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A relatively easy walk taking you through the enchanting valley setting of Woldingham School.
Distance 3.5 miles (5.7km)
Minimum time 1hr 30min
Ascent/gradient 295ft (90m)
Level of difficulty Easy
Paths Surfaced lanes, wooded paths and bridleway, can be muddy, 2 stiles
Landscape Valley farmland sheltered by woods on upper slopes
Suggested map aqua3 OS Explorer 146 Dorking, Box Hill & Reigate
Start/finish TQ 359564
Dog friendliness Dogs will need to be on lead for most of route
Parking Woldingham Road, 100yds (91m) north of railway station in Woldingham
Public toilets None on route
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1 Turn right out of the station into Church Road, and keep going onto the unmade lane beyond Church Farm. Just over ½ mile (800m) from the railway station, you'll come across the 'Woldingham Countryside Walk' signpost which points your way over a stile on the right. You'll find yourself on a narrow path, high above the railway cutting. After another 55yds (50m), turn hard right over the mouth of Woldingham tunnel to reach a second stile; nip over, and turn left along the waymarked path as it burrows through the trees and climbs steadily towards Great Church Wood.
2 At the top of the hill, turn right at the three-way wooden signpost and join the bridleway towards South Lodge. Turn left at the metal gate near the foot of the hill, still signposted to South Lodge, and drop down to the neat little graveyard on the left hand side. Turn right for the 70yds (64m) to Marden Lodge, then right again, and follow the bridleway drive through the parkland campus of Woldingham School.
3 Now the drive follows the valley floor through glorious open farmland, framed by woodlands like jewels in a velvet box. Pass the turning to Marden Park Farm, and keep left at the white lodge cottage. Stay with the drive as it zig-zags under the railway; then, after 300yds (274m), turn right at the wooden public bridleway sign. Follow the grassy track as it winds around the edge of a small wood and meets the Woldingham Road. Cross over, turn right, and walk up past Knight's Garden Centre back to the railway station.
You should come to Woldingham by train - and, preferably, from the south. I challenge anyone to gaze across this breathtaking landscape from the London platform, and not experience an immediate urge to pull on their boots, vault the railway fence, and amble off down the valley with a spring in their step and whistling a happy tune. It is the kind of place which, when escaping from the city, you feel could lead you to anywhere, and never want to go back. Vaulting railway fences is, of course, against the law, but this walk shows you the legal way of doing things.
Most of this area was considered to be a barren waste until 1672, when Sir Robert Clayton, who later became Lord Mayor of London, bought the estate from a relative of the diarist John Evelyn. Sir Robert built the elegant Marden Park house and spent time and money laying out the grounds, so that when Evelyn visited him five years later, he was 'much pleased' by the walled gardens, the incredible solitude, and the innumerable plantations of young trees which had transformed the landscape.
It's nice to speculate that both men would enjoy the enduring peace of the 21st-century landscape. Great Church Wood is now owned by the Woodland Trust, and teeming with all kinds of wildlife; go quietly, and you may see tawny owls, roe deer, and woodpeckers. In springtime, the woodland floor is awash with bluebells and wood anemones, and the area is particularly known for its rare Roman snails.
Woldingham is part of a world-wide network of Catholic schools owned by the Society of the Sacred Heart, and was established here immediately after the Second World War. The school has grown steadily since that time, and you'll see the results of substantial new investment in recent years. Berwick House, designed to prepare senior girls for university life, opened in 1992 and, beyond the red brick mansion that replaced Sir Robert Clayton's house in 1879, lies the impressive new Millennium Performing Arts Centre. On your left, towards the end of the campus, comes the sports centre and, finally, Middle Lodge.
Godstone Vineyards on Quarry Road, Godstone, just 400yds (366m) from Junction 6 on the M25, covers 50 acres (20ha) of Surrey farmland. There is a Vineyard Trail (free entry to individuals and families), a wine shop, tasting bar and garden room coffee shop. It's open all year round and welcomes children but not dogs.
Knight's Garden Centre, passed on Woldingham Road at the end of the walk, has an attractive Conservatory Coffee Shop in landscaped grounds. It's unlicensed but does good light lunches, sandwiches and cakes. They tolerate dogs in their terrace garden
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