Guildford Circular
Distance: about 10 miles
Map: Explorer 145
Difficulty: Moderate, undulating
Total walking time without stops: approx 4 hours 15 minutes
Walk surveyed and described by Patrick Hooper, based on Ken’s walk summary as follows:
Guildford round. About 10 miles. Partly along the North Downs Way, so hilly sections. Out via St Martha's Church to Chilworth (lunch at the Percy Arms). Back via Albury Down and Pewley Down.
Description checked by David Slater
Preparation There are toilets at Guildford station alongside platform 2, which require a 20p coin; the Costa Cafe adjacent to the station entrance has a toilet. Sandwiches etc. available at Costa and at M&S food shop which also adjoins the station entrance. Guildford is blessed with many cafes and pubs, for refreshment at the end of the walk.
Walk route
From station exit bear left on to the pedestrian crossings across the car park and down the ramp. Cross the road (towards the brick–arched building) and turn left for a few yards, ignoring the footway through the last arch; immediately after that turn right between the YMCA building and the Stevens & Bolton building to descend the steps to the riverside footpath and turn right, to pass under a bridge dated 1882.
Head southwards beside the River Wey, passing through a car park and then St Nicholas Church on the right. Immediately after a pedestrianised bridge on the left, bear left in front of the White Horse pub to regain the riverside path. (Note the sculpture of 2 girls and a rabbit on the right, and the plaque on the nearby wall, commemorating Lewis Caroll’s connection with Guildford. The road is on the site of an erstwhile mill leat; the name ‘Guildford’ derives from ‘Golda ford’ meaning sandy river-bed.
Note also the waterway junction on the opposite side of the river – the start of the Wey Navigation, which connects near Godalming to the Wey & Arun Canal and the Basingstoke Canal.)
Continue ahead on the roadway past the Britannia Inn and then turn left over the iron footbridge, and immediately before the next footbridge turn right (alongside Millmead Lock) on the Wey Navigation towpath. 15 minutes
The next ½ mile is on the strip of land between the River and the Navigation. Continue southwards on the towpath; after crossing the bridge over the sluice-gates, where the path forks, take the left path, crossing green space with picnic tables, to reach a footbridge over the Navigation; cross the bridge and turn right (southwards) on the footpath running parallel to the road. At the end of the hedge on the left (Shalford Park is in sight ahead), turn left and step over the low barrier to cross the road and take the signposted footpath immediately opposite - go up the 4 steps and fork right, on a path running between garden fences, to reach the road named Pilgrims’ Way. 15 minutes
Turn left along the pavement on the left side of this road; after passing house no.17 ‘Little Acre’ and 2 junction-boxes, cross the road to the North Downs Way signpost and take the obvious route on the rough roadway (bearing 90° veering right to 140°), to cross a bridleway in front of a white house ‘Chantry Cottage’. (To the right of Chantry Cottage is the entrance to Chantry Wood, with an information board; note the Giant Redwood tree 10 yards behind the information board. There are paths through Chantry Wood which could make a good, albeit hillier, alternative route in wet weather, since the next section of the NDW can be extremely muddy. Pass to the left of Chantry Cottage and continue ahead (it’s about 1½ miles from here to St Martha’s church). Pause in the clearing at the top of the hill to take in the downland view; the afternoon route back to Guildford lies on the other side of the valley. Cross a trackway (farm buildings to left) and continue ahead; a particularly muddy stretch through woodland is followed by a sandy track over open grassland (post-&-wire fences both sides), then back into woodland. At path junction bear 120°, ignore all side turnings. (The alternative path through Chantry Wood emerges just before the next road.) Reaching a road (Halfpenny Lane) turn left for about 25 yards to find the onward NDW footpath on the right, which leads by a car park and onward across open land (woodland to the left, wooden fence to the right which gives way to post-and-wire mesh). Continue ahead (ignore left fork), eventually going uphill to reach St Martha’s church. 50 minutes
(The church is on the Pilgrims’ Way, the route to Canterbury, and is dedicated to St Martha of Bethany. It is claimed that a church has existed here for over 1,000 years. Restoration of the present building was completed in 1850.)
