Time Out Country Walks near London Volume 1
Walk 22 : Haslemere (round walk)
Marley Common & Black Down
| Length | 14km (8.7 miles), 4 hours 15 minutes. For the whole outing, including trains and meals,allow 8 hours 30 minutes. |
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| OS Landranger Map | No.186. Haslemere, map reference SU 897 329, is in Surrey, 13km south of Godalming. |
| Toughness | 4 out of 10. |
| Features | The route is through very beautiful countryside. It is mainly National Trust land - mixed woods with blackberries and bluebells and heathlands of bracken, gorse, heather and bilberry, with fine views from Black Down, the highest point in Sussex. It is particularly lovely when the rhododendrons are in flower in late spring, although the heathland is at its most colourful in late summer. The afternoon's bridleways can be very muddy in wet weather. |
| Shortening the Walk | There is an hourly bus service from Fernhurst (the halfway-mark lunchtime village) back to Haslemere (the bus goes from the top of Hogs Hill Road in Fernhurst, along the A286). |
| History |
In Tudor and Stuart times Haslemere was a centre for the iron industry. With the coming of the railway in the mid-nineteenth century it became a popular spot for literary people. The poet Tennyson's house, Aldworth, is on the slopes of Black Down where he loved to walk; and George Eliot wrote Middlemarch in Shottermill. The town has an interesting museum up the High Street, 100 metres north of the Georgian Hotel. The museum is open 10am to 5pm Tuesday to Saturday, and has a fine explanatory display of local wild flowers in the foyer. |
| Lunch | The suggested lunchtime stop is the Red Lion pub (tel 01428 643 112), by the village green at Fernhurst, offering quality home cooking. It serves food until 2.30pm daily. Groups of more than 20 people should phone to book. |
| Warning | This text was taken from an older edition of the book, and is a little out of date. Please check the updates for this walk. |
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Walking Instructions
For a map and detailed walking instruction, please see Time Out Country Walks near London Volume 1
