Start - Horsley
Finish - West Byfleet
Geocaches - 4
Pubs - The Anchor - Pyrford Lock and The Station - West Byfleet
Previous Stages - Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3, Stage 4, Stage 5, Stage 6, Stage 7
The only question for this month's leg on the London Countryway is whether to go full out mental, following the Dick Bowman 19.9 miles to Sunningdale or a take a more sedate 10 miles on Des De Moor's amble to West Byfleet.
I've got all the time in the world.
I've had a great run on the London Countryway - some stunning walking on the North Downs Way - so I expected a more pedestrian leg was coming. This is nowhere near as exhilarating but does have plenty of variety and well spaced refreshment stops. It's still a fine way to spend a damp September Saturday, with more than a hint of Autumn's approach.
Nothing much happens from Horsley through the ancient village of Ockham. If you've heard of Ockham, it's because you have been reading too much crime fiction. 50% of them mention Ockham's Razor - the theory that the simplest solution is always the most likely - usually just before the most convoluted denouncement imaginable happens. I'm talking to you, Peter James, with your hijacked helicopters over the streets of Brighton.
Lane walking, some posh gaffs, horses and the Black Swan pub, where the Geocache tells me the locals call it the Mucky Duck. Of course they do. It's tradition.
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| Ockham - Proud of their Philosopher Sons |
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| The Mucky Duck - At 10:45am |
Horse fields are left behind for the surprisingly sandy commons of Ockham and Wisley. Narrow paths disappear into the ferns and there is the accidental stumble into a herd of friendly cows. The highlight to seek out is Chatley Semaphore Tower - the finest remaining relic of a post Napoleonic Communication line running to the sea.
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| Operational from 1822 to 1847 |
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| Not all the paths on Ockham Common are this broad. |
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| Two commons split by the A3 - Photo style taken from Des |
Des points out that Pigeonhouse Bridge was washed away in 2013 storms. As a simple wooden structure is going to cost £400K (!) to replace, it remains missing to this day. There is a golfers bridge seconds away, but agreement was not reached to allow right of way access for the casual walker. Des's instructions detail a diversion to Walsham Lock and a warning not to trespass.
I thought I would check things out on the ground and a series of "Tow Path" diversion signs encourage me to make my way to Pigeonhouse Bridge. And Joy - since August 2018, agreement has been reached with the golf club and ramblers can use the little footbridge. And in a twist, the diversions are in place because Walsham Lock appears to be inaccessible.
I didn't read the smallprint on this but the London Countryway can be completed, just as Keith Chesterton expected.
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| Yellow Sign is old - the new laminates are sending you over.... |
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| This strategically placed golfing bridge |
Having survived bridge confusion, the Wey Navigation provides easy walking more or less all the way to West Byfleet. Where you have canals, you have pubs - and the first stop of the day is Hall and Woodhouse's Anchor Inn.
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| Handy Stopping Point |
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| Good colour. Headless Badger |
Despite its handy location for cyclists, ramblers and anglers, every table - bar the one with the above pint - is setup for fine dining. How I hate this disregard for the drinker. The beer had left its head in Dorset but I did make friends with the two blokes crammed around my table - one in waders and one in lycra.
Back into the rain and along the canal into West Byfleet. Trains are plentiful back to London, so I can take my time and see if the Station breaks the unwritten rule that any pub named after the railway infrastructure is a horror. It doesn't look much from the outside but cavernous, clean and with a nice little area for drinkers to sit and watch the early game.
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| The Station - next to the Station |
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| Jamie Redknapp warning me that Meantime IPA is all fancy glassware |
Like Des, I am done for the day. Dick would have merely been half way.
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