Feet First Walking

 

I had taken the day off work in the hope to go to the last day of the Test Match between England and India. But with the prospect of only about hour of play, decided against it. Instead, I picked this walk from the Time Out Country Walks near London volume 2.

A swift and problem-free train journey got me from home to Effingham Junction in less than hour. Maybe this can be put down to the benefit of travelling on a work day rather than the weekend?

 

Of all the years I played cricket at Effingham, when our club hired it as a home ground, I never knew of the impressive extent of Effingham Common!

 

The Old London Road (track) in Greatlee Wood.

 

The milestone on the A246, shortly before turning left towards the golf course.

 

I took a wrong path on the golf course and had to back-track, but a golfer confirmed I was heading in the right direction. I think it must have been ladies' day because I could only see women playing.

 

Heading down to Hogden Lane, I went off route and bypassed Polsden Lacy. Instead I went for a more direct route to Yewtree Farm.

 

By this point my need for the toilet was becoming hard to ignore! My hope was there would be one at Ranmore Common.

 

Ranmore Common and the North Downs Way was magnificent....but no toilet.

 

 

Lunch at St Barnabas Church, Ranmore. Surely this would be the place to answer my prayers and reward the troubled wanderer with sanctuary in the form of a nice clean toilet to perform nature's act? The church was locked! And the porch was already taken up by two girls eating their lunch, so I sat on a bench in the drizzle!.

 

My lunchtime view...but wait, lo-and-behold what is that strange building I see before me, in the gap in the hedge? It was a toilet! A LOCKED toilet!! aarrrgh!

 

The vineyard at Denbies was very impressive and I had never appreciated the full extent of them.

 

 

 

A lovely pint of Ranmore Common, straight from the tap at The Surrey Hills Brewery.

 

It was a short walk of less than a mile to Boxhill and Westhumble Station, and I arrived just in time to get the next train back to Clapham Common.