Shere Perfection: Gomshall-Peaslake-Pitch Hill-Shere

The Why: 

Some weeks I don't walk: everything's going well, I'm contented, grounded, carefree; so I don't walk, and I get on with life. 

Some weeks I want to walk: the weather is a little too good to waste and I want to bathe in dappled sunlight or feel the weak heat of the winter sun on my face. 

Some weeks I need to walk: the pressures of modern life envelop me, leading to distraction, tension, and self-absorption, and I struggle to see beyond the frustrations cycling in my mind. 

Walking never solves the professional or personal tensions operating in my life but it's as if the act of physical locomotion provides some metaphorical distance between me and my concerns and the changing of my physical environment provides an alternative perspective on them. Maybe the specific wavelengths of chlorophyll green, or the modulatory frequency of birdsong, taps into something deeper, behaving as acid to the barriers keeping me in my head, dissolving them, and in the process, helping me get unstuck. Nothing has really been achieved, I've simply moved one foot in front of the other for three to four hours, but that's OK, I feel better for it. 

So sign up to this winter walk: you might want to or you might need to. 

"For nature, heartless, witless nature,
Will neither care nor know
What stranger's feet may find the meadow
And trespass there and go,
Nor ask amid the dews of morning
If they are mine or no."

A.E Housman 'Tell me not here, it needs not saying'

The How:

We'll begin at Gomshall train station, which can be accessed via a short train journey from Guildford, which itself is served by direct trains from Reading or London Waterloo. From Gomshall, we'll make our way up to Peaslake. I am a little obsessed with the Peaslake village shop: if we get there before the mountain bikers and road cyclists have a chance to eat everything, we'll have a selection of freshly baked savoury pastries and hearty sandwiches; their 'pork slice' sounds and looks a bit horrible but it's a sagey, gelatinous, beautiful mess, something definitely worth trying.  

After Peaslake, we'll continue to Pitch Hill through Hurt Wood. Pitch Hill is 257metres high, which somewhat un-impressively makes it the 5th highest point in Surrey, but in good weather provides extensive views across the Surrey Hills and into the South Downs. 

After reaching the highest point of our walk, we'll descend through Winterfold Wood to Shere. Shere is a picture-perfect Surrey village, full of lovely timber-frame and red-brick cottages, which has been used as a filming location for Bridget Jones and The Holiday.

On a darker note, we should have time to pop into Shere's St James Church, which contains the remnants of a cell that used to contain Christine Carpenter, a medieval "Anchoress". "Anchoresses" were individuals who withdrew from the trappings of a 'sinful' life and bound themselves to a church by being sealed into a cell, praying and participating in church services through small windows, large enough only to pass food through and remove waste. To be fair to our medieval anti-hero, Christine decided she had had enough after three years and escaped. However, she had a change of heart, wrote to the Pope to ask for forgiveness for abandoning her spiritual vocation, and then returned, with a second cell being built for her, presumably no longer with a door through which she could escape. It is assumed she died in Shere and was likely buried beneath her cell. 

If walking around a 12th century church haunted by the legacy of a religious fanatic doesn't sound particularly appealing, "Shere Delights" sells amazing ice cream or if you don't fancy ice cream in the depths of winter, the "Dabbling Duck" or "Hilly's Tea Shop" provide some good alternatives. 

Distance: 15.5km.

Elevation: approx. 300m.

Time walking: 4-5hours. It'll get dark just after 4pm so the pace of this walk will be brisk. 

Don't waste that space!

Please only book if you know you can make it. If your plans change please free up the space for someone else.

Is it dog friendly? 

Dogs are welcome but please note and abide by the Countryside Code (https://tinyurl.com/rlqvp3h). Please also remember not everyone loves dogs as much as you do so please be mindful of other members.

New Members

Please feel free to join this as your first OutdoorLads event. If you have any questions then feel free to message me, or go to the "My First Event" section under "About Us".

Image / photo credits:  All leader's own images.

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