This is a very charming walk, with some majestic views and lovely houses guaranteed to give you house envy! The walk takes you through woods and fields with hardly any ups or downs. It is dog friendly (although there are two stiles which a very big dog may struggle with) and only the final, short section was muddy when I walked it at the end of April 2016. The walk was submitted by Guildford Rambling Club (see guildfordramblingclub.org.uk. SR
1. Go up the path at the left-hand side of the Inn and into a field at the back.. Stay on its left-hand side until you are level with a large house off to the left. Here turn right and walk across the field and down to cross a stile into another field. Stay on its right-hand side until exiting, to the right, over a stile and onto a road. Jink left and turn right into the mouth of Burchetts Hollow. Immediately turn left through a gate and walk out across a very large field. The path exits in the far left-hand bottom corner through trees onto a road.
2. Turn right and walk along this road, passing Oak Farm. Take a footpath out left into and across a field, passing a small lake to reach a road. Go straight across and into another field. Stay on the right-hand side as you climb a rise and enter a fence/hedge corridor. Continue forward, dipping down then up and crossing another field to reach road opposite a large house. Go left for 20 yards and then take a footpath out right and into a field.
3. Go anti-clockwise around its edge to reach the far left-hand corner. A gate takes you into a wide grassy corridor where you turn right and follow the track down a dip and up. At the top, follow the path through a small gate into and across a field. You can see Dilton Farm away to your left. Go over a stile and along a short corridor to a T junction with a wide track. Turn left and walk along to turn left into the entrance to Dilton Farm.
4. Pass the wooden house and turn right on a footpath into a field. Walk clockwise around the edge of the field through into the next field. The path breaks off left, over a stile and along through an avenue of large trees. You can see Knowle Farm ahead. Near the house the path swings sharp left and you follow it, ignoring the footpath right. Pass a few houses and reach Hound House and a road. Cross (because of the blind bend) to go right for 100 yards to take a footpath left, into a field.
5. Follow the wide track half-right, out across the field until it turns right and goes through a gate at the edge of Wickham’s Copse. Just inside the gate the path forks left, into trees. Follow this path straight ahead until passing the huts of the Bentley Copse holiday centre, off to your right, and reaching a cross paths with a bridleway. Turn left and follow the bridleway through the trees and keep on until reaching a T junction with a road. Jink left and immediately take an unsigned path off right and down a slope into the large Walking Bottom car park at Peaslake.
6. Walk out of the entrance of this car park onto the road. Turn right and immediately take the footpath on the right running above and parallel to the road. This brings you around the back of the church to a T junction with the lane up to the main cemetery. Here you turn left and drop down onto the road by Inn and the starting car park.
DISTANCE: 4.5 miles
OS MAPS: Explorer 145 Guildford & Farnham
STARTING POINT: The public car park in Pond Lane adjacent to the Hurtwood Inn car park. (There is another one 300 yards along Walking Bottom, the road in front of the Inn.)
REFRESHMENTS: The Hurtwood Inn, Peaslake GU5 9RR. www.hurtwoodinn.com
