Extra Walk 244a – Woldingham to Oxted via Titsey Place
Length: Up to 13¾ km (8.5 miles). Toughness: 4 or 5/10
10:53 East Grinstead train from Victoria (Clapham Jct 10:59, East Croydon 11:11), arriving Woldingham at 11:26. Buy a return to Oxted.
Trains back from Oxted are half-hourly, at 28 & 58 minutes past.
This walk goes through a mix of open valleys, woodland and parkland, with a fair bit of climbing packed into its short length. If you're familiar with this part of the North Downs you'll be able to work out that it will be slightly more rewarding if you're a bit deaf in the right ear, as there's an annoying stretch near the pesky M25.
The up-market lunch pub on this walk (the Botley Hill Farmhouse) is very popular at weekends so you might prefer to have a picnic lunch on one of the benches you'll find on the woodland path through the Titsey Plantation; this would also shorten the walk by 1½ km and cut out one of those hill climbs. Or you could treat this as an Afternoon Tea walk, as the Titsey Place Tea Room a little further on offers plenty of calories in the form of a tempting selection of cakes. The manor house itself is closed on Sundays but you could spend 45 minutes or so wandering around its attractive gardens (entry £4.50). And if by this time you've regretted skipping lunch the The Bull in Limpsfield is open to 4pm on Sundays, so you might be able to get a very late pub lunch after all.
You'll need to print the directions from the Woldingham Circular via Titsey Place Walk page. Unless you might want to do the longer ending back to Woldingham, click on Option a to hide the directions for the other options. T=swc.244.a
Woldingham Circular via Titsey Place walk
Rural valleys, the North Downs and the Titsey Plantation.
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, | a | Sunday Walk – Titsey Place on the North Downs | 14 | bright |
| Sat, | Saturday Third Walk – A strenuous North Downs walk | 18 | cloudy and unseasonably cold but with some very occasional sunny intervals in the afternoon | |
| Sat, | Saturday Third Walk – A manor house by the M25 |
Sun, 20-Aug-17 : Sunday Walk – Titsey Place on the North Downs
14
Sean
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David21-Aug-17
About 10 walkers set off from Woldingham on a bright warm and very pleasant day. I chose to do the circular walk, rather than end at Oxted, and also missed out on the lunchtime pub, opting instead for a bench close to Pitchfont Lane, from where there was an excellent view towards Titsey Place. The return leg passed Woldingham Viewpoint and then follows a rarely used, overgrown footpath through attractive countryside back towards the station. The tranquility of the afternoon was shattered by several flies past (is that the plural of fly past?) of Red Arrows from the nearby Biggin Hill airshow. I'll be reporting the overgrown footpath, and a dodgy stile, to Surrey County Council.
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21-Aug-17
As David noted there aren't many incidents which can drown out the constant grumbling of the nearby M25, but a squadron of Red Arrows skimming low over the tree-tops is certainly one of them. We were also treated to a (replica) Spitfire and a group of British and German WWI triplanes, a nice display of the different ages of aviation in the 20thC.
I also skipped the lunch pub but others reported that the "Sheep Shed" cabin in its grounds (though called a Tea Shop on its website) caters for drop-in visitors with light lunches and even mini-roasts on a Sunday, a welcome change from the "book a week in advance for lunch" trend. The Titsey Place tearoom was also serving a few savoury dishes in addition to its advertised cakes and cream teas, though they struggled to cope with the number of visitors to the garden event taking place. After a nice slow day a fair number caught the 16:28 train back from Oxted.
I counted 14 at Woldingham station and another two on the train said they were going to start from Oxted and do the short circular walk from there.
PS. Thanks to David for reporting the footpath/stile problems.
Sat, 16-Apr-16 : Saturday Third Walk – A strenuous North Downs walk
18
Sean
Extra Walk 244 – Woldingham Circular via Titsey Place
Length: 17¾ km (11.0 miles), with optional extension (see below). Toughness: 7/10
09:53 East Grinstead train from Victoria (Clapham Jct 09:59, East Croydon 10:10), arriving Woldingham at 10:26.
