17th February Hindhead Punchbowl
Devil’s Punchbowl Hindhead – 17 February 2025After seemingly endless days of cold, damp, grey February weather (which we need aword for!), we were delighted to enjoy a full morning of sunshine, albeit a little misty.Plus we were pleased to be joined by our two new members Mandy E and John E. Inall 12 members met at the NT carpark in Hindhead and 10 stayed for lunch afterwardsin the Fox and Pelican in Grayshott.The Devil’s Punchbowl links to another walk Heather and I led back in April 2021 at theDevil’s Jumps’ near Churt. Legend has it that the Devil was quite a health fanatic andexercised daily jumping from hill to hill at the three Devil’s Jumps, which mightilyhacked off one nearby resident of Thursley, namely Thor, the God of Thunder (Thor’sLie, see !!). When Thor tried to smite the Devil with Thunder and Lightning, the Devilretaliated by scooping up handfuls of earth and hurling them at Thor, and thedepression that remained is the Devil’s Punch bowl. Legends do require some latitude.Well clearly there is a case for trade descriptions here as the Devil’s Punch Bowl is notactually a ‘Bowl’, the key feature of a bowl being a continuous rim. Whereas this‘Bowl’ would not hold much Punch at all due to the great big dip at the North end – itshould more accurately be called the ‘Devil’s Scoop’, although I’m doubtful it willcatch on – it may just be the pedant in me!Legend’s aside, the key affect on our walk was that if you want to hike along the ‘rim’of the ‘Bowl’, you have do have to contend with a big zig-zag descent to the streamflowing North, and then quite a lot of zag-zigging back up again. There did seem to bemore up zag than down zig. However, along the way we did get some wonderfulviews across the half mile wide ‘Bowl’, aided by some tree/scrub clearance.On our pre-walk, we could see the Shard and Canary Wharf – some 40 miles away -but the mist hid them on the day. On a really clear day you can see Wembley StadiumArch! However, we did have fine views from the west rim towards Farnham andFarnborough in the North. And from Gibbets Hill, we could see over Godalming andeastwards towards Holmbury Hill – Leith Hill will be visible on a clear day.There is a dark side to the Devil’s Punch Bowl; Gibbet Hill takes it’s name from thethree highwaymen who in 1786, robbed and murdered a sailor they had befriended ina pub in Thursley. They were tried and hung from a Gibbet, as a warning to othercriminals. We also passed by the Sailor’s Stone - complete with a bone chilling curse -marking the spot where the poor sailor met his end.The walk was about 4.5 miles. Lunch at the Fox and Pelican was good food atreasonable prices, although due to another gathering, it was a little chilly in the roomwe were in.JR, HR, PG, JE, ME, AP, FB, MC, AS, AG, IP, SS
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