St. Martha’s and Newlands Corner (Thursday)

The same walk is also running on Tuesday 24 September.

A circular walk through old mixed woodlands around St. Martha's Hill, with its panoramic views & graveyard, before moving down & up through more woodland to the top of the Trackway to Newlands Corner, returning across downland to the start.

Walk Distance:           4.5 km
Technical Difficulty:    Moderate
Total Ascent:               145 metres
Accessibility:               No alternative to the walk described
Toilets:                         None, until the stop at the café

Wear suitable outdoor clothing, including waterproofs and walking boots/shoes. Lunch can be had at the café, but bring water/refreshments as you wish. Those that use walking poles for ascents/descents may wish to bring them..

Be prepared for complex scenes, knarled trees, areas, damp green vegetation, maybe some [rare] splashes of sunlight; also bigger views. Images maybe towards the wider end of your lens(s), but longer might pick out a feature in the complexity. Tripods are an option, particularly for the darker woods and bigger views.

From the car park, we follow the Pilgrims' Way up St. Martha’s Hill, with a short ascent of 60m, but with plenty of time included for individuals to wander through this varied woodland on the way up. We meet again at the top to take in the panorama from the church, with a chance to look around the graveyard. The descent is as a group, following the North Downs Way down through woodland and then up/across to the Pilgrims Way (ascent 60m), including a short path past some very knarled trunks in a small but very dark area (a higher ISO may be useful), before emerging onto The Trackway ridge for an easy stroll to Newlands Corner. We take a break at the cafe and then take in some wider views across the Tillingbourne valley, moving around to get the bigger perspective (see photo). Finally we descend across a contoured downland field and pick-up the Pilgrims' Way on the field/wood border back up (ascent 25m) to the car park.