Walk 12 : Guildford to Farnham

Main walk 22.2km (13.8 miles),7 hours walking time: for the whole outing including meals and trains, allow 10 hours 30 minutes

Short walks: Guildford Round Walk: 12.3km (7.8 miles), four hours walking time. Farnham Round Walk: 14.4km (8.9 miles) or 4 hours 30 minutes walking time, or 16.2km (10.1 miles), 5 hours walking time. Guildford to Godalming: 12.1km (7.5 miles), three hours forty five minutes walking time

OS Landranger Map No 186. OS Explorer Map No 145

4 out of 10

Think Surrey, and you probably think of pretty villages, gentle green pastures, and the country houses of retired stockbrokers. The first part of this walk conforms to that image, but the second, after lunch, takes you into the suprisingly wild and uninhabited Surrey Heathlands - a vast area of woods, sandy grassland and heather-covered moors which at times feels more like southern Spain or Portugal than England.

The lack of habitation in this area means that it was either taken over by the army for exercises or bypassed by the railways, and so to visit it requires a long walk: the afternoon of this walk is 13.9 km (8.7) miles, or four hours thirty minutes walking time, as long in itself as some of the walks in this book: this is thus a walk for a long spring or summer day. The good news, however, is that there is no rush to get to tea: the excellent Bush Hotel in Farnham serves cream teas in a lounge crammed with comfortable sofas well into the evening.

Special note This walk was created by Nicholas Albery, author of the first Time Out Book of Country Walks and the inspiration for this book, shortly before his untimely death in June 2001 (see intro pX). It is thus the last walk he created, and the only one in this book to have been devised by him.

The walk came about because of the Foot and Mouth crisis of that year, which meant most country footpaths were closed. To the immense gratitude of walkers, Surrey was the first county in the South East to open its paths, and this walk was created as a result. We were obviously hungry for exercise after the weeks cooped up in town, because in May of that year we did this walk three weeks in a row (once in reverse) without ever noticing its length.

Since Foot and Mouth restrictions are happily long gone, the author has been able to introduce one or two variations to the original plan, mainly to eliminate road walking and provide variety in the morning section. The walk is otherwise exactly as Nicholas Albery created it.

While the best of the heathlands - Puttenham Common in particular - can only be reached by doing the main walk, three shorter options are suggested here. For all these options, see the special sections end of the main text for detailed walk directions.

The Guildford Round Walk does not go near the heaths, but it makes a pleasant afternoon or short day outing from Guildford, with the interesting Watts Gallery and Chapel or Loseley Park as its focus. This route is 12.3km (7.8 miles) or four hours walking time.

A Farnham Round Walk is possible by combining the early stages of the Farnham to Godalming walk, walk 12 in the original Time Out Book of Country Walks, with the later stages of the main walk here. Though this does not take in the wildest bits of the heath, it offers you a good introduction. There are two options for the Farnham Round Walk. The longer and recommended option takes in the two lunch stops in the original Time Out book and 16.2km (10.1 miles) miles long, 5 hours walking time. The shorter route is 14.4km (8.9 miles) long, 4 hours 30 minutes walking time, but offers no lunch stop.

It is also possible to combine either of the two routes described here from Guildford to Watts Gallery with the second half of walk 2, Warnborough to Godalming, in the original Time Out Book of Country Walks, to make a Guildford to Godalming walk of 12.1km (7.5 miles), or three hours forty five minutes walking time

There is also a very limited weekday bus service from a stop just next to the Good Intent in Puttenham, the lunchtime pub on the main walk, to both Guildford and Farnham which allows you to do the morning or afternoon half of the main walk. Tel 0870 608 2608 for times

Still a family residence, Loseley Park (tel 01483 304440)was built in 1562 by Sir William More and is considered a fine example of Elizabethan architecture. Its attractions include paintings, tapestries and panelling from Henry VIII's now lost Nonesuch Palace, and a beautifully restored walled garden. The famous Loseley Park ice cream brand also originated here, and is on sale in the house's shop, though the product is actually manufactured elsewhere.
Opening Times:
Garden, Shop and Tea Room: May to September, Tuesday to Sunday, 11.00 am to 5.00 pm, plus Bank Holiday Mondays in May and August.
Loseley House: May to August, Tuesday to Thursday and Sunday, 1.00 pm to 5.00 pm, plus Bank Holiday Mondays in May and August.
Garden/Grounds:£3,00 adult, £1.50 child, £2.50 concession.
House and Garden:£6.00 adult, £3.00 child, £5.00 concession.
Check these details on www.loseley-park.com.

