An alternative lunch option on this walk, about 1km beyond the top of Box Hill, is the Smith & Western restaurant. We have eaten there on walks before. American food.

https://www.smith-western.co.uk/boxhill

Another tea option might be The Village Cafe at 15b Walton St, Walton-on-the-Hill (not far from The Blue Ball. I think it is still open.

The Tree pub has unfortunately closed down for any walkers thinking of a late afternoon stop

15,I think on this enjoyable walk, without any gloopy mud. I think 3 were in a slower group and weren't seen again. A few did the additional morning loop, with everyone regrouping in the Smith and Western, where 8 had a table booked. Most of us manged to be indoors for the short but dramatic hail storm.

Some afternoon fragmentation, thankfully dry and sunny, with a regroup stop at the Blue Boar for 9 of us,2 having done the long afternoon route. 4 of us staying for a later train with welcome 'supplies'.

plenty of sun and one big hailstorm

The Tree did not serve food when we did this walk in January this year. It now seems to cater almost exclusively for events. I suggest to call before deciding to have lunch there.

Just 3 on this pleasant little walk on the doorstep of London, including one first timer and one local who had not been on a walk for some number of years. The local brought us on a short tour of the village of Tadworth before we set off on the official route. On reaching the Cock Inn the local decided to circle back to Tadworth. The remaining 2 carried on and opted for the sharp up and down of the White Hill extension and then enjoyed the view from Box Hill. At this point, we parted company with our newcomer continuing on the main route and yours truly dropping down to Westhumble to catch a train back to London for an evening commitment. I hope our newcomer enjoyed the rest of the walk. As a note for future posts -- dropping down at Boxhill makes for a nice short option which does not exclude the highlights of the walk (though need to get a train ticket supplement). Also, the Smith & Weston pub on the Box Hill escarpment makes for a good lunch option -- located more centrally in the walk. Initially humid and cloudy clearing later .

Make that4. I took the 10.12 train. Not knowing which route option(s) others would be taking, I decided not to try and intercept the group and did the 14km version. The sections over Headley Heath were especially nice.

I popped into The Tree in Boxhill Village, which is open for drinks until Friday 14th July. After then, it's sadly closing it's doors and it's future is unknown.

Make that5: as it wasn’t raining I made a last-minute decision to get the bus to Box Hill, walking the route in reverse from the visitor centre starting about 11. By the time I got to High Ashurst I realised any SWC walkers would have long since passed that point. I wandered around Headley Heath, not necessarily following the correct route, then decided to follow the reverse route back to Box Hill. My phone wrongly told me there were no trains from Westhumble so I cut downhill and walked into Dorking - a nice route except for the last km on the main road. Fantastic wild flowers and a few butterflies. Sorry not to have bumped into any of you

I did enjoy the rest of the walk thanks. Lunch at the Smith & Weston was welcome - I wouldn't have wanted to wait any longer. A picnic near the viewpoint would have been ideal in hindsight.

5 met at the station, 3 off the train, 2 by car. Half way to the lunch pub a call ahead informed us that the kitchen is closed until further notice. The two without a picnic picked up some sandwiches from the nearby convenience store. Half the pub has been converted into a function room making the pub much smaller and giving it a rather forlorn atmosphere, a place in search of a future. We were the only guests. However, we sat on sofas by the roaring fire consuming our provisions with some suitable liquid from the bar. On the way back 4 of us stopped at the village cafe in Walton on the Hill for tea and delectable cakes only marred for yours truly by an unfortunate mix-up between English breakfast and Earl Grey ..... Back in Tadworth we split into car drivers and train passengers after admiring one the the car driver's "beautiful" car.

This is a pleasant walk in any season and one of the great ones in the summer leading from suburban London into the dramatic North Downs following country lanes, bridal and woodland paths, coloured briefly by the modern music of the M25. It was mostly dry with the occasional drizzle and only one sharp shower just before lunch.

