West Byfleet Circular, 21 Feb

The Walk: 9 miles. This is a mainly flat walk starting along the Basingstoke Canal and Wey Navigation before joining the River Wey and crossing Buxton Wood, Wisley Common and farmland to arrive at Ripley. After lunch we rejoin the River Wey, past the ruined Newark Priory, to Pyrford Church, then across farmland and Pyrford Golf Course to rejoin the Wey Navigation heading back to West Byfleet from Dodd’s Bridge.

There is a ten minute stretch of road walking through Byfleet and another ten to fifteen minute stretch of road walking at the end of the walk to the station.

There are two motorway bridges to cross and one stile at the top of a steepish flight of steps down. There is also a short steep path to the church after lunch.

There will be mud and maybe some boggy patches if it has rained a lot during the week so boots should be worn and poles could be helpful at these places but not vital.

The morning is longer (approx. 2.5 – 3hrs) than the afternoon (approx. 2hrs).

 Trains: Waterloo 09.54; Clapham Junction 10.01; Surbiton 10.11; arrive West Byfleet 10.21. Return trains are 4 an hour. Please note that Linda and Chris will be meeting you at West Byfleet Station

Toilets: There is one toilet at West Byfleet Station for which you need to ask for a key so you are advised where possible to use those on the train. There are no further toilets until the lunch stop at Ripley. There’s a public toilet at Ripley but on the recce one of the two ladies’ toilets was out of order.

Lunch: We’ll stop for approximately an hour at Ripley where there are three cafes and a couple of pubs, as well as a bakery and a small mini market. We will not make a booking for lunch. There are seats on the green for picnickers.

Drop out point: There is an hourly bus (715) that goes to either Esher or Kingston Station from Ripley at 13.41/ 14.41/ 15.51.

Leaders – Linda and Chris