The official way into the house is 600 metres south along the lane crossed at point [3] in the walk. However, the information staff at the house have advised the author that it is all right to either walk up to the house from the lake, or go through the gate marked PRIVATE at the point marked [*] in the text, provided that the gardens are open to the public that day, and provided that your intention is to visit the house, gardens or tea room. Once inside the grounds, to get to the tea room, follow the signs through a gateway in the wall to the left hand (eastern) end of the main façade of the house. The shop and ticket kiosk for the house and walled garden are also through this gateway.

Watts Gallery, Down Lane, Compton (tel 01483 810235) exhibits the paintings of 19th century painter and sculptor George Frederick Watts, who has - perhaps somewhat fancifully - been described as "England's Michelangelo". Contemporary with the pre-Raphaelites, the paintings have a similar character to them. Part of the pleasure of the gallery is the cosy and unpretentious atmosphere of the place. As Nicholas Albery, creator of the original Time Out Book of Country Walks commented: "This is how all galleries should be: wonderfully intimate, eccentric and on a human scale". The gallery is open 2pm to 6pm daily except Thursday and 11am to 1pm Wednesday and Saturday from April to September: from October to March it closes at 4pm instead.

Watts Chapel was the project of Watt's second wife, Mary, who designed this Celtic, Byzantine art nouveau masterpiece without architectural or building experience. Much of the work was done by local villagers. Every interior surface is covered with what Mrs Watts called "glorified wallpaper" - angels and seraphs made out of gesso, a material which her husband used when rheumatism meant he could no longer handle wet clay. The painter himself is buried in the cloister behind the chapel

The Surrey Heaths are not as natural as they look, nor as extensive as they used to be. Based on the sandy Greensand soils, they are in fact an ancient man-made habitat created by rural communities over many generations of grazing and wood cutting. With the decline in the grazing of animals on the heaths in the last century, the woodland has gradually started to re-occupy the heaths. Puttenham Common is now actively managed to preserve its unique habitat for plants and animals.

Take the train nearest to 9.40 am from London Waterloo to Guildford. Trains back from Farnham also run into Waterloo. A train an hour later to Guildford is sufficient if you are doing the Guildford Round Walk.

To get from Farnham back to Guildford by train, change at Woking, from where there are several trains an hour to Guildford. There is a large car park next to Guildford station and the station is also close to the town centre. Farnham Station is also close to its town centre

On the main walk, an early lunch can be had at the tea shop at Watts Gallery, 5.5km (3.4 miles) into the walk, which is open daily 10.30am to 5.30pm. This serves delicious fried breakfasts, as well as cakes and sandwiches.

The recommended lunch stop, however, is the Good Intent pub in Puttenham (tel 01483 810387) 8.3km (5.2 miles) into the walk, which serves food from 12pm to 2pm daily. Its short but wholesome menu combines British favourites like bangers and mash with more exotic fare such as curries. It has a small garden.

If the Good Intent is full, or you think you may arrive at it too late, an alternative about 10 minutes earlier on the walk is the Jolly Farmer on the B3000 on the outskirts of Puttenham, which serves meals till 2.30pm all days by Saturday, when it serves food all afternoon. This is a chain restaurant in the Harvester chain - efficient, but not as characterful as the Good Intent.

If you are planning to have a picnic, the best place is on Puttenham Common at the place indicated between points [5] and [6] in the walk directions. Loseley Park, early in the main walk also has a picnic area by its lake

On the Guildford Round Walk, the tea shop at Watts Gallery is the recommended lunch stop (see details above). For a picnic, the benches by the lake at Loseley Park is probably the best option.

On the Farnham Round Walk, if you choose the longer option, you can have lunch in either of the two pubs mentioned for walk 12 in the the original Time Out Book of Country Walks. If you choose the shorter option, there is no lunch stop. Picnic spots include by the river just beyond Moor Park House, or (on the longer version only) the green of the village of Tilsbury. Another option is the rough heath of Crooksbury Common

for the main walk and Farnham Round Walk is at the Bush Hotel, The Borough, Farnham (tel 01252 715237), a fine old coaching inn which welcomes non-residents into its comfortable, sofa-filled lounge, and serves generously proportioned cream teas, as well as sandwiches and light meals until around 10pm in the evening.

On the Guildford Round Walk, the courtyard tea room at Loseley Park makes an excellent tea stop, but is only open from May to September (see History for opening times and directions on how to reach the house from the walk routes). Otherwise, Guildford has various options, of which the best from Monday to Saturday is the cafe of the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre (tel 01483 569334) which is open 10am to 8pm and has a riverside terrace.