An attraction you forgot to mention are the Pygmy goats 🐐

clear blue sky 14 variously arriving by train and car and joining at random intervals. Most did the Whitehill extension and got quickly to the Box Hill view point where at least one went for tea and was never seen again. The rest converged on the Tree which provided a really excellent Sea Bass in a Sunny sheltered garden. Service was a bit slow for some and we were there for two hours but we all enjoyed the experience. After lunch five did the longer route via the North Downs Way and Walton Heath stopping at the Blue Ball for further refreshment. The others made their way back to various car parks and Tadworth. A great day out and I hope many more to come now the days are longer.

All trains canceled this morning due to major disruption. A group is heading towards Epsom Downs to start walk from there and hopefully pick up route on Headley Heath.

Chaos was the order of the day. At least at the start....Fortunately, one prospective walker had altered me to the vast cancellations, so I was somewhat prepared for the situation at London Bridge on arrival where nearly every train was cancelled for the foreseeable future....Almost immediately bumping into some regulars milling about the station, one of whom had a very good suggestion of taking one of the few functioning trains to Epsom Downs from where we could eventually pick up the originally planned route near Headley Heath....Doing a sweep of the station, I managed to find a number of other familiar faces and altered them of the new plan...so, eventually 11 of us arrived (slightly delayed) at Epsom Downs for an experimental map-led route across the race course, through some woods, under the M25 to connect with the route at the church in Headley....Here one opted for an early lunch and the rest carried on...Given the late start, some opted for the shorter walk while a few with picnics managed to make it all the way to Boxhill. On the short version, one late starter caught up with two who had a rest break on the heath and 3 others (who had managed to start in Tadworth by taking a tram from West Croydon to East Croydon and catching a train south from there) met the rest of the group at the late lunch pub where at least one lunched and the others had refreshments. Two more regulars where encountered on our way back across the heath to Tadworth who had designed their own route in the area, making for 17 on what turned out to be a very enjoyable and varied walk after a rather doomed start....in warm initially cloudy changing to sunny conditions . Fortunately, train services had resumed normal operations by about 3:30pm....

Dear SWC, Is there a problem with the maps.me GPS file for this walk? Thank you.

Dear Anonymous, Yes there is a problem with that KML file. Some of the waypoints contain nested CDATA tags but this is invalid XML. If you understand XML then either remove one set of CDATA tags or remove the entire description. Alternatively if you have a mapping app that supports GPX (maps.me does not) then use that with the GPX file for this walk.

Thank you kindly, Mark. As many will not be XML-savvy, could the SWC IT gurus clean up the maps.me file, possibly? Much appreciated.

BTW I've got a GPS-friendly app, but others might be reliant on maps. me? Thank you, SWC.

GPX, of course!

Die to weather forecast... would anyone be interested in starting one hour earlier?

Hi. Is there a report on this walk? Thank you.

I think there were 12 at the station and 2 others caught our group up so probably 14 on this walk. Our group intended to do both the morning and afternoon extensions but whilst relaxing in the Tree pub the weather deteriorated so much we decided to opt for the easy route home. Highlights of the day were hearing a chiff chaff, having a pick-nick among the wild flowers on Juniper Hill, admiring some of the incredible yew trees on this walk and last but not least a piano recital at the Tree pub by one of our very own fellow walkers.

Other birds heard and seen:

Blackbird. Black-headed gull. Blue tit. Buzzard. Carrion crow. Chiffchaff. Dunnock. Goldcrest. Goldfinch. Green woodpecker. House sparrow. Jackdaw. Magpie. Mallard. MARSH TIT. Nuthatch. Pied wagtail. Ring-necked parakeet. Robin. Songthrush. Stock dove. 8Swifts. Whitethroat. Woodpigeon. Wren.

Also:

Cinnabar moth. Gatekeeper butterfly.

A very pleasant walk in company of a friendly small group of nice people.

Very refreshing after the lockdown... also thanks to some rain showers.