Trains back from Woldingham are half-hourly, at 29 & 59 minutes past.
This fairly strenuous walk starts along the same valley as the Woldingham-Oxted walk, but turns off in the opposite direction when it reaches the North Downs escarpment. The thick blue line stretching across the Walk Map reveals that you'll have to put up with the [redacted] in this part of the walk, but it's less obtrusive once you move from the open downland into the wooded Titsey Plantation. You'll feel that you've earned a refreshment stop as you have to climb all the way back up the escarpment to get to the lunchtime pub at the top, the Botley Hill Farmhouse.
The full afternoon route goes down through the plantation, past Titsey Place and back over the North Downs to the hilltop village of Woldingham before descending to the station. There are more up-and-down stretches to enjoy but you could reduce them by cutting out the section past the manor house and its gardens, since they're not open this month. This shortcut would also increase your chances of getting to the Dene Coffee Shop (the only refreshment place at the end of the walk) before it starts putting up the shutters at around 4.30pm.
Optional Extension: This walk's 500m of ascent should be more than enough for ordinary mortals, but any Übermenschen craving an extra 7-11 km could tack on Extra Walk 2a (the Short Walk version of Woldingham-Oxted). This would take you on a slightly different route up the valley and then steeply downhill into the village of Old Oxted, where four pubs will be competing for your custom at the end of these efforts. [Buy a return to Oxted if you plan to do this.]
You'll need to print the directions from the Extra Walk 244 page. T=swc.244
Length: 17¾ km (11.0 miles), with optional extension (see below). Toughness: 7/10
09:53 East Grinstead train from Victoria (Clapham Jct 09:59, East Croydon 10:10), arriving Woldingham at 10:26.
Trains back from Woldingham are half-hourly, at 29 & 59 minutes past.
This fairly strenuous walk starts along the same valley as the Woldingham-Oxted walk, but turns off in the opposite direction when it reaches the North Downs escarpment. The thick blue line stretching across the Walk Map reveals that you'll have to put up with the [
The full afternoon route goes down through the plantation, past Titsey Place and back over the North Downs to the hilltop village of Woldingham before descending to the station. There are more up-and-down stretches to enjoy but you could reduce them by cutting out the section past the manor house and its gardens, since they're not open this month. This shortcut would also increase your chances of getting to the Dene Coffee Shop (the only refreshment place at the end of the walk) before it starts putting up the shutters at around 4.30pm.
Optional Extension: This walk's 500m of ascent should be more than enough for ordinary mortals, but any Übermenschen craving an extra 7-11 km could tack on Extra Walk 2a (the Short Walk version of Woldingham-Oxted). This would take you on a slightly different route up the valley and then steeply downhill into the village of Old Oxted, where four pubs will be competing for your custom at the end of these efforts. [Buy a return to Oxted if you plan to do this.]
You'll need to print the directions from the Extra Walk 244 page. T=swc.244
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Thanks in part to Walker for this report - I was too lazy to write my own so I just adjusted his to fit
18 on this walk
This walk had an ill-starred beginning, first with all Southern trains out of Victoria and London Bridge being held up by a problem at East Croydon (though in the end we were only 20 minutes late) and then with someone ringing the only lunch pub,Botley Hill Farmhouse, and being told they would not accommodate us as they were fully booked but luckily the cafe next door, also belonging to the pub were able to serve us soup and panninis which staved off the hunger pangs for a while.
We all got very spread out after lunch, so the rest of this account describes my experience. Weather much better than the grim wintry conditions forecast - cloudy and unseasonably cold but with some very occasional sunny intervals in the afternoon . Whilst we all got throughly splattered in mud, the low-lying fields on much of this walk were also nothing like as waterlogged as I expected after yesterday's deluge but it was a slip fest with one walker slipping over three times even though they had poles.
The other bit of good news was there were very few bluebells on this walk - how refreshing.
Some of us stopped for tea and cake in the Dene tearoom - joy of joy the tea, cakes, ambiance, seating and staff were all very very very exceeedingly excellent.
