Day 27 Ranmore Common to Merstham: Can a Trip to Box Hill Ever be Pleasant?

Crossing the River Mole

For an OS map of today's walk click here.

This was the first day we were slightly tired of walking, perhaps partly because we were just tired. Overnight I slept well, but in Ken's dorm there was a man who talked in his sleep several times during the night, so Ken wasn't as well rested as I. The weather was not optimal, either. We started off in misty rain, and again it was cool.

A Squall on Box Hill!

On the way to Box Hill, I walked across the River Mole on some round stepping stones, which wasn't too frightening and was quite beautiful. I had been anticipating the visit to Box Hill with an amused apprehension—if you have read Jane Austen's Emma, you know that in the novel an excursion to Box Hill does not go as well as planned. The walk up the 232 steps plus other stretches of hill was challenging. We took it in stages, mainly 15 steps at a time, and we got to the top at last. The rain and wind picked up just as we arrived, which meant that we couldn't really take a photo of the amazing view which is the whole point of climbing Box Hill. We decided to go to the tea shop where Ken had a cream tea and I had a slice of cherry coconut cake. The cream tea tasted fine, but the amount of cream and jam that they gave with two huge scones was quite skimpy, only enough for one scone, really. That was our only complaint! The bathrooms had hand dryers that, when I dried my hands, puffed up my windbreaker sleeves so that I looked like one of those inflated stick men that are used for advertising outside of car dealerships. I told Ken about the dryers, and he used them to dry out his sleeves, and he found from chatting with some other cyclists that they had done the same. An unexpected amenity at Box Hill. When we were finished at the cafe, the rain had diminished a bit and we were able to take a few photos.

A Box Hill Panorama—Looking South towards the Greensand Ridge and the Weald

As we headed onwards the path edges had been trimmed, making them wide enough to navigate easily, which we really appreciated. Our guidebook had forewarned us that chalk, which is the dominant type of stone in this area, is quite slippery when wet. It was true—the path was soil with small chalk stones embedded in it, and those stones were quite slippery.

Our lunch was a sandwich we bought at the cafe, and we sat on a bench with a marvellous view. The bench was dedicated to Paul Hill, "still running through our minds."

At Colley Hill, there were great views and more patches of blue sky. We sat in Inglis' Folly, a circular shelter featuring a topograph on its ceiling, with a group of very large belted cattle grazing nearby. The belt refers to a white band around the waist—it certainly didn't have a slimming effect on these huge bovines. One bull drooled into the wind onto another bench nearby, and we were glad we hadn't chosen that bench.

Belted Galloways on Colley Hill, looking west (the range of hills to the right are the North Downs, over which we've walked)

We crossed a small footbridge over a road and suddenly were at a parking lot with a cafe and washrooms! Actually, washrooms merit more exclamation points!!!! I am always delighted to encounter public conveniences, which are not always to be found on the walk. The funny thing is, both our guidebook and the map indicated that the cafe and washrooms were there, but we hadn't noticed. It appeared for us as an unexpected oasis. We shared a delicious hot chocolate with dark chocolate flakes on top, and set forth again.

The Johannine Prologue Stone

Not a "Druids' Cirque" but the Millennium Stones, Gatton Park

We passed the Millenium Stones, a series of standing stones set in a circle with engraved texts representing every 200 years since the time of Christ, beginning with the prologue to the gospel of John and ending with T.S. Eliot's Four Quartets. It was an inspiring place to visit.

After passing a school and a golf course, we made it into Merstham and caught a train to Tonbridge to stay with our friends Richard and Cathi. I had stayed there before, but on the way from the station still managed to get us lost by ignoring the difference between Priory Road and Priory Street, adding to a walk that had already tired Ken's feet out. He graciously got us back on track and we were glad to chat with friends and head off to bed after a long day.

38,000 steps, 29.1 km, 1184.7 cal
OS getamap measured distance: 12.40 mi (19.96 km)