Have You Seen What's On the Box?

As well as its famous box trees, Box Hill has its own place in television history.

Distance 4 miles (6.4km)

Minimum time 2hrs 15min

Ascent/gradient 803ft (245m)

Level of difficulty Medium

Paths Woodland tracks, with two sections on minor roads

Landscape Mainly wooded, but with some breathtaking views

Suggested map aqua3 OS Explorer 146 Dorking, Box Hill & Reigate

Start/finish TQ 178513

Dog friendliness Some roadside sections and grazing animals

Parking National Trust car park, Fort Cottages, Box Hill Country Park

Public toilets At the start

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Directions
Background
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1 Turn left out of the car park, cross over, and follow the roadside path for ½ mile (800m). Shortly after you set out, you'll see a path leading down to the viewpoint, built in memory of Leopold Salomons of Norbury Park. The commanding views of Dorking and the Mole Valley are well worth the short diversion.

2 A few paces short of the Boxhills Tavern, re-cross the road and turn off to the left onto the signposted public bridleway. Ignore all the turnings you pass, and follow the signposted route as it drops down through Juniper Bottom to the Headley Road.

3 The next few hundred paces are very steep indeed. As an alternative, you can turn left onto Headley Road, and rejoin the route by turning left onto the Old London Road. This will cut out Mickleham village, and shorten your walk by ¾ mile (1.2km).
Otherwise, cross straight over onto the public footpath and steel yourself for the seemingly interminable climb up a long flight of rustic steps. Just beyond the top of the steps the path bears right and the gradient eases slightly. Soon you will come to a bench seat. There are splendid views down the Mole Valley and across to Denbies vineyard from here, and I never saw a better excuse for a rest.
Now follow the National Trust's 'long walk' waymarks as you bear left and drop down over a footpath crossroads with the Thames Down Link. Clamber over the stile at the foot of the hill, and continue past the church into the village of Mickleham. Turn left, and follow the Old London Road. There's a pavement on the right-hand side to begin with, which at times transforms itself into a pleasant rural path running just a few paces away from the road. By the time you reach the junction with the Zig Zag Road, it's just an ordinary pavement again.

4 Cross over to the junction with the Zig Zag Road, and join the signposted bridleway that climbs steadily all the way back up the hill to the National Trust centre. Near the top, you'll see the old Victorian fort on your right. Turn right at the top of the hill for the last 60yds (55m) back to the car park.

Just after leaving the car park, you'll notice a drive to a private house on your right. This is Swiss Cottage, home to John Logie Baird during the 1920s and 1930s. Baird had trained as an electrical engineer, but spent his early life on a variety of hare-brained projects that ranged from curing piles to producing jams and mango chutney. He was the archetypal absent-minded professor; scruffy, permanently short of cash, and given to sketching on restaurant table cloths or changing his socks in public.

Baird's prototype for a mechanical television was pure Wallace and Gromit. On top of an old tea chest, he set up a scanning disc cut from a hatbox, spinning on an old darning needle driven by an electric motor. There was a lamp in an empty biscuit tin and some fourpenny bull's eye lenses, all held together with sealing wax and string. But it worked, and in 1925 he unveiled his 'Televisor' at Selfridges in London.

No story about an inventor would be complete without an explosion, and Baird obliged by blowing up his lodgings in Hastings. He moved to London, and then to Box Hill, where he continued to demonstrate inventions like the 'Noctovisor', a night vision infra-red viewer that looked just like a Dalek with no clothes on.

Towards the end of 1929, Baird overcame the BBC's scepticism and began experimental transmissions under their famous 2LO call sign. It was always an uneasy relationship, with Baird continuing to promote mechanically-scanned television at a time when pure electronic systems were being developed on the far side of the Atlantic. EMI launched its 'Emitron' camera in 1935 and, in the following year, the BBC began a new round of test transmissions from Alexandra Palace in south London. Baird and Marconi-EMI were now head to head, broadcasting from adjacent studios on alternate days. The service was officially opened using Baird's system in November 1936, transmitting two hours of programmes each day. But the two techniques were still running turn and turn about, and it soon became clear that Marconi-EMI had the upper hand. Within three months, the Government had decided that Britain should adopt their electronic system as the new standard for television transmission.

Baird was down, but not out. In the years before his death in 1946, he continued to experiment with big screen television for cinemas, as well as colour and stereoscopic television. Although he never achieved commercial success, Baird is generally remembered as one of the most influential pioneers in British television.

While you're there

England's largest wine estate lies just a stone's throw from Box Hill. With its 265 acres (107ha) of Mole Valley vineyards and a massive winery and visitor centre, Denbies is a place you really shouldn't miss. Drop in for tea or a light lunch in the atrium garden conservatory, or do the full tour, complete with audio-visuals and people mover train. Naturally, the tour ends with a wine tasting in the Denbies cellars, but you can also try before you buy in the winery shop. And if you fancy another walk, there's even a fascinating vineyard trail.

What to look for

Near the top of the hill at the end of the walk, keep an eye out on your right for Box Hill Fort. Ancient though it seems, the fort is little more than a century old. It was built in 1899 as one of a line of 13 similar centres strung out along the North Downs, to guard London from the threat of an invasion from mainland Europe. The fort was never permanently manned, but was used as an arms store and muster centre. It is now being conserved by the National Trust but, because bats have colonised the underground ammunition chambers, it isn't open to the public.

Where to eat and drink

You'll find a good range of hot and cold drinks, snacks and ices at the open air National Trust servery at the start of this walk. There are benches and picnic tables here, too. Down in Mickleham village, you're as likely to hear orders for a glass of Chardonnay as for a pint of real ale. But walkers get a warm welcome at the 16th-century Running Horses; the sandwiches are excellent, and there's also a reasonably priced bar menu.