whether they did so in the end.

The weather was overcast turning to clear skies-and-sunshine-in-the-afternoon. All in all a fine days walking in good company, even allowing for the mud.

14 , overcast turning to clear skies-and-sunshine-in-the-afternoon

3 caught the later train and caught up with the main group at lunchtime.

17 including the 3 on the later train and caught up at the first lunch pub.

The largest of raspberries to Cafe Papillon, conveniently close to Oxted station, but inconveniently locking at 1545 the doors that clearly declare a 1700 closing time, no matter that there were half a dozen would be customers standing in front of them. Why enter the tea shop business if you are unwilling to be open at tea time?

Hi. In the walk report, please mention if this is an apple-rich walk. Thank you.

I wrote it. It isn’t.

The walk author

If you are looking for a walk with apple orchards on, see this page:

https://nature-and-weather.walkingclub.org.uk/p/where-to.html

and scroll down to “Apple blossom”

So where woz the rest of you? Just 3 on this walk. Was it the slightly early train? The weather forecast? The walk? Or could you not tear yourself away from the news coverage of the Brexit negotiations?

You were possibly right about the weather. The Lying BBC Weather Forecast promised rain soon clearing to sun. Instead there was grey cloud with a bit of rain . The rain was a tiny bit at the start of the walk and a big dollop at the end. In between there was a tussle between grey skies to the south and somewhat brighter skies to the north. The south won.

We got to the lunch pub in Bletchingley at midday (ie, a later train would not have been a bad idea). It turned out I was the only potential pub luncher, but I guilt-tripped another into joining me. The pub menu, to its credit, included a full vegan menu with three starters and three mains: I had the not unrespectable veg curry. My companion, for the sake of balance, had a sausage baguette.

In the afternoon there were little bits of leaf colour, though the most autumnal sight was the large variety of leaves on the ground. There were also oodles and oodles of fallen sweet chestnuts - one could have filled a bucket. Less cheerfully, MUD is back - big, gloopy, sticky, slithery, sloppy, trouser-spattering mud. (Heigh-ho: only five months to spring....)

We got to Oxted at 3.30, in time for tea at the ridiculously early-closing Robertsons, where we had Darjeeling, Assam and an Americano respectively. Then to the 16.20/23 train, with sunshine on the way back into London.

One other did the walk on Tuesday in hopes of better weather and was rewarded with brilliant sunshine in the morning though grey later on.

I did the purists version of the Greensand Way (12 miles versus 10 for the SWC ) and was rewarded with some splendid views though the text is right to complain of an excess of road walking, which is strange for an official long distance path. Some of these roads were rather busy and without pavements or grass on either side.

Tuesday was Steak day at the Oxted Wetherspoons. I hope that my teeth will eventually recover!.

20 on this walk. Not as much mud as you might imagine which was a pleasant surprise. The weather was a bit heavy feeling with one or two complaining about it being a bit humid. The people who ate lunch said it was good, the rest of us had sandwiches in the church grounds. Some of us went and had a look in the church afterwards and I think I may have, in hindsight, wrongly suggested that the church had an anchorite. There was definitely a brass plaque honouring a hermit next to a part of the church wall which was in the correct position for a bricked up cell but whether it was the window overlooking the alter or not I'm not 100% sure. Will check it out in a bit more detail next time. Tea and cakes were enjoyed in Oxted by all except me because the tearoom didn't have a vegan cake option. The tea was all right though.

It's worth recording that Robertsons, the most obvious tea stop in Oxted's high street, and very conveniently near to the station

- had run out of Earl Grey tea

- had run out of all but one kind of cake

- announced with no subtlety at all that it would be closing shortly.

It perplexes me why the UK can be a world leader in various high tech disciplines but finds it so challenging to run a tea shop.

I share your perplexity, David. Perhaps the answer is that if you ARE the kind of person who is a world leader in a hi-tech discipline, you don’t run a tea shop. Possibly in other countries with more enthusiastic restaurant staff there are fewer hi-tech opportunities....

What high tech disciplines is the UK a world leader in, again?

The dispute on Southern services centres on Southern's desire to change the role of guards on some services. At present, guards close the doors, though drivers open them. Southern's position is that on some services - eg the Gatwick Express, which does not have intermediate stops and where there are always platform staff dispatching trains - the guard is not needed. On some other trains, Southern plans to reduce guards to "On Board Supervisors" - ie not operating the doors, but checking tickets, issuing tickets, dealing with queries and disabled passengers. However, they say there will be no compulsory redundancies, just that future staff will be hired to the new roles.

