things change

Box Hill is a renowned Surrey hill near Dorking. At the top there’s a decent café and second-hand bookshop as well as stunning views. Owned by the National Trust, it’s a big open space and there are no entry charges.

A long, steep climb is well worth the effort for those with the stamina. You can also drive to the top, where there’s a chargeable National Trust car park. Alternatively there’s a bus service, the Metrobus route 21, which runs infrequently between Epsom, Leatherhead, Dorking and Crawley on all days excluding Sundays.

An interesting excursion for me would be to catch the train to Dorking, walk through the woods to the tiny, picturesque village of Brockham – I’ve done it many times. Lunch at The Reading Room café, or just a picnic, allowing time to pick up the 1:15 bus (the one after is 3 hours later!) to the top of Box Hill (1:30). Note that the bus route map is misleading in that apart from a late afternoon bus (4:01) there is no bus from Brockham village itself. It’s necessary to make a 15-20 minute walk out of the village to the main Dorking – Reigate road, which you cross over to find the bus stop a little way down on the right. You need to leave the village around 12:45 to be sure of making the 1:15 bus!

At the top of Box Hill you can enjoy a stunning viewpoint, a browse in the bookshop (usually open Sat – Thu, 10am-3.30pm subject to volunteer availability), and finally an easy walk down Box Hill and a short walk to Westhumble station to pick up a train home (hourly).