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Box Hill by bus
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).
For times of buses up until 27th November 2026, see Route 21 until 27 Nov 2026
From 28th November 2026 the timetables are as follows:
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Ordnance Survey route mapping
With an Ordnance Survey account you can use the OS website and the OS app to create a route. There is also a very useful facility to snap a route to defined paths, tracks and roads. It makes it a lot quicker when creating a route.
But, as I found on my latest walk, the snap feature doesn’t always get it right! The 1st image shows a map section with a start point. The 2nd image adds an end point and the correctly drawn route created by the route snapping feature. The 3rd image shows what happens if you choose a different end point – the route snapping feature creates a completely different route along non-existent paths!
I was caught out by this because I had failed to notice that the route I was using was as in the 3rd image. So, at the crossroad where I should have veered off eastwards I continued straight on, but because the path didn’t exist I ended up continuing along the path westwards – ie the wrong direction. I didn’t get too far before spotting I was on the wrong path and so after backtracking I picked up the correct path as in the 2nd image.
Memo to self: When creating a route using the route snapping feature, keep an eye on where it’s going. If necessary, make the gap between the current position and the next position shorter.
This is the map with a start point circled
This is the desired route when clicked at the end-point
This is the wrong route when clicked on a different end point
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Test Way (leg 1) Combe Gibbet – Hurstbourne Tarrant
Not the best of walks (just over 7 miles) – did anything go right?
The Elizabeth Line had signal delays; the train from Paddington to Hungerford ran late; I couldn’t get an Uber to the start of the walk and the bus alternative didn’t appear to be running, and where was the town hall bus stop anyway? But eventually I got an Uber, with a very pleasant driver, Mohammad Ali.
A stunning beginning to the walk but mainly stony tracks between hedges for much of the way. I got into a bit of a tizz a couple of times with finding the correct route. I was following a route on my OS app and it took me up a non-existent path. It was actually a boundary line but the app insisted it was a path and I ended up going along the wrong path and then having to backtrack and re-route. Another path was overgrown and impassable which also required a re-route. I was conscious that with having started the walk late (1pm) there were limited daylight hours available – I needn’t have worried. A glass of Malbec in The Great Decoy pub at Hurstbourne Tarrant was my reward whilst I waited for an Uber to Andover station. There was still fun to be had when the train to Clapham Junction skipped the stop due to a fire at CJ meaning going all the way to London Waterloo. Then a tube to London Bridge and a train home by a route that avoided CJ. Home by 8pm – what a day!
All images taken with the phone. Note to self – take a paper map next time; double-check the route on the OS app; make sure the OS app records my activity as I walk! Note that all my long walks can be found here.
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Sheffield Park
On the way back from a three day visit to Eastbourne we called in at this beautiful National Trust garden.
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3 nights in Eastbourne
A couple of bright pictures taken in Bexhill (we took the train), a demanding, circular hike up towards Beachy Head, meals out at La Locanda Del Duca (twice and wonderful ) and The Pilot Inn (generous portions), all made for a lovely break.
Whilst on the hike I got into a conversation with four men (seniors, like me) who told me they do this particular demanding walk every week in preparation for climbing Kilimanjaro. They were heading off the following day for the necessary eight days. Envious!
In Bexhill I got into a conversation with a man holding an old-fashion box camera. He sang the praises of film over digital and mentioned he developed his films without needing a dark room – wow! Noticing my digital camera (Sony RX100 Mk 3) he said he possessed the same camera – great photographers think alike!
Down to the bottom, turn right, a short walk and then STOP!
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Autumnal Richmond Park
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Up Box Hill, down to Brockham
A misty start to the morning that soon cleared to a bright, blue sky. A train to Westhumble and then the long climb up Box Hill where I recovered with a coffee and cake before visiting the National Trust bookshop. It’s roomy and an OK charity bookshop and where I managed to find 4 non-crime novels. After admiring the stunning views I dropped down to the bottom followed by a flat walk to the picturesque village of Brockham, where preparations are well under way for the village’s famous Bonfire Night.
The fishing lake on the lane to Brockham was a very odd colour. I’m guessing there’s not much fishing possible at the moment.
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Blue sky on the Wey
What a gorgeous day! A familiar walk but I started this one with a coffee and cake in the very pleasant Yvonne Arnaud Theatre café and I ended it with three books bought from A Novel Idea Book And Record Shop, a charity bookshop in Godalming
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My first game of season
Sutton v Forest Green Rovers was my first game of the season having lost all enthusiasm after last season’s dire showings. As the game progressed I sent WhatsApp bulletins to my son in Berlin. Nothing more to be said!
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Chartwell
The country home of Winston Churchill, this was our fourth visit, the last one being nearly four years ago. There are some lovely paths through the woods. There is the house, which we skipped this time, and the studio which we briefly looked in on. There is a second-hand bookshop which is not very good and a very pleasant café, both of which can be accessed without paying for entrance to the house and gardens.
More (better!) pictures can be seen from our previous visit in 2022.
