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Tattenham Corner Circular Walk

Exploring a First World War Centenary Wood taking shape behind Epsom Downs racecourse.

Circular Surrey

History

This is a list of previous times this walk has been done by the club (since Jan 2010). For more recent events (since April 2015), full details are shown.

Date Option Post # Weather
Sun, 11-Aug-24 a Tattenham Corner to Merstham 11 hot sunny
Sat, 16-Dec-23 Tattenham Corner Circular (Omitting Banstead Heath) 9 Cloudy
Sun, 09-Oct-22 [New] – Tattenham Corner Circular, via Langley Vale Wood 21 sunny

Sunday 11-Aug-24

Sean
Extra Walk 398a – Tattenham Corner to Merstham

Length: 18 km (11.2 miles). Toughness: 4/10

10:05 Reigate train from Victoria (Clapham Jct 10:12, East Croydon 10:23), changing at Purley (arr 10:28, dep 10:37) onto the Tattenham Corner train, arriving there at 11:01.

From north or central London you could take a Thameslink service direct to Purley (St Pancras 09:40…Blackfriars 09:49…Purley 10:18) but note that they're not going via London Bridge this Sunday. South Londoners might be able to pick up the Caterham / Tattenham Corner service directly as it calls at almost every station imaginable after leaving London Bridge at 09:44.

Return trains from Merstham are hourly to Victoria at xx:15, plus Thameslinks via Blackfriars at xx:10 & xx:37.

You can use Oyster at both stations, but Merstham is one stop outside the TfL Zones. You'd need to buy a single to Coulsdon South if you've got a Freedom Pass or buy a Travelcard.

Witness I was hoping that some of the fields in the First World War Centenary Wood at Langley Vale would be a sea of red as they were a few summers ago, but sadly the poppies have all but disappeared. However, there will still be plenty of other wildflowers to brighten up the new plantations.

The suggested lunch pub is the Blue Ball in Walton on the Hill, with the Village Café as an alternative and benches next to Mere Pond where you can munch sandwiches. If you'd prefer to do more than half the walk before stopping you could carry on for another 50 minutes to The Sportsman on the other side of Banstead Heath. The Junction 8 servery at the Reigate Hill car park is available for a mid-afternoon reviver, and The Feathers is a stone's throw from Merstham station.

You'll need to bring the directions from the L=swc.398.a

  • Mon, 12-Aug-24

    11 on a hot sunny day. 8 sped off leaving 3 slowies at the back. A first time for this version of the walk. The morning took us through the WW1 memorial woodland, which was stuffed to the gills with wild flowers - predominantly seas of wild carrot, but other stuff too. And the butterflies, plenty butterflies. Small blue, brown, yellow. The flowers continued for most of the morning. They were there in the afternoon too, just not as much. Most stopped at the Bell where they complemented their drinks with their picnic stuff( they don’t do food there)

    4 went to the Blue ball. 1 ate, the others drank.

    The afternoon was more cohesive, as the - by now, merry - band made their way across Banstead Heath to the Sportsman, where there might have been a shecond shtop. It was hot, though.

    A later stop on the downs allowed a kindly benefactor to buy Mr Tiger an ice cream.

    Most got to the station about 18:00 some earlier. The. Walk was declared enjoyable. A bit too hot, but can’t complain, eh?

Saturday 16-Dec-23

PeteG
Length: 8.1 miles, 13km. 4 out of 10
This is a new walk for a Saturday, and any decisions about doing a longer walk are after lunch. " Tattenham Corner station was built to serve Epsom Downs Racecourse and you soon get a fine view along its finishing straight towards the Grandstand. A ridge walk along Walton Downs then takes you to what was once arable farmland in Langley Vale but is being transformed by the Woodland Trust into a First World War Centenary Wood , with poignant sculptures in new plantations and wildflower meadows. After an undulating route through this extensive site a sustained gentle climb brings you to the lunch stop in Walton on the Hill , with its attractive village pond.

The afternoon section starts with an optional loop around the partly-wooded Banstead Heath (part of Banstead Commons ). The rest of the walk is similar to the outward leg in reverse: past riding stables, through another part of the Centenary Wood and over Walton Downs to the racecourse."

