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Rambling with Kirk 2015: Thames-Downs Link-Chessington to Mickleham

kirk13 · 46 · 1286

00 Offline kirk13

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On my weeks holiday I completed(sort of) my trip down the Thames-Downs Link,which we started back in April. This was the long cross country leg,which would take me over the M25 and out of anything even vaguely described as London.
« Last Edit: June 23, 2015, 12:34:29 AM by kirk13 »
There is no beginning,or ending,and for this we are thankful,cos now is hard enough to understand!


00 Offline kirk13

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The plan was to grab a couple of buses up to Cop Gilders,and take a short stroll down to the trail head,but my flat mate was around and give me a ride up to here




The woodland in Horton a Country Park is the oak/holly combo we've seen all along the Hogsmill this far. Enjoy it,because we're heading into new territory soon!
« Last Edit: May 26, 2015, 06:50:40 PM by kirk13 »
There is no beginning,or ending,and for this we are thankful,cos now is hard enough to understand!


us Offline ducttapetech

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Nice looking area.

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00 Offline kirk13

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We're now starting to see the country open up a little,with fields of rape seed. In the distance is a the radio tower,once part of the hospitals that occupied the Horton area


The area is well known for its woodpeckers,which grow to quite a size :whistle:


This walk is heavily punctuated by road crossings,this is the first on many
« Last Edit: May 26, 2015, 06:58:51 PM by kirk13 »
There is no beginning,or ending,and for this we are thankful,cos now is hard enough to understand!


no Offline Grathr

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Nice pics!
Thanks for sharing!


Sent from a device made from star dust using tapatalk
-Knívleysur maður er lívleysur maður.
 "A Knifeless man is a lifeless man" old Faroese proverb.


us Offline SAK Guy

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Another great trip my friend.

Never get to go anywhere anymore and I do so enjoy these travelogs! :cheers:
« Last Edit: May 26, 2015, 07:08:04 PM by SAK Guy »
- Robert




Quo Fata Ferunt
"It's sad that governments are chiefed by the double tongues." - Ten Bears


00 Offline kirk13

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The section linking Horton to Ashtead Common opens up into bridleway and firebreaks. The flora changes to...eh :think: different trees


Ok,so I know these are beech


We're on realitively high ground,about 30m higher than where we started in Chessington. One noticeable difference here are the clearings


« Last Edit: May 26, 2015, 08:16:38 PM by kirk13 »
There is no beginning,or ending,and for this we are thankful,cos now is hard enough to understand!


00 Offline kirk13

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http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashtead_Common

Ashtead Common. Funny,I thought I'd be here for longer. It felt longer when I cycled this a few years back. Turns out I just skim the edge of the Common. I'll be coming back here before long...Stane Street,the Roman Road we'll be picking up in a few miles runs through here. Also there Roman ruins,and ancient earthworks. On top of there,there's a Royal Oak( yes I'm wondering too) and a wishing tree...

Water table is quite high too!
« Last Edit: May 26, 2015, 08:48:34 PM by kirk13 »
There is no beginning,or ending,and for this we are thankful,cos now is hard enough to understand!


wales Offline magentus

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Excellent Kirk! You'd never know you were so near London. Looking forward to the road and the earthworks  :salute:
'Use the force Harry' - Gandalf


00 Offline kirk13

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The other side of the Common is bordered by the railway


« Last Edit: May 26, 2015, 08:53:59 PM by kirk13 »
There is no beginning,or ending,and for this we are thankful,cos now is hard enough to understand!


00 Offline kirk13

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As for Ashtead itself? Well,we'll skim through the outskirts of it. Most of what we'll see is the park







« Last Edit: May 26, 2015, 10:58:14 PM by kirk13 »
There is no beginning,or ending,and for this we are thankful,cos now is hard enough to understand!


00 Offline kirk13

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Nice pics!
Thanks for sharing!


Sent from a device made from star dust using tapatalk

Another great trip my friend.

Never get to go anywhere anymore and I do so enjoy these travelogs! :cheers:

Excellent Kirk! You'd never know you were so near London. Looking forward to the road and the earthworks  :salute:

Cheers everyone :tu:
There is no beginning,or ending,and for this we are thankful,cos now is hard enough to understand!


00 Offline kirk13

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After leaving the park,there's the better part of a mile and a half following side streets and what would once have been back entrys. It's a pain walking through the slums of Surrey



It was nice to be back in the green again after the walk through Ashtead. Here we start climbing again,off to join with Stane Street
« Last Edit: May 26, 2015, 11:38:05 PM by kirk13 »
There is no beginning,or ending,and for this we are thankful,cos now is hard enough to understand!


us Offline ducttapetech

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Even more great pics. Nice looking area too. Thanks for sharing Kirk.

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00 Offline kirk13

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My apologies for the break in this thread. Life life can get in the road :facepalm:

Anyway...we were on our way to join Stane Street. On the outskirts of Ashstead you start to see fields of rape seed




This,believe it or not,is someone's back garden. There's something about this pic that gives me hope,that nature can reclaim from man
« Last Edit: June 15, 2015, 07:41:43 PM by kirk13 »
There is no beginning,or ending,and for this we are thankful,cos now is hard enough to understand!