This is an obvious picnic lunch spot. Alternatively, to reach the Percy Arms at Chilworth, leave the churchyard via the gate on the south side (directly below the benches against the church wall) and continue on the footpath heading basically south and downhill (crossing a branch of the NDW which avoids the church); 10 minutes brings you to a path junction, whence the shortest way to Chilworth is to take the permissive path southward, which passes firstly across open land, then through trees, then scrubland with numerous watercourses and drains (which are the remnants of the gunpowder mills complex which once stood here). On reaching the southern boundary of this area turn left along the clear track, and shortly afterwards (almost opposite the picnic tables) turn right to cross a footbridge and continue on a fenced path to reach the main road (Dorking Road) in Chilworth. Turn left to find the Percy Arms, and also the railway station and bus stops. (The dishes on the main menu at the Percy Arms are bigger and more expensive than walkers are likely to want, but bar snacks are available if you ask.) 25 minutes
Total time for morning walk - approx. 1 hour 45 minutes plus stops
The train service from Chilworth station, eastwards to Dorking/Reigate/Redhill, westwards to Guildford/Reading, is hourly in both directions; in February 2016 both timings were just before before the hour during the day. Bus route 32 is also hourly in both directions, eastwards to Dorking/Redhill, westward to Guildford.
Resumed route
Retrace your steps along the road, along the fenced footpath and across the footbridge into the erstwhile gunpowder mills area and turn right along the clear track. In 10 minutes, at the path fork by some ugly corrugated iron (with a large ugly concrete building ahead) fork left, to cross the Tilling Bourne (river) and emerge through a kissing-gate on to a wide track (which is the Downs Link) and turn left. Ignore the right turn to Longfrey Cottage, continue ahead (bearing 270°), uphill, to reach a Downs Link signpost, where turn right and proceed (northwards) slightly uphill towards the woodland. At the edge of the woodland ignore the path going sharp left, proceed ahead (north-eastwards), uphill through the wood, until you reach another path junction and a cairn marked Downs Link 1984 (with a large brick pillbox ahead). 30 minutes
Here you need to ‘wiggle’ left for 50 yards and then right to take the NDW, bearing 30°, downhill. Emerging from the woodland, you reach a road (Guildford Road to the right, White Lane ahead). Immediately turn left (alongside the 5-barred gate) on track signposted Public Bridleway and then immediately turn right on path (signed North Downs Way ) through woodland parallel to road. After a few minutes this path turns sharp right to go down 10 steps. Cross the road and continue northwards on the opposite side. A few yards on from here, fork left (320°). Upon emerging from the wood, turn left at the path crossing, continue on this path to reach a car park area, go slightly left across this area to take the path into the wood between the 2 low wooden posts. Ignoring the right fork, continue ahead to reach the 4-way signpost. 30 minutes
Here you turn left (on to the main Newlands Corner – Guildford track). This path runs parallel to White Lane (which has turned westward and has houses on its southern side), until it emerges on to the road. Continue westward all the way to Guildford. After about half an hour, at the ‘Tyting Corner’ crossroads (One Tree Hill Road to the right, Halfpenny Lane to the left) continue ahead on Longdown Road, and where the road veers left continue on the track ahead which soon narrows to a footpath (hedge on right, house boundary walls on left which eventually give way to a hedged field) At the ‘Burgess Way’ signpost you emerge on to open downland, Pewley Down. Proceed ahead (westwards), taking in the view to your left which mirrors the view you had from the clearing on the NDW. Keep fairly close to the hedge on the right, ignoring the many other footpaths, to emerge on to the end of a road (Pewley Hill). 55 minutes
Walk along this road until you reach some open land on the right (a reservoir). (You can continue along this road into Guildford town centre, but the following is a more interesting alternative.)
Turn sharp right down the path on the right of the reservoir land, then left along Pewley Close, and at the road junction take the footpath ahead, downhill and down 23 steps to Harvey Road (Harvey Gallery in old school opposite). Cross the road here and turn left to go down Bright Hill, passing a car park on your right, and at the bottom cross the road and turn left, heading towards Guildford Castle ruins.
(If time permits and the party wishes, a small diversion can be made through the castle grounds and ruins. Otherwise there are various routes through the town centre; what follows is perhaps the easiest and most interesting route.) Continue westwards on Castle Street and turn right along Chapel Street. Veer slightly right in crossing the cobbled High Street and left into Angel Gate (alongside the ancient Angel Inn). Cross North Street and turn left on the other side. Opposite the big New Look shop follow the pavement railings round to the right, into Onslow Street (Rodboro Buildings, housing the local Wetherspoons, is opposite, and could be an optional refreshment stop). Continue along this street and cross the pedestrian crossing (towards Mambo) and turn right. Take the next left turning, Bedford Road, and proceed to the far end, passing to the right of Wellers towards the blue and white railings and cross the footbridge over the River Wey to emerge through an arch on to a road (Walnut Tree Close). Cross the road and go up the ramp, crossing the station car park to reach the station. 35 minutes
Total time for afternoon walk - approx. 2 hours 30 minutes plus stops