Walk from Newdigate

Parametric data

Route name:: Newdigate bus shelter.
This route on OS maps:: https://explore.osmaps.com/route/14238399/... .
Distance:: 11.7 miles.
Duration 4^th Oct 2022:: 5.7 hours.
Topology:: Point to point (north-eastward).
Ascent:: 222 metres.
Stiles:: Grief 😖 Twenty. Count them - 20. A route record by a comfortable margin.
Landmark of note:: Palmer Close on your left, ascending Redstone. Also Linnell Road, shortly before.
Feasible excursion:: At Deanoak Bridge head north to Flanchford and thence Reigate TC. A different walk, almost.
Avoiding roads:: Deanoak Lane to blame, 40 mph, but Lonesome Lane is scarier. A217 crossing: listen for stuff approaching round the bend to your right.
Footpath construction:: Start and finish tarmac. Otherwise it's welly way in winter.
Footpath condition:: A lot of overgrowth. Parts ploughed up. Broken and missing stiles. Nutfield Marsh? I needn't spell it out.
Refreshments:: In extremis McDonalds A23 Earlswood. Relax, you're only ½ mile from the hospital. Or the Shell Services (below).
Blackberries:: Around Parkgate, The Moors and Holmethorpe Nature Reserve, all good.

Route map and notes.

If your legs have endured more downland than they would prefer then give them a rest across the Gatwick plain and leave ascents to the aircraft. OK, there is a climb over Redstone near the end but you will be squelching through Nutfield Marsh soon enough. This is the first of my walks needing both train and bus (Dorking) to reach the start. My bus pass arrived two days later 😒

The Parkgate road, although busy, has a perfectly good footway on at least one side. Which is good news because you do more than half a mile of it, but the next 2.5 miles will be on dirt which, as already mentioned, is not well drained. The start of this is rather inauspicious: a very narrow, overgrown alleyway followed by a succession of tiresome stiles. In Surrey, every other field has a steed grazing; so perhaps they're necessary. Not necessary is this stile leaving Parkgate; don't go straight on through it. Turn right here to continue east along the fence line.

Shortly after crossing Partridge Lane you enter Hammond's Copse whose summer foliage scuppers GPS. The way through is straight and clear enough, however.

Long stretches of this walk see little footfall, and some of its dirt paths can be difficult or impossible to discern even with GPS assistance. Along the interminable Deanoak Lane you see no footpath. Its only saving graces are few bends, light traffic and decent verges. Past Dean Oak Farm you face the preceding problems as well as an electric fence (practice your limbo dancing) and a dung heap for good measure. Dean Oak Brook won't be a problem; unless it has been raining for days. This alleged'brook' gives you an idea of how difficult these flatlands are to drain.

Shortly thereafter you face a large metal double gate so misaligned that I was forced to climb over. Use the hinge ends rather than the middle. Going into Ironsbottom, the GPS threw a wobbly and showed a heading at 90° to its proper direction. This baffled me for a couple of minutes before a restart put the matter to rights (ha!).

Approaching the A217 the path became progressively less well used and partly ploughed up. Neglect continues on the other side as undergrowth and fallen trees obstruct progress over The Mole. Not that you have much to look forward to in Lonesome Lane. No footway and fastish traffic for ⅓ mile.

Even though it is uphill from the Mole valley past Benting Wood, the trees keep light and air off the dirt path and the going is permanently soggy. If there is a good route around Salfords cricket ground and over the road then neither I nor the OS can tell you about it.

Cut across Petridgewood Common and it's almost a relief to do A23 tarmac. At least it's solid ground. Grab a sandwich at the Shell services and eat it on a seat outside the hospital. The footpath to Brambletye Park Road is a pleasure ^[srt] at any time of year, but it is a pity that there are not more routes from Oaklands Park to the other side of Nutfield Ridge. There must be an enjoyable view from the top. Seen, I believe, by painter Samuel Palmer who lived nearby.