Godalming to Guildford
This walk is dedicated to Frank Dring who passed it (and many other walks) to club members over twelve years ago, when he could no longer manage 10/11 miles rambles. Frank sadly died in August 2024.
31 January. We had thirteen walkers starting the walk in Godalming. It was good weather for walking with just one short shower of rain, although the ground was wet and a bit muddy in places from the rain of the previous weeks.
After a 45 minutes walk along quiet roads, we paused at the lovely green of Upper Eashing with a beautiful old house and an Edward VIi post box in the wall. There were then some blind bends in the road where we had to be very careful. We walked down to the 13th Century Eashing Bridges and saw that the water level in the River Wey was very high.
We crossed a footbridge over the A3 and then fields until we saw Peper Harrow House (built 1765), its 300 year old cricket pitch and its ice house. Shortly after, we saw the coffin rest in the entrance porch to St Nicholas Churchyard.
We then went into a large courtyard to view a medieval granary on big wooden columns. Nearby we passed a second Edward VII post box in a wall. A quiet road led us to the village of Shackleford, followed by a long stretch over fields through gently rolling hills until we reached our lunch stop in Puttenham. Here we were joined by a walker, increasing our number to fourteen.
After lunch, we visited the church of St John the Baptist, Puttenham, to view the Norman (Romanesque) Arches and a lancet window dating from the early 12th Century. Most of the afternoon we walked through woods along the North Downs Way, accompanied by lovely birdsong. At one point we crossed under the modern A3 and then under a Lutyens bridge with big crosses on it. The bridge is on the old bypassed A3.
Shortly after, we reached the Watts Gallery in Compton. Twelve of our group chose to catch the next bus to Guildford or to visit the Watts Gallery and then catch the later bus. Some of us took a short detour to visit the Watts Cemetery Chapel. This is in a serene spot on the side of a hill. The Chapel is Grade 1 listed and is a very unusual mixture of British Art Nouveau (the evolution of the Arts & Crafts Movement) and Celtic Revival. The interior of the Chapel is completely covered with extraordinary paintings and has been controversial, with many people loving it and others finding it soporific. The outside is decorated with attractive, patterned terracotta tiles.
The last 90 minutes of the walk were completed by two of us. There was a very muddy path through a gully, followed by a long section through attractive woods with a wide variety of trees and then a pleasant walk along the side of a green valley. We went down a short, steep bank to the River Wey Navigation to walk along the towpath into Guildford, arriving at the station just after 4.30pm
Terry (with thanks to Christine M for most of the photos)
