Introduction
My parents and I decided to go for a walk which we had found described in a magazine, from a place called Woldingham in Surrey.
Woldingham School
The walk began from the station, along a road which was obviously used by commuters to park their cars in preference to the paid-for station car park. There weren't any cars that day, it being a holiday period.
Passing through a farmyard, we then approached the grounds of Woldingham School (a private girl's school). We didn't see much of the school itself, only a modern accommodation block; the old school buildings were some distance away.
Following the motorway
After following a few narrow lanes we climbed a ridge and followed this for some distance. The M25 motorway was visible (and definitely audible) below for most of this time. We were probably moving faster than the traffic on one carriageway.
The path took us downhill to skirt a large quarry, which was a bit unimpressive (not much to see) but better than nothing. It's a bit of a novelty to find a quarry that's still working, kind of like when you see a gravel pit that hasn't been filled with water yet.
After the quarry we promptly set off in the wrong direction, realising a little late that we should have turned uphill. This was open, National Trust land, so we found a place a little further on where we could head up and rejoin the route.
Back to Woldingham
This took us onto more narrow lanes and eventually onto a track which led us to a proper road, then back into the village.
Church and woods
After walking on the pavement through Woldingham (which wasn't all that), we entered the last stage of the walk beside St. Agatha's church, which sadly (and oddly, for a place that's not exactly yob central) was locked.
Finally we negotiated a woodland path that eventually led back to the road by the station. It went over the entrance to a tunnel, which we were never able to actually see. (I like railway tunnels, as do all right-thinking folk, so I was a little disappointed, but never mind.)
