17th February Hindhead Punchbowl


Devil’s Punchbowl Hindhead – 17 February 2025
After seemingly endless days of cold, damp, grey February weather (which we need a
word 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. In
all 12 members met at the NT carpark in Hindhead and 10 stayed for lunch afterwards
in the Fox and Pelican in Grayshott.
The Devil’s Punchbowl links to another walk Heather and I led back in April 2021 at the
Devil’s Jumps’ near Churt. Legend has it that the Devil was quite a health fanatic and
exercised daily jumping from hill to hill at the three Devil’s Jumps, which mightily
hacked off one nearby resident of Thursley, namely Thor, the God of Thunder (Thor’s
Lie, see !!). When Thor tried to smite the Devil with Thunder and Lightning, the Devil
retaliated by scooping up handfuls of earth and hurling them at Thor, and the
depression 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 not
actually 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 – it
should more accurately be called the ‘Devil’s Scoop’, although I’m doubtful it will
catch 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 stream
flowing North, and then quite a lot of zag-zigging back up again. There did seem to be
more up zag than down zig. However, along the way we did get some wonderful
views 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 Stadium
Arch! However, we did have fine views from the west rim towards Farnham and
Farnborough in the North. And from Gibbets Hill, we could see over Godalming and
eastwards 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 the
three highwaymen who in 1786, robbed and murdered a sailor they had befriended in
a pub in Thursley. They were tried and hung from a Gibbet, as a warning to other
criminals. 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 at
reasonable prices, although due to another gathering, it was a little chilly in the room
we were in.
JR, HR, PG, JE, ME, AP, FB, MC, AS, AG, IP, SS








 

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