West End and Esher Commons walk

Wooded commons and a pretty village

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
Thu, 20-Jun-24 West End and Esher Commons Short Walk (AKA Oxshott Circular) 8 perfect midsummer
Wed, 05-Jul-23 Evening walk: West End and Esher Commons (AKA Oxshott Circular) 6 fine summer evening
Thu, 21-Jul-22 Evening Walk: An Evening in the West End (West End Common that is) 4 warm overcast conditions
Thu, 22-Jul-21 Evening Walk: Out in the West End (West End Common that is) 6 warm sunny conditions
Thu, 25-Jun-20 Evening Walk - West End and Esher Commons (Oxshott Circular), now fully written up 3 very warm with a light breeze
Thu, 01-Aug-19 An Evening in the Wild West 15
Thu, 16-Aug-18 Evening Walk - Oxshott Circular: West End and Esher Commons 6 mainly cloudy but dry

West End and Esher Commons Short Walk (AKA Oxshott Circular) T=Short.17

Distance: Approximately 6.2 miles or 10 km for those more metrically minded

Difficulty: 3 out of 10

Travel: 18:03 South Western train from London Waterloo , arriving at Oxshott at 18:38 (if you miss this train, take the next one 30 minutes later and catch us up at the pub). Return trains run every half hour on the hour and half hour until 23:30

This is one of my favorite evening walks….just a short train journey from London brings you to Oxshott from where you magically step from the train platform directly into heathland….. The walk explores two adjoining common lands, both with a fairly wild wooded feel….We will stop midway through at the Prince of Wales pub in the pretty village of West End Common for a quick drink and bite…

More information about the route can be found here .

Enjoy the walk!

  • Mon, 17-Jun-24

    Happy Summer Solstice on the Walk day! (apparently at 21:51pm BST)

  • Sat, 22-Jun-24

    8 assembled at Oxshott station on a perfect midsummer 's-evening. We stepped magically from the carpark directly onto the heath and made good progress through the varied landscape to West End/Esher where we enjoyed a fine al fresco meal at the massively refurbished pub. We set off about 9pm for the return journey and enjoyed the last moments of the setting sun from the "lookout". From here one took the longer riverside route and the rest stayed on the escarpment. The group reassembled at black pond where we caught glimpses of a beautiful nearly full rising moon. From here one set off on a more direct route to catch a south bound train -- while the rest took the more meandering main route to catch the 10.30 back to London. A fun night out!

West End and Esher Commons Short Walk (AKA Oxshott Circular) T=Short.17

Distance: Approximately 6.2 miles or 10 km for those more metrically minded

Difficulty: 3 out of 10

Travel: 18:03 South Western Train Guildford bound train from London Waterloo, arriving at Oxshott at 18:38 (if you miss this train, take the next one 30 minutes later and catch us up at the pub). Return trains run hourly on the half hour until 23:30

This is one of my favorite evening walks….just a short train journey from London brings you to Oxshott from where you magically step from the train platform directly into heathland….. The walk explores two adjoining common lands, both with a fairly wild wooded feel….We will stop midway through at the Prince of Wales pub in the pretty village of West End Common for a quick drink and bite…

More information about the route can be found here.

Enjoy the walk!

  • Sun, 09-Jul-23

    6 on this fine summer evening . The group size was perfect for the booking that I had made at the pub....It was fortunate that this walk was done this week as we learned that the pub is closing this weekend for an extended period for a serious make-over.....As the trains were only hourly due to industrial action, we timed our departure carefully (and perfectly as it happened), arriving at 10:20 to easily catch the 10:30.... A fun night out!

West End and Esher Commons Short Walk (AKA Short Oxshott Circular) T=Short.17

Distance: Approximately 6.2 miles or 10 km for those more metrically minded

Difficulty: 3 out of 10

Travel: 18:03 South Western Train Guildford bound train from London Waterloo, arriving at Oxshott at 18:41 (if you miss this train, take the next one 30 minutes later and catch us up at the pub). Return trains run on the hour and half hour until 23:30

This is one of my favorite evening walks….just a short train journey from London brings you to Oxshott from where you magically step from the train platform directly into heathland….. The walk explores two adjoining common lands, both with a fairly wild wooded feel….We will stop midway through at the Prince of Wales pub in the pretty village of West End Common for a quick drink and bite…

More information about the route can be found here.

Enjoy the walk!

