Haslemere and Black Down

The late May Bank Holiday weekend, and on Saturday 28th six EFOG members met at Waterloo Station for a walk, organised by Lynne, from Haslemere.

We crossed the road outside of Haslemere Station and headed up Longdene Road, turning off after a quarter mile or so onto our first public footpath and heading west along the 500ft contour line. I mention the altitude as I have already used the word “up” once. However, we did drop slightly down as we crossed first of all the A287 and then almost immediately a small stream which is one of the sources of the River Wey. A house at the end of the street was called “Weyside”.

Route-finding on Marley CommonWe left the outskirts of Haslemere at Camelsdale by means of an uphill footpath leading into Marley Combe and then onto Marley Common. We saw no camels, but there were Belted Galloway cattle roaming around – a sure sign of National Trust property. The common gave us our first taste of the heathland that occurs in these parts – acidic soil with gorse, heather, bilberry and pine trees.

Belted Galloway cattleLeaving the common, we strayed into a residential area called Whitehanger by mistake, then retraced slightly to continue upwards to about 700ft through woodlands, then a steep descent down a sunken lane into Fernhurst, which is at about 300ft. The idea of all these heights ASL is that it was quite a hilly walk, and also quite a warm walk as we had a nice sunny day to enjoy.

When there are hills and sunshine and you are walking, then refreshments are sometimes in order, and in this case refreshment was to be found in the pub at Fernhurst. Fozi left us at this point, to catch a bus back to Haslemere Station. Although this was to be our half-way stop, it is in fact just 3.5 miles from the station, so doesn't quite count as halfway.

Descending from a sunken trackWe discussed options for the rest of the walk, and decided that our objective would be two significant points on Black Down, which is the highest hill in the South Downs National Park. It might be pointed out here that Black Down isn't really on the South Downs, rather is in the Weald, but the park includes it, so that's good. We continued our walk by taking the footpath that leads behind the pub, heading now east rather that south as we had been trending. Soon there were a series of earth-steps down, a bridge across a stream, then earth steps up, then – entering thickening woodland – a footpath that also served as a stream that led up and more up. There are lots of springs in this area, source I believe of some quite major Sussex rivers – for we'd left Surrey somewhere and were now in Sussex. The stream deposited us into a narrow lane, with a small group of houses, and somehow we mis-judged the footpath and walked through someone's garden to exit into a field by means of the gate at the end.

There was nobody to apologise to, and this still looked nearly right for where we wanted to go, for now Black Down was beginning to loom ahead. There was a mown strip at the edge of the field – which looked as though it may be for hay because it was grass and flowers rather than crops – but we realised we were heading to far S.E, and our woodland footpath must be to the north. We headed north up the edge of the field, came into the woods, and had one or two discussions as to which way we should go to regain the public footpath. An O.S. Map, a traditional compass and a smartphone GPS-fix combined with a couple of heads, and we regained the path. Or rather we regained the stream. It is said that there are no wild places left in Britain – save perhaps the tops of such ranges as the Cairngorms and some coastal areas such as the Wash. However, I disagree, for there were gullies, combes and valleys in these woods that quite possibly still harboured wolves let alone badgers and wild boar.

Looking towards the South Downs from Black DownAt Reeth we encountered human habitation again, and narrow Fernden Lane (600ft) took us shortly to a National Trust sign indication Black Down. The path onto Black Down was steep, but not a stream, so after a couple of pauses we came to a glorious viewpoint with a useful bench, to sit and look south, with the South Downs cutting off the view of the sea at Bognor Regis. Just a little above that seat was the wonderfully-named 'Temple of the Winds', a high-point (830ft) with views in almost all directions. We were on Black Down.

The Temple of the WindsThe long top of Black Down is a Greensand heath, like Marley Common but grander, and with some rare wildlife inhabitants such as nightjar, Dartford warbler, woodlark and all three British snake species. There are pine trees, birches, whitebeam, and – flowering – rowan trees. The soil is sandy and the views are glorious.

We walked north along part of a route called the Serpent Trail, for a good way keeping above 800ft, and then began our descent NW towards Valewood House and then Haslemere. It was a long descent, although gentle, and after a while the soil became less acid and the character of the trees and plants became more familiar. As we dropped down towards a stream-valley, with nearby roads leading into Haslemere, we became aware that the path was trending us in a different direction than we'd intended. A consultation with a dog-walker – the dog of whom wanted to play with my walking-stick – had us re-route yet again, and entailed slightly more road-walking into Haslemere, but along pleasant-enough roads. And just before we left the field at the foot of Black Down we passed through a meadow that was wonderfully endowed with orchids.

A viewpoint-market on Black DownOur total mileage to and from Hindhead station was 9 miles, and our total ascent and descent was 1575 feet. It was a lovely walk, on a dry and sunny day. Having been a few weeks ago with EFOG members to the Norfolk Broads, and a couple of weeks ago to the Isle of Arran, the group is maintaining its ability to allow me and other members to experience lots of different aspects of the British countryside, and further afield.

Thanks to Lynne for suggesting the route and leading us, and to Fozi, Fred, Ken, Fritz and Berutta for the company.

Paul Ferris, 29th May 2016