Newlands Corner, Shere and Back 11th March

Another early one! Arrived in Guildford just before 7.30 and hit the pavements! 5 minutes outside the town centre is the wonderful Pewley (or Pervy?) Down. Great for sloe picking in the autumn. We saw just one other walker - a man with a lead but no dog! The views were lovely although slightly obscured by some early morning mist.  We were relying on Becky for navigation again and she played a blinder! We followed the North Downs Way to Newlands Corner and arrived in time for a peaceful breakfast (hardly a biker in sight!).  Coffee, cake and comfort stops are what keep this team going!! 3.75 miles before 8.30 on a Sunday isn't half bad!

Sandra has another bad hair day!

This week we also had a spring in our steps because we were top of the Fundraising Leaderboards ...(pause for applause!!).  We are hugely chuffed to be there and it has made us all the more determined to see this challenge through!

The next section of the walk is all down hill (hurrah!) to the beautiful village of Shere.  We passed the scene of Agatha Christie's mysterious disappearance in 1926 - a very unromantic chalk pit!! Shere was the location of the film "The Holiday" and it really is pretty. We had to cross a ford - note the raging rapids - to enter the village. Luckily a bridge was on hand and a very helpful family who took the photo of the intrepid three!

The Ford

 

Glad we bought waterproof boots!

Hurrying past the tea rooms and the inviting pubs (not to mention the prison house) we headed out up a very steep and long hill! Becky led from the front and was determined to overtake a family of walkers just so she could take some sneaky pictures of Sue and Sandra puffing like steam engines! All good training of course..






At the top we crossed a couple of country roads before coming to a small car park.  Some cyclists were getting ready to go and we caught up with an old man on the path who kindly stepped aside. Becky and Sandra were deep in conversation about a book. The gentleman eagerly told Sue who was slightly behind " you go like bicycles!" We have no idea how to take this but needless to say we did giggle like crazy when Sue shared the joke!


Steeply downhill to Silent Pool meant only one thing..steeply uphill to follow. Time for a jelly baby break! Unfortunately the Pool has been drained for maintenance but it is usually a very atmospheric place. The water has a peculiar, eerie colour and there are lots of spooky stories associated with it. 

The climb up is pretty scary! Thank God for walking poles!!  Onto Newlands Corner for our second visit of the morning.  The hairy bikers had arrived in droves.  We were able to indulge in Sue's Gran's fruit cake (yum!) and Sandra was roped into a blind mango tasting (don't ask!). The map came out for the first time and we plotted a route to St Martha's Hill.  The route took us back along the North Downs Way and then a short and sharp ascent to the the church. The sun came out giving us some beautiful views. We made our way back to the car feeling very, very happy!

Stats: 15 mile walk - ascended approx 2500 feet. Calories burnt 1500. 5.5 hours (with stops).

Tilford Circuit Via Frensham and Bourne Woods

February 26th - Early start for this one. Becky drove Sue and Sandra over to Tilford at 7am! Beautiful morning with a light frost and just a lone photographer by the river to watch us get our boots on.  We had the maps but Becky was appointed official navigator for this one as she grew up in this neck of the woods.

The smell of pigs greeted us about a mile into the walk. Not bacon - pigs!  Not the best pong and they weren't too keen on joining us!

Not sure what the pig at the back is doing..!

Saying goodbye to Miss Piggy and her friends, we headed over to Frensham Little Pond - stunning in the early morning sunshine. Over to the Big Pond up a moderate hill but the reward was a stunning view.

Comfort stop at the Big Pond. Coffee and cake (of course!) and lots of birdsong. We then made for Alice Holt Forest but the master plan went slightly awry! We had every confidence in Becky though even when we missed Alice Holt completely!!!!!Some quite hilly and muddy terrain but we all had poles so managed fine.

View over Frensham

Next stop Bourne Woods. Bird pooped on Sandra on the way which we took to be a sign of extreme good luck! We hoped to see a few celebs here as it is regularly used as a film set but we had to content ourselves with a few dog walkers instead! Time to break open the Coconut Water (kindly donated by Tropical Sun) and take a look at the map!



After walking up and down the road a few times - footpath sign not obvious - we got back on track and were reunited with our porcine pals before heading back to the car!

Definitely not lost!!

We walked a smidge under 16 miles in just over 5 hours including breaks! Was lovely to walk in the sunshine after walking at -3.5oC on our last walk - the Punchbowl Marathon! Great walk, great company and great laughs. Bring on the next one!

Fame At Last!

An article about us on the fabulous Kideeko website!

Vale Venturers Bottoms on Display!!

Here We Go...The First Blog Entry

We are blogging virgins so excuse this first post! We are 4 lovely ladies from Surrey who will be taking part in Oxfam's Trailwalker event on July 14th and 15th. This is a 100km walk from Petersfield to Brighton which must be completed in under 30 hours. GULP!

Why are we doing it? Because we are bonkers is the quick answer. We also want to challenge ourselves, we love walking and the outdoors and most importantly we want to raise as much money as possible for Oxfam and the Gurkha Welfare Trust. Total so far: £1756.50!!!

We have completed 200 miles of training walks so far and plan to do plenty more. Highlights include donkeys, pigs, soldiers, stiles and comedy falls. Not to mention cake and lots of it!!