With less than two months to go until we walk from Winchester to Canterbury, Phil and I had finally managed to coordinate our diaries and arranged to meet up on Saturday morning and undertake a practice walk. That might sound odd as we both walk regularly, but the practice was twofold, firstly to discuss what we should carry then undertake a long walk with backpacks loaded to see how our bodies cope, but also to check we can put up with each other! Don’t get me wrong, we've known each other for many years and Phil is one of my closest friends but that is different to spending 24 hours together, over 7 days, whilst pushing ourselves to the limit and navigating unfamiliar paths.
We no longer live close to each other, Phil having abandoned London life many years ago for the countryside, so he made the journey up to me and we set off, after a quick coffee, following a route I had plotted using my watch navigation app. I am very lucky living in the area that I do because although close to civilisation with shops/restaurants on my doorstep, it’s only a few strides to get to Epsom Downs, Epsom/Ashtead common and the area of outstanding natural beauty that is the Surrey Hills. The last time I walked with Phil, in his highly picturesque part of the country, he had made it clear that he preferred walking off road/tarmac which is also a view I share. Thus, I avoided any main routes and plotted a way south towards Box Hill trying to keep to footpaths and bridleways. However, given that it had rained pretty constantly for three days (we were blessed with nice weather on the day, and I ended with touch of sunburn below my disappearing hairline!), the choice of route made for an amusing and squelchy day of hiking.
We quickly crossed Epsom racecourse and headed through Walton on the Hill, making a brief stop to check out the charming parish church of St Peter (Phil likes church architecture and I can see a lot of stops being taken on the Pilgrims Way), before crossing the M25 and entering the Surrey Hills. It was at this point that the trails narrowed and became bog like. For the next mile or so we walked in concentrated silence, punctuated by the odd groan and chortle as we watched each other try to find firm ground and stretched our legs ever further trying to avoid deep puddles. One particular downhill stretch saw both of us nearly hit the floor. to make matters worse this track ended up being the wrong route and we had detoured away from the path we were meant to be on - I take the blame for that one as I hadn’t checked the navigation for a while because concentration was elsewhere.
We finally found our way back on course and joined the North Downs Way, which will be part of our route to Canterbury in June, and set off towards Box Hill. This is some beautiful countryside and I recommend it to everyone as an alternative to the traditional route up Box Hill from Westhumble. Its less established but rewards you with some equally stunning views over the surrounding areas. The mud continued and we began to just plod through it rather than take evasive action. The route I had plotted then took us away from the North Downs Way and up a very narrow pathway towards Box Hill Road. This was a killer path, and I would avoid it in future, especially in muddy conditions. The talking definitely stopped for this 10-minute ascent and the relief when it levelled out was palpable.
It was fairly easy walking from there to the famous Box Hill viewpoint where we stopped for refreshments and to give our shoulders a rest from our packs. After the compulsory photographs of the view, we set off in a homeward direction descending Box Hill towards Mickleham and then following the Thames Down Path through beautiful woodland, the Beaverbrook estate and into Ashtead/Epsom common. The final stretch took us into Horton Country Park where the gravel paths were a welcoming site, as we covered the last couple of kilometres in what ended up being a 34 km walk (it was plotted as 32.5 but a couple of missed navigations added some extra distance).
We had a great time, lots of laughs and both finished with the conclusion that doing this for seven days in a row will be tough but worth it to raise funds for Parkinson's UK and an adventure we are looking forward to immensely. We both reported that our legs felt good (aching feet are standard!) but that we had some shoulder discomfort, my left shoulder in particular needs some work as I suffered from a frozen shoulder a couple of years ago and it’s never quite been the same. So, in addition to the practice walks, I will need to add some shoulder stretches and exercises.
The day finished with a few beers, cocktails (we are so manly!) and more laughs before retiring for a well needed rest!
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Posted by Matt Bees
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