Hascombe, the Greensand Way and Shamley Green

Richard Clayton

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Hascombe lies in a valley in the Surrey Hills to the south of Godalming, just south of Winkworth Arboretum. It has a very special Victorian church, well worth a look, a lovely village pond and a great pub, the White Horse. See Additional Info.

Your route leaves Hascombe past the church and pond and heads north-east through woods along the Greensand Way. This path runs for 108 miles from Haslemere along the Greensand Ridge, parallel to and south of the North Downs, into Kent and almost to the coast, taking its name from the layers of sandstone and in particular, the green-coloured mineral glauconite.

You drop down to cross the former Wey and Arun Canal and the Downs Link, to join them later. A shorter, 13km walk is an option here - see Additional Info. Your full walk takes you into Shamley Green, another attractive village spread around the classic English village green, complete with old timber-framed buildings, cricket pitch and duck-pond. It is the birthplace and childhood home of Richard Branson.

On the return leg, your walk takes in stretches of the Downs Link and the Wey South Path and follows part of the route of the Wey and Arun Canal.

England - South England - Surrey - Greensand Hills

Features

Birds, Butterflies, Church, Flowers, Great Views, Hills or Fells, Industrial Archaeology, Pub, Public Transport, River, Wildlife, Woodland

5/19/2020 - Bridget Elton

This is a lovely walk, with a big variety of spring flowers in May. The steps at waypoint 33 have been repaired, thanks to Godalming and Haslemere Ramblers. The steps at waypoint 23 on the other hand have deteriorated almost to the point of invisibility.

8/29/2016 - Claire Edwards

29Aug16. Lovely walk, mostly flat and easy underfoot although I could see how some stretches could become quite difficult in the wet as mentioned by a previous reviewer. Only one field containing livestock so a good one with the dog. 2km along an old railway is a bit of a nuisance because of cyclists but not major. I needed to consult the OS map on my phone on a number of occasions. Took 3.5 hours without stopping. White horse in Hascombe does lovely food if you can wait till the end to eat.

4/11/2015 - Iestyn Roberts

Glorious day (10/04/2015). Lovely varied walk and a pub half way. The final climb is surprisingly strenuous though!. Two small points: 1. In common with Patricia Drew we took the return path at the beginning. It may be worth amending Way mark 1 - do not take the footpath to the left of the cottage just past the pond but stay on the lane until it forks. 2. Waymark 10.It is the third path not the middle path (which heads due north)

3/7/2011 - Patricia Daw

My husband and I completed this walk on a cold, sunny March afternoon. Unfortunately we managed to get lost very early on as for some reason we took the steep path to the right of the old school house when, I believe, we should have carried on round the lane. As a consequence we walked 13 not 10 miles! It was a pleasant walk but would have been impassable in places had it been any wetter as much walking takes place on bridleways: they had been severely churned up by horses. It took us 5hrs 10mins with the ...detour and a picnic lunch. Tricia Daw