  • Fri, 22-Jul-22

    Just 3 off the appointed train who soon bumped into 4 who had driven and was waiting for us at the war memorial. Although cloudy, it was a pleasant evening exploring the varied terrain on the route to West End via heathland and mixed woodland, some early heather providing pockets of purple made a delightful sight. We made good progress arriving at the pub just before 8pm. For a change the pub was not too crowded and was rather efficient.....I think between us we covered all the course offerings, all had drinks, one a starter, one a main course and one a pudding...all declared tasty....After our meal about 8:45, one headed towards Esher and a bus home and the others headed back to Oxshott, we went slightly off-piste lured by a public footpath marked on the OS map which disappears into tall bracken...we soon got back on track, enjoying the peaceful evening route past the Black Pond, back on the escarpment near the monument, we parted with our driver and scurried down the hill catching the 10pm back to London with ease.....Lovely walk in the deepening dusk...in warm overcast conditions .

Stargazer

West End and Esher Commons Short Walk (AKA Oxshott Circular) T=Short.17

Distance: Approximately 6.2 miles or 10 km for those more metrically minded

Difficulty: 3 out of 10

Travel: 18:03 South Western Train Guildford bound train from London Waterloo, arriving at Oxshott at 18:41 (If you miss this train, take the next one 30 minutes later and catch us up at the pub). Return trains run on the hour and half hour until 23:30.

This is one of my favorite evening walks….just a short train journey from London brings you to Oxshott from where you almost magically step from the train platform directly into heathland…..New instructions launched last year make the route finding much easier and remove the guess work previously associated with this outing….The walk explores two adjoining common lands, both with a fairly wild wooded feel….We will stop midway through at the Prince of Wales pub in the pretty village of West End Common for a quick drink and bite…

More information about the route can be found here. For those worried that I may try to starve them again...I have booked at table at the pub en route...

Enjoy the walk!

  • Fri, 23-Jul-21

    So, I booked a table for 6 as a guess and, as it happened, 6 met on the station platform in Oxshott in warm sunny conditions for this enjoyable evening walk in the countryside. Route finding went well and we arrived at the pub in good time. The service at the pub was a bit chaotic, but it was a pleasant evening to sit in the garden enjoying drinks while waiting for the food to arrive...which it did... eventually...though one diner had her pudding before the main! Leaving the pub a little later than planned, we walked briskly back to Oxshott admiring the glorious nearly full moon (buck, thunder or hay moon) as we went...it was particularly magical reflecting in the Black Pond behind a heron...we managed the last bit of the walk in the dark and arrived in time for the 10:30 train back to London. Another enjoyable evening out!

Length: 10.0 km, Ascent/Descent: 139m
Net Walking Time: ca. 2 ¼ hours, Toughness: 1 out of 10.

Take the 19.03 Guildford train from Waterloo (Vauxhall 19.07, Clapham J 19.12, then via Earlsfield, Wimbledon, Surbiton etc.), arriving Oxshott 19.37. Return trains: xx.01 to 23.01, then 23.31.
This is a walk through several adjoining wooded commons on the Surrey/London border.
You start at Oxshott station and ascend the South Slope of the wooded Oxshott Heath to a fine viewpoint by the War Memorial. Skirt a pretty ex-sandpit and follow narrow paths through the woods and across the A3 into Esher Common. There you follow enchanting paths through the heathland and then some woods into West End Common to West End, a lovely Surrey village (willow-fringed pond, diminutive church, cricket green, nice pub), with a large garden centre. From there you return through more woods to The Ledges, the northwesterly escarpment of the Commons, hanging over the Mole Valley, and on back into Esher Common and past the atmospheric Black Pond, then eventually back to Oxshott station.
Note: There are far more paths in the woods than appear on any map. Follow the detailed written directions. Map and compass or a smartphone/GPS device would help navigation!
Covid-compatibility: not really any fenced paths; trains should not be too busy with this late start.
Food/Drink: the pub en route is of course shut and does NOT sell takeouts, according to its website.
For walk directions, map, photos, height profile and gpx/kml files click here . T=short.17
  • Fri, 26-Jun-20

    3 walkers from SE London in this deepest corner of SW (Greater) London. The train had been very empty indeed, and the heat of the day was just about vanishing to a (nearly) comfortable temperature, which - with a light breeze out there - made it an actually pleasant to walk in-climate.

    We met very few local walkers, probably on account of the late start, and only saw higher numbers of people in West End village, picnicking or playing on the picturesque green. The pub was shut as advertised, but we had a short break outside anyway to have a sip of water and a rest, before the return route.