The RMT unions see this as threatening jobs and safety. In particular they point to incidents on driver only operated trains where passengers were trapped in the doors and the driver drove off. They also (probably correctly) see this as a backdoor to having more driver only operations. Once a guard is no longer essential for the operation of the train, then it will be easier to remove them from services at short notice. (It also means that a guard being unavailable will not necessarily cause the service to be cancelled, as is the case at present). It is worth noting that driver-only operation does already take place on some very busy routes, such as some Thameslink services, as well as on the Underground, of course. (On Underground trains, however, the doors are very sensitive to obstruction, so the train cannot move with a bag stuck in the door, let alone a body part. This is NOT true of mainline trains with automatic doors.)

A back story here is that the Southern-Thameslink-Gatwick Express-Great Northern mega franchise, currently held by Govia (who also have the Southeastern franchise, incidentally) is something of a special case. Because of disruption to Thameslink services due to the London Bridge upgrades, it is not a proper franchise at all, but a kind of management contract, where Southern run the trains for the government for a fixed fee, and the government get the profits or otherwise from revenue fluctuations. Why this matters is that previously rail operators have been afraid of having long confrontations with unions for fear of losing profits. In this case Govia lose no profit. The suspicion is that they have been privately egged on by the government to take on the RMT over working practices. Or perhaps this is just a conspiracy theory?

Is the Haycutter open?

I passed there on a recce for Hampstead Ramblers a few weeks ago and it was closed awaiting building work after changing hands. I had lunch in Old Oxted instead.

Sounds like the Haycutter is not open, then.

For the info of other walkers, this is no biggie. It was just a possible pub stop 1 mile before the end of the walk. Other options in Oxted, or, for afternoon drinks, earlier at the Barley Mow. I have checked the websites of all the three other pubs and they all seem to be in normal operation

...on the 'taking a sickie'-issue at Southern Trains...

I chatted to a guard on the Uckfield line today, and he said "it's only the guys from Barnham, Brighton and Eastbourne depots doing this, there's no issues with us from the Selhurst depot" (and all others, presumably...).

fwiw

Shortcut still blocked 03 June 16

27 on this walk, 23 on the specified train, 3 on the short start and 1 late starter who caught us mid afternoon. The weather was warm but cloudy with some sun in the afternoon . A pleasant walk, some nice views, good buttercups. Surprise was expressed at there being such nice countryside so close to London. We survived the dark tunnel under the M23 and found the lunch pub in Bletchingley not too busy and very speedy at producing meals. Most had a mid afternoon drink stop In the Barley Mow and the pub by Oxted station was a popular place to finish up (it even did cream teas).

http://news.southeasternrailway.co.uk/H/2/v10000014f6452b981864ddb163e0d98c7/Html

To reply to the last comment: nevertheless both of the stated outbound trains are running, according to both the National Rail and Southeastern websites. I think you will find that they are trains en route to Hastings and Tonbridge which are being diverted via Redhill due to the engineering work.

It is always nice to have alert walkers checking the details but be assured I don't post any walk without first checking the trains I propose are actually running.

With the lunch spot being 3.8 miles into the walk, the early start will get you to the pub at 12pm at latest. Looks like the later start is more sensible and probably get you to the pub around 1pm.

The lunch pub is only 2 miles from Nutfield (the later start). There's some climbing in each case but I'd expect both groups to arrive between 12 & 12:15 at a moderate pace.

I have never tried this pub at a weekend and have no idea how busy or otherwise it is. It is a big place but there is no harm getting there early to have more chance of getting a nice table. There is an alternative down the road.

And yes, I estimate the main and late starters should arrive at the pub roughly together, so they can then mix and match in the afternoon.

Sean, If we take the later train, still do 3.9 miles in the morning (ie no short cut), can we get to the pub by 1pm ish?

Are the photos on this walk's web page right, they say Earsfield to Otford?

About 20 on this walk, 6 of whom opted for the later start at Nutfield.

Not too bad underfoot, considering the recent rain. The walk goes through some nice woodland and takes in some nice views.

Not far from Nutfield, the Nutfield 6 got slightly confused. That’ll teach them to follow Mr Tiger. (Although whether Mr Tiger or the directions were at fault, nobody knows. Nobody was paying attention). Luckily, Mr GPS-Owner soon had everybody back on course.

Lunch was at the Red Lion which seemed OK. The 6 did indeed meet up with the others and even co-mingled to some extent. Later some stopped off at the Barley Mow and at least one at the Haycutters. In Oxted, some got to Robertsons, some went on to Caffe Nero, being just too late for Café Papillon. Mr Tiger went to the Wetherspoons.

mostly cloudy humid light rain for some of the time

Am I allowed to enter a minority report for the weather? sunny in the morning but light rain after lunch . Seven or eight of us had tea in the coffee shop of the Everyman Cinema who were very friendly and served super cookies. Praise also to the lunch pub, the Red Lion, which ticked all the boxes for me - friendly, efficient, quality food served rapidly from a varied menu, nice decor, lots of tables, pleasant outside terrace: all walk pins should be like this.

Most seemed also to like this new walk.

Pins in last comment = pubs