T=swc.398
Trains: Get the 1010 Tattenham Corner train from London Bridge (Southern so probably around platform 11) (East Croydon 1031) arriving 1108. The station is in Zone 6. Return trains xx15, xx45.
Lunch: The Blue Ball Walton on the hill after 7.5km.
  • Sun, 17-Dec-23

    #9, # Cloudy , good choice of walk after last week's rain, Epsom Downs Race Course is on chalk and drains well but there was some mud latter on narrow / overgrown footpaths. The Woodland Trust Langley Valley plantation / first world war memorial has been much extended with thousands of trees planted, a community orchard sponsored by Sainsbury's and more. It would be worth going back in spring for the wild flowers and field of poppies etc. Three of us had lunch at the Blue Ball, very welcoming but food was slow to arrive and served on cold plates! I am not sure what happened to the others after lunch but at least two walked back to Tattenham Corner and two of us took a short cut to Tadworth with its excellent coffee and cake place near the station.

Sunday 09-Oct-22

Sean
Extra Walk 398 – Tattenham Corner Circular

Length: 15 km (9.3 miles). Toughness: 3/10

10:05 Reigate train from Victoria (Clapham Jct 10:12, East Croydon 10:23), changing at Purley (arr 10:29, dep 10:45) for the Tattenham Corner train, arriving there at 11:09.

The gamblers among you could risk the 10:12 Caterham train from London Bridge; it's due to reach Purley at 10:43 which would give you two minutes to jog through the subway to Platform 5 for the connection.

Return trains from Tattenham Corner are hourly at xx:13, again changing at Purley. An alternative would be to take the longer ending to Epsom Downs station, where there are half-hourly trains to Victoria at xx:05 & xx:35.

Southern trains generally seem to be running OK by 10am following a strike day, but if you do get stranded at Purley you could consider switching to another SWC walk in the vicinity (eg. at Coulsdon or Whyteleafe).

Witness I'd been thinking of leaving this walk until next summer when the hills behind Epsom Downs will be awash with poppies and other wildflowers, but I'm posting it now because the First World War Centenary Wood at Langley Vale featured in the edition of Ramblings broadcast on Radio 4 on September 22. Those of you who are tech-savvy will know how to retrieve it and the 20-minute programme will give you a good idea of what to expect on this walk (a spin-off from the Merstham to Tattenham Corner walk, with a longer route through the Centenary Wood).

The suggested lunch pub is the Blue Ball in Walton on the Hill, with the Village Café as an alternative and benches next to Mere Pond where you can munch sandwiches. At the end of the walk you can grab a takeaway drink and snack from the Downs Lunch Box kiosk or relax in a large Beefeater pub.

You'll need to bring the directions from the L=swc.398

  • Mon, 03-Oct-22

    A regular race-goer recommended The Point Cafe or Silver Spoon Diner on Tattenham Corner Crescent. I don't know their opening hours but they're close to the station so might be worth checking out.

  • Sat, 08-Oct-22

    Will maybe try this one instead as didnt make Tring today in spite of gd intentions J

  • Sat, 08-Oct-22

    Going... Paul

  • Sun, 09-Oct-22

    21 set of on a sunny day, alongside the racecourse at quite a lick. In fact, and this is true, readers, we were asked to slow down in case we frightened the horses. That’s how fast.

    A lot of the morning was taken up with the First World War Wood. An impressive size and some evocative sculptures.

    At last it was lunchtime. 2 went into the Bell (aka the Rat) for a drink, most went on to the Blue Ball (who had said they were fully booked earlier but were still serving in the garden). People there liked what they got. Some went for childrens portions which were ample. A select few went to the caff. One sat by the pond and threw bread at the gulls.

    We coalesced later for a loop round Banstead Common.

    The group split up again in the afternoon, one peeling off for Epsom, some for Tadworth and the rest racing back towards T C. Faster and faster they went but they couldn’t shake off Mr Tiger. No sirree. Then it was all over and the 16:13 hauled us back to Purley and home. A grand day out.