    1 examined the slighly longer, along the river-route, all reconvened on the platform in good time for the 22.01 train, this one almost completely devoid of passengers.

    The written directions helped cutting walking time by avoiding doubt at forks and junctions and minimising wrong turns.

    very warm with a light breeze

  • Sat, 27-Jun-20

    I will add the new instructions are a treat...first time I have finished this lovely evening walk in the daylight.....

Thu, 01-Aug-19 : An Evening in the Wild West 15
Stargazer
Stargazer
West End and Esher Commons Short Walk (AKA Oxshott Circular) T=Short.17

Distance: Approximately 5.5 miles or 8.8 km for those more metrically minded

Difficulty: 2 out of 10

Travel: 18:03 South Western Guildford bound train from London Waterloo, arriving at Oxshott at 18:41. Return trains run on the hour and half hour until 23:00.

One of the beauties of this walk is stepping almost directly from the platform at Oxshott into heathery heathland….hopefully now showing some purple color….This short walk explores a two adjoining common lands, both with a fairly wild wooded feel….We will stop midway through at the Prince of Wales pub in the pretty village of West End Common for a quick drink and bite…

More information about the route can be found here. As there are limited instructions for the walk, I would suggest printing out the map page from the OS Map tab and/or downloading the GPX route.

Enjoy the walk!
  • Sandy
    Sun, 28-Jul-19

    I'll be away on Thursday but allow me a quick plug to say what great fun this evening walk was last year, complete with planet-spotting in the dark on the way back from West End. Take your torch or get some night vision practice.

  • Anonymous
    Wed, 31-Jul-19

    Is anyone planning on going to this walk. After turning up for last Saturdays Edenbridge Town walk and there was no one else there. Don't particularly want this to happen again, Gavin

  • Thu, 01-Aug-19

    yes, I am planning to attend....

  • Anonymous
    Thu, 01-Aug-19

    Great. It's a lovely walk. Looking forward. Gavin

  • Fri, 02-Aug-19

    15 on the walk, with lots of non-regulars present on this long-for-the-time-of-year Evening Walk. Blooming heather was in short supply though, only being seen in odd corners amongst the bracken, bushes and trees, but nevertheless this is a very nice walk whatever the season: it will never be too muddy (sandy topsoil in most places), and it will always be green.

    We had the by-now-familiar problems with route finding, what with both written directions and gpx being somewhat rudimental/not quite en route. But we nevertheless got to the PoW in good time for most to order some food (knowing they'd be finishing in darkness) and some just ordering a drink. 2 left soon to try to catch the 21.30 train (achieved just about), while the rest - I hear - ambled into Oxshott station just-in-time for the 22.00.

    Nice walk.

Length: 8.8 km (5.5 mi)
Net Walking Time: 2 hrs
Take the 18.03 Guildford train from Waterloo (Vauxhall 18.08, CJ 18.13, then Earlsfield, Wimbledon 18.20, Surbiton 18.28, Hinchley Wood and Claygate), arrives Oxshott 18.41.
Returns : xx.00 and xx.30.
Ponds, Woods and Commons still inside the M25, but already in Surrey.

Eat/Drink: The Prince of Wales , West End Common, Esher (Chef & Brewer), halfway through the walk.
For walk directions , map and gpx/kml files click here . T=short.17
  • Thu, 16-Aug-18

    6 walkers off a crowded commuter train (at least to Surbiton it was standing room only) in mainly cloudy but dry weather. A - to me - surprisingly undulating and varied landscape, with some sandy paths, plenty of (not so vibrant) heather, lots of woods and even a cliff overlooking the Mole Valley! Plus a nice pub at the halfway point.

    Directions are on the sparse side of sparse, so map and compass came in very handy indeed, as occasionally did the line on a screen. We had a drink and some bar food at the pub, meaning that those 40 minutes in there guaranteed that we'd finish in darkness, and that the fading light long before darkness would necessitate the use of smart-phone torches in the woods to check map and compass. Despite that we lost the path only once with any serious consequences (pathless through ferns and brambles for 150m or so), but we blamed that on the gpx route not being accurate along that stretch..

    Either way: great fun. 22.00 train.

  • Karen
    Fri, 17-Aug-18

    A nice short walk very close to London. From train platform to heathland a mere 20 metres or so. Nice pub in a pretty village.