Westhumble & Ranmore Widespread, Surrey – thirtieth December 2011
On Friday we went for one more stroll on the North Downs in Surrey, in a preferred space for strolling. In Summer time it will probably get quite crowded with walkers however on a quite uninteresting and damp winter’s day, though many would have been nonetheless away from work over their Christmas break, comparatively few had been out strolling the downs.
The second image I made on the stroll was this one among Leladene with its blue plaque to Fanny Burney. Leladene, later renamed to Camilla Lacey was for some years the house of Burney (1752 – 1840) who got here to dwell there after her marriage to one of many exiles from the French revolution who had made Mickleham their residence, Normal Alexandre d’Arblay. In addition to being one of the notable authors of her age she was additionally for 4 years ‘keeper of the robes’ to Queen Charlotte, the spouse of George III.
In 2010 I wrote a short description of the stroll, though I appear to have missed out a line or so after I copied it to My London Diary so I’ve wanted to perform a little rewriting to make sense of 1 a part of it. So I’ll rewrite it somewhat quite than merely copying right here.
The climate wasn’t nice and days are so brief presently of yr, so we determined to not go to far for a stroll, and did a roughly ten-mile circuit from Field Hill & Westhumble station.
It was dry after we began, with some very muddy paths, although elements of the trail had been sheltered by the bushes as we went alongside by Druids Grove.
Most of the previous yews (some maybe 2000 years previous) have now been blown down in gales however there are nonetheless fairly a number of on all sides of the trail. From there we walked previous the Albury Park sawmills and on by Polesden Lacy, passing beneath it’s thatched bridge.
The steep monitor down from the place we crossed from the North Downs Method to the Pilgrim’s Approach a few hundred ft decrease down the slope was a greasy mud slide, however we picked up some hefty sticks to assist us maintain upright, and from then on the best way was simple going, with only a brief uphill scramble to affix the North Downs Method to take us again to Westhumble.
The sunshine, by no means good, was fading as we walked above the Denbies winery and it was getting darkish by the point we reached the station round 4.15pm.
I first bought to know this space somewhat as a boy within the Nineteen Fifties. I had bought my first two-wheeler bike to exchange an earlier tricycle on my sixth birthday and by the point I used to be 9 or 10 was going out for longish rides on a barely bigger alternative, generally with one or two associates, however for longer rides primarily alone.
A kind of rides I made fairly a number of instances took me throughout the River Thames at Hampton Court docket then on south by the ‘Scilly Isles’ roundabout and on to Leatherhead and the the A24 to Field Hill, round 20 miles every method.
My routes had been rigorously deliberate with the assistance of the “One Ihch” Ordnance Survey map. Typically I appeared for the shortest method even when it meant biking alongside busy main roads just like the A3 although the ultimate stretch alongside the A24 Mickleham bypass in-built 1937-8 to Field Hill was on one of many few roads within the UK with a separate cycle path.
Field Hill and Westhumble station – and an extended watch for the practice with no seats within the dry on the up platform. It had been an excellent stroll, although the views would have been higher in clearer climate.
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Tags: 2011, Field Hill & Westhumble, Denbies winery, Druids Grove, Fanny Burney, Hogden Lane, Leladene, London Photographs, Norbury Park, North Downs, North Downs Approach, peter Marshall, Pilgrims Approach, Polesden Lacy, Ranmore Widespread, Roaringhouse Farm, noticed mill, Surrey, Thatched bridge, The Causeway, Stroll, Westhumble
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