I missed the train and was 30 minutes behind the the main group. I'd got the written directions and a compass, but I got lost on Hadley Heath and couldn't find the correct path so I'd appreciate more detail in Point 13 In more detail: at precent it says "enter the heath. Follow the well-used path for 360 metres, ignoring all ways off". So after the entrance gate I followed the only path, but after about 40 - 5- metres there was a fork and the left fork looked a more-used path so I took that route, which later went past a large house to the left. I now realise that I should have taken the right fork even though it seemed to be a lesser path. So I suggest that you add something like: "Enter the heath. Follow the main path. After xx metres you come to a fork in the path, take the right-hand fork. (if there's a large house to your left you are on the wrong path !)

Thanks anonymous. Surprised to hear this is still an issue. Ive flagged it before. If/when I post it again I'll add a note in my intro. Any advance on 1 ? Anyone?

Five off the train, at least one late comer, and two very regulars plus daughter at lunch, so I am going to count that as 6, though it might have been one or two higher.

Pub lunch satisfactory apart from bird chirping from the loudspeakers and driving me nuts. For me there is no such thing as background music; all music is foreground music. Apparently this noise is in the background of some track that is current at the moment.

Directions fine with GPS. I have been insufficiently prompt in writing this to recall with certainty the weather but I think it was cloudy but no rain .

Do i get the train from London Bridge to Tadworth?

Yes but if you're buying a ticket then opt for Tattenham Corner to keep the options open, same price. And...in Walton-on the Hill just a stroll from the Blue Ball is Pistols Kitchen Pie Shed...worth a look

Who is perfectly imperfect?

Tattenham corner is there to help with the train destination boards.

"...about 10..." I was told on the Thursday evening walk, with some walking a map led shortcut before lunch because of a fear of rain, and some also taking a bus after lunch to cut out a substantial bit due to actual rain.

10 rainy

I have been eyeing the Milford to Haselmere walk for awhile. It would be wonderful to do it with the club. RMT permitting.

Hi guys

I am attending this walk as I am getting a break from the builders. Like to do the full main walk and possible extension and care to join me? Yes hopefully some heather too.

Monica

For those who wish to take the short cut in the morning, if you take 10:47 train - an hour later, with any luck, you will arrive at the pub at similar time to the group which did the long version via Boxhill in the morning. I am told by the ‘official’ source, more heather will be seen with the short cut than the long version.

Thanks for the tip re short cut. A few of us plan to take the 10:47 train.

“Sources close to the walk poster” say that there MAY (could possibly, might plausibly be expected to be) more heather in the short cut as it stays on the heartland while the main route goes into the non-heathy Box Hill.

27 on this walk, a number reached after complicated calculations and the collating of various reports from those on the specified train, the one an hour later, the one in between etc. The various factions did manage to meet and mix, so that was good. All possible variations and options of the walk also got a thorough airing.

There was no heather. Just a tiny patch. So it was the other sort of heath after all. Only five butterflies all day. Most of the downland flowers were over (though there was a good showing of clustered bellflower on Juniper Top). The weather was mostly grey , with even a feeling at times that it might rain. It did not, but it felt a bit like summer was over despite the sticky humidity.

In places the directions could definitely do with some TLC. The Tree proved an efficient lunch pub with big portions even of the vegetarian dishes, which made a nice change. People enjoyed their drink at the Bell but yours truly would like to lodge a protest at this being described as “the tea pub” as it does not do hot drinks. My companion and I (as the restaurant reviews say) backtracked 300 metres to the Blue Ball, a glorious place with a glassed-in terrace and garden which does proper tea in pots and serves nice deserts. Mention this as a tea option in the walk directions, please, and don’t assume everyone finds 1970 time-warp boozers charming.

Agree with tea pub feedback. Thought I'd already changed it. Will do.

The reccomended tea pub is, I see, changed on the home page but not in the pdf. The latter proved influential yesterday, with walkers scorching my suggestion that we stop at the Blue Ball by waving paper instructions at me and saying the Bell was the “official” tea stop.

Indeed, an enjoyable day with varied company thanks to the variations different groups chose. I finished the walk at Mickleham to get the bus home and avoid the SWR strike - had to run down White Hill to catch the 1624 after dallying in the lunch pub, but this was a good way of adding the morning short cut and extension routes to the main walk.

