20th January 2025 by Frances and Richard - Godalming

 

Walk Report Busbridge, Winkworth Aboretum and Juniper Valley January 20th 2025 

Leaders: FM & RM Walkers: SE, JE, PG, LG, AS, MD, NS, AP, LF (DG & CG joined for lunch)

 This is a 7.2 mile circuit, starting at Busbridge Church, Brighton Road, Godalming, with lunch at the Yew Tree Café next to the church. Parking is available in Hambledon Road. The coffee stop was at the café in Winkworth Arboretum. 

The snowdrops and primroses were just showing in the churchyard as we set off, crossing Brighton Road and following the unmade road, Heath Lane, beside Busbridge Village Hall. This took us past Munstead Wood, designed by Edwin Lutyens, home of Gertrude Jekyll and recently acquired by the National Trust. Following a narrow footpath, we crossed Munstead Heath Road by the Victorian water tower, now a house with a lot of stairs. The bridleways proved to be not too muddy and we were rewarded with wonderful views towards St Martha’s on the Hill and the North Downs. We then crossed Alldens Lane onto a path through the Stilemans Estate, enjoying views of the Greensand Hills and descending past the arboretum, entering it via the public footpath. We followed the public path through the arboretum, past the lake and boathouse, climbing the steps to the upper level of the arboretum where we were rewarded with a coffee stop at the NT café. Here we were joined by AP and LF ready to complete the second half of the walk. After crossing the Hascombe Road, we set off down a bridleway that eventually leads into Juniper Valley, a very quiet and remote footpath, which emerges by the Hydon’s Ball car park. Since the woodland is privately owned and often has forestry operations, there was a short stretch of road walk along Clock Barn Lane, passing the Cheshire Home before turning onto a bridleway through woodland then crossing Hambledon Road to reach Clock Barn Farm. Here we enjoyed distant misty views to Hindhead and Black Down, then continued on the bridleway to return to Busbridge. The path becomes a sunken lane (Holloway) for a while and passes vast area of poly-tunnels owned by Hall Hunter, which supplies soft fruit to supermarkets across the UK. After descending to Busbridge Lakes and climbing out of the valley, we took a path to the right to join the drive of Busbridge Hall, which is now divided into luxury apartments. Here we saw a large flock of starlings and a mistle thrush. 

We were back at the Yew Tree Café by 1:15, ready for lunch, which had been pre-ordered. DG and CG joined the eight walkers who stayed for lunch. The weather was kind with no rain or wind and it was not too cold. The bridleways were also fairly free of mud, so all in all, it was a very pleasant winter walk.