Next time we have to book the lunch pub the Botley Hill Farmhouse 4 or more days ahead
Sat, 16-May-15 : Saturday Third Walk – A manor house by the M25
?
Sean
New Walk – Woldingham Circular, via Titsey Place
Length: 17½ km (10.9 miles). Toughness: 7/10
09:53 East Grinstead train from Victoria (Clapham Jct 09:59, East Croydon 10:11), arriving Woldingham at 10:27. Buy a day return to Woldingham, or (for an extra 40p) a return to Oxted if you might want to take the shorter ending (see below).
Trains back from Woldingham are essentially half-hourly, at 30 & 59 minutes past. If you finish at Oxted these Victoria trains leave at xx:24 & xx:53, and there's also a fast hourly service to London Bridge at xx:20.
This walk has been specially devised for the British Deaf Association, and I can confidently predict that your enjoyment of it will be greatly enhanced if you're deaf in the right ear (or bring a wad of cotton wool). A glance at the Walk Map will show a 1 km stretch within spitting distance of the M25, where you'll be obliged to practice your sign language or lapse into silent contemplation. At any rate there's no point getting your ears syringed the day before.
If you can blot out this intrusion you might enjoy a short woodland stretch in Marden Park Woods and some longer ones through the wooded hillside of the Titsey Plantation, part of the large estate surrounding Titsey Place. In theory you can stop off to visit this manor house and its gardens but a last-minute notice on its website apologising that they're unable to offer light lunches in its Tea Room has made this rather inconvenient.
Assuming that you leave a visit to a day when they've got their kitchen sorted out, a steep climb back up the North Downs will bring you in a further half-hour to the lunch pub, the Botley Hill Farmhouse. If your GPS device is accurate you'll observe that you can eat in either the western or the eastern hemisphere. There are yet more hills in the afternoon (hence the walk's 7/10 rating) but eventually you descend to the Dene Coffee Shop, ten minutes before Woldingham station.
Shorter ending: If you want to relax in a pub at the end of the walk I suggest following the Short Walk directions in the afternoon to finish in Oxted: Woldingham has nothing to offer beside its tearoom.
You'll need to print the directions from this New Walk page.
T=swc.244
Length: 17½ km (10.9 miles). Toughness: 7/10
09:53 East Grinstead train from Victoria (Clapham Jct 09:59, East Croydon 10:11), arriving Woldingham at 10:27. Buy a day return to Woldingham, or (for an extra 40p) a return to Oxted if you might want to take the shorter ending (see below).
Trains back from Woldingham are essentially half-hourly, at 30 & 59 minutes past. If you finish at Oxted these Victoria trains leave at xx:24 & xx:53, and there's also a fast hourly service to London Bridge at xx:20.
This walk has been specially devised for the British Deaf Association, and I can confidently predict that your enjoyment of it will be greatly enhanced if you're deaf in the right ear (or bring a wad of cotton wool). A glance at the Walk Map will show a 1 km stretch within spitting distance of the M25, where you'll be obliged to practice your sign language or lapse into silent contemplation. At any rate there's no point getting your ears syringed the day before.
If you can blot out this intrusion you might enjoy a short woodland stretch in Marden Park Woods and some longer ones through the wooded hillside of the Titsey Plantation, part of the large estate surrounding Titsey Place. In theory you can stop off to visit this manor house and its gardens but a last-minute notice on its website apologising that they're unable to offer light lunches in its Tea Room has made this rather inconvenient.
Assuming that you leave a visit to a day when they've got their kitchen sorted out, a steep climb back up the North Downs will bring you in a further half-hour to the lunch pub, the Botley Hill Farmhouse. If your GPS device is accurate you'll observe that you can eat in either the western or the eastern hemisphere. There are yet more hills in the afternoon (hence the walk's 7/10 rating) but eventually you descend to the Dene Coffee Shop, ten minutes before Woldingham station.
Shorter ending: If you want to relax in a pub at the end of the walk I suggest following the Short Walk directions in the afternoon to finish in Oxted: Woldingham has nothing to offer beside its tearoom.
You'll need to print the directions from this New Walk page.
T=swc.244