I've suggested a couple of edits to the directions on the walk comments page.

Is it possible to join the group on the train at East Croydon for this walk? And can I bring my dog with me?

Grace: Yes. See the 'FAQ' page on our website.

Brill! Would it be possible to meet the group at Tadworth station then? I’ll be getting on the train at East Croydon but just in case I can’t find you would be great to meet there.

It is unlikely that you will find everyone sat together on the train, but people will gather on the arrival platform before setting off on the walk. They should be easy to spot.

Thank you for the info. Something came up so I won't be able to make it tomorrow, but will try to do another walk very soon.

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

Since when are the comments policed?!

Explanation please!

17 people plus Bear the larger than life but gentle puppy! Weather was drizzly . Most of us did the short walk. I think only 2 went on the long option. The Tree pub easily accommodated us for foods and/or drinks at lunch time where we were joined by the "walks inspector". Despite his kind offer of a lift back to civilisation from the pub, the thought of yet more mud and drizzle was just too tempting and so all ventured on. At Walton on the Hill, the Grey Dove cafe was closed but a few went into the pub for tea while others headed straight for the station. A nice day out.

A great day out, great walk, lovely people and lovely doggie.. see you all again soon, Dee

Two did indeed walk the Box Hill extension in the morning, didn't see anyone else doing it. We had a very nice lunch in the small NT cafe there. The mist really thickened and there were no views at all at the viewpoint. We carried on and did the same route as the main group in the afternoon, getting to Tadworth in the descending gloom and catching the 5.22pm train. It was a very good day out, atmospheric and full of small delights such as the raindrops decorating the birch trees.

The Smith & Western is a rather "nice" place:- very family orientated and almost certainly "walking boots off".

There's an interesting place just beside the Cock Inn pub at Headley; it's the Headley Village Stores. Loads of hot and cold drinks and snacks,plus they'll make a sandwich to your taste

30 on this walk, on yet another mainly sunny Saturday (after early cloud cleared). So many people did so many different things that a unified narrative of the day is impossible, but I think all options were done - short, main, both extensions. At least some did the full 14.3 miles possible.

It was a lovely day, lots of song thrushes were singing for the first time this year and it was fascinating to discover that the vast expanses of Headley Heath were so accessible from Tadworth station. Quite a lot of people seem to have had lunch in The Tree and at least five of us had tea at the mobile kiosk on Headley Heath, which was towed away by its owner after we had finished with it.

I personally think the directions are wrong to suggest The Bell as the tea pub - a very basic old style boozer, despite its romantic location. The Blue Ball slightly earlier would have been better. But a convenience store just beyond Tadworth station saved the day and provided my second cuppa.

Thanks to J&J for the evening's entertainment....

Just 3 SWC stalwarts on this attractive walk in the Surrey Hills one of whom caught a later train and eventually met up with the two others at the Tree on Box Hill.Perfect walking in warm and sunny weather and the hills and woods looked glorious in the autumn sun. A tricky walk to navigate even with a map or GPS as there is a multiplicity of paths in some areas and even when you think you are on the right track you either later find out you should have been on a hidden adjacent path or the route file is taking you across terrain where there is no clear way ahead. It would be a major task to do a full write-up of this complex walk but unless there are some directions to accompany each map then it is unlikely to attract many SWC walkers which would be a pity as it has much to recommend it.

All three of us had a final drink in the woodland garden at the "Rat" before the short walk to the station.

Just 1 more. Attempted to join you for the afternoon. Joanna and I had lunch at the Tree on Box Hill and then I did an approximation to the morning route in reverse. Given its within Zone 6 and very attractive it is worth a writing up - may be we need to revise the GPS route a bit to make it possible to describe.

Did a slight variation of the walk, see http://www.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/view.do?id=10995054 - only thing is I wasn't sure if the GPS route over Walton Heath is actually a public right of way (it didn't look like it was), so I chose the safe and slightly longer option around the golf club.

Historical duplicate/misleading attendance numbers cleanup project: 4