Country Walking: Blackheath&Albury Downs, Surrey

This walk begins in the Surrey Weald and makes a spectacular ascent of St Martha's Hill to the church perched high on the North Downs, and visible for miles around. From here, we follow The Pilgrims' Way - once used by pilgrims to visit the relics of St Swithin in Winchester (the capital of Saxon England) and then later to visit Canterbury, following the martyrdom of St Thomas a Beckett. (Before that it was the east/west route for traders, connecting the Channel ports to Salisbury Plain and Stonehenge.) Our route continues to Newlands Corner - a beauty spot on the North Downs Way, before descending to the mysterious Silent Pool. We continue through Albury village (with its ornate Pugin chimneys) and return to Blackheath via a myriad of half-known paths and sandy tracks. By Mike Cope ROUTE Start/parking: Blackheath Common car park, grid ref TQ036462 Is it for me? Very steep ascent up scarp slope of North Downs, then along woodland trails and sandy paths; good level of fitness required for this hike Stiles: One PLANNING Nearest town: Guildford Refreshments: Newlands Corner cafe; The Albury Village Stores; The Drummond (Albury); The Percy Arms (Chilworth) Public toilets: Newlands Corner cafe Public transport: Chilworth railway station; Bus 32 stops by The Percy Arms Maps: OS Explorer 145; Landranger 186 From Country Walking magazine, to subscribe visitwww.GreatMagazines.co.uk/CountryWalking. Copyright Bauer Media Limited 2019. All rights reserved. We have taken all reasonable steps to ensure these walks are safe and correctly described. However things do change and all outdoor activities involve a degree of risk. The GPX trace on this route is for use as a guide only, its accuracy may change depending on the scale of map you are using. Use in combination with judgement and a paper map. The publishers accept no responsibility for any errors or omissions or for any injuries or accidents that occur whilst following this walk.