00 Offline kirk13

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And this is it...Stane Street! We're now walking on a Roman Road!



I can confirm that the bridge over the M25( Chris Rea's Road To Hell) is not of Roman origin


« Last Edit: June 15, 2015, 07:46:50 PM by kirk13 »
There is no beginning,or ending,and for this we are thankful,cos now is hard enough to understand!


00 Offline kirk13

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This waits on the other side of the M25,welcoming you back to the green



From here things took a slightly strange turn as I came across three teenage girls,burdened by backpacks and swearing like sailors. I had the strange sensation of walking into a slasher movie :ahhh

After a couple of minutes of being slowed down by the girls,and getting very fed up with listening to them swearing and bickering I thought I'd stop for a drink and snack,let them get far enough up the road I wouldn't have to see or hear them again



« Last Edit: June 15, 2015, 07:59:17 PM by kirk13 »
There is no beginning,or ending,and for this we are thankful,cos now is hard enough to understand!


00 Offline kirk13

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More of those rural Surrey slums ;)

Shortly after this I caught up with my 'lady friends'. They were collapsed on the trail looking and sounding lost and despondent.

Turns out they were on a Duke Of Edinbourgh Award outing(and no,I didn't ask them if they had Vic DofEs). Turns out they had no idea where they were and only a vague idea of where they were meant to be going. Also turns out they couldn't read maps :facepalm:

I showed them where they were,and,based on their description,where they were aiming for,checked that someone knew they were out here and headed off,wondering about the value of the DofE scheme
« Last Edit: June 15, 2015, 08:46:59 PM by kirk13 »
There is no beginning,or ending,and for this we are thankful,cos now is hard enough to understand!


us Offline ducttapetech

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Beautiful pics!

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00 Offline kirk13

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This eyesore is the local golf course being expanded


It looked very much like a second 18 holes was being laid out.


To be honest with you all,I didn't remember a lot of the trail between Ashsted and the section I'm about to show you. I remembered there being a number of grinding technical climbs from when I'd cycled it. But this,this I remembered! First proper decent,and I could go for it because of a loose dodgy surface! Turns out Stane Street is far easier to walk than cycle :think:

The photo doesn't do justice to the decent


Another picture that fails to do justice to the valley dropping away in it
« Last Edit: June 15, 2015, 09:01:42 PM by kirk13 »
There is no beginning,or ending,and for this we are thankful,cos now is hard enough to understand!


00 Offline kirk13

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Now,here's a funny thing...

When I was here on the bike,I took a wrong turn,lost Stane Street and ended up on Mickleham Downs.

This time I took special care, and  :facepalm:



Mickleham Downs!

There is no beginning,or ending,and for this we are thankful,cos now is hard enough to understand!


us Offline SAK Guy

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More beautiful pics!!!!!  Thank you  :cheers:
- Robert




Quo Fata Ferunt
"It's sad that governments are chiefed by the double tongues." - Ten Bears


00 Offline kirk13

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And this is where everything went wrong...

I just couldn't orientate myself...misinterpreted the land marks :think:

The up side is that the Downs are boarder end on three sides by roads. Remembering my last visit,I went the opposite way!

As you can see the descent was rather steep!


« Last Edit: June 15, 2015, 09:27:55 PM by kirk13 »
There is no beginning,or ending,and for this we are thankful,cos now is hard enough to understand!


00 Offline kirk13

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Bottom at last! This lead me to a road I could identify on my map,and give me a fix on exactly where I was,about three miles and one very large geological feature from where I should have been :facepalm:
There is no beginning,or ending,and for this we are thankful,cos now is hard enough to understand!


00 Offline kirk13

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This would have lead me back to Stane Street the short way,but to be very honest,I couldn't face the climb. My knees hadn't thanked me for the the way I'd taken down from the Downs,and I much preferred the thought of walking along a tarred road!



I'd also have missed this

« Last Edit: June 15, 2015, 09:38:17 PM by kirk13 »
There is no beginning,or ending,and for this we are thankful,cos now is hard enough to understand!


00 Offline kirk13

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And just for the record,this is where I should have finished the walk



Mickleham village,and the bus stop are a half mile up the road.

I'll be back here soon,to find out where I went wrong,and to have a proper poke around Mickleham Downs :tu:
There is no beginning,or ending,and for this we are thankful,cos now is hard enough to understand!


00 Offline kirk13

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« Last Edit: June 15, 2015, 09:53:51 PM by kirk13 »
There is no beginning,or ending,and for this we are thankful,cos now is hard enough to understand!


wales Offline magentus

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Fantastic stuff as usual Kirky  :salute: Every time I read one of your rambling posts I have to add several places on my list of places to go.  :tu:
'Use the force Harry' - Gandalf


00 Offline kirk13

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More beautiful pics!!!!!  Thank you  :cheers:

My pleasure Robert :salute:

Fantastic stuff as usual Kirky  :salute: Every time I read one of your rambling posts I have to add several places on my list of places to go.  :tu:

Cheers Mags :salute: There's an awful lot of exploring to be done in the Dorking area!
There is no beginning,or ending,and for this we are thankful,cos now is hard enough to understand!


gb Offline AimlessWanderer

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Great pics John  :tu: really makes me jealous that I can't get out and about more, although I am working on it


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