Exploring the North Downs Way: A Recce from Farnham to Guildford via Puttenham Common for CMC
Date: July 2024
Start: Farnham Station, 10.30
Finish: Guildford, 17.00
Duration: 6h
Distance: 23km
Elevation Gain: 400m
Route Type: Point to Point
Weather: Hot and Sunny
Companions: Nata
Today is a very hot and sunny day, and since it's one of the few Sundays before our departure for Italy, I decide it's the ideal day for the recce of the September walk with the CMC (Croydon Mountaineering Club). We start from Farnham, taking the NDW, after a mandatory photo with the monument marking the beginning of this National Trail. After a while, we leave the NDW to head into Bottany Hill and climb Crooksbury Hill to the viewpoint, then cross the entire Crooksbury Common. We continue through Britty Wood to The Tarn, a lake where Natalia tests the danger level of the quicksand.
We climb Puttenham Common, staying by the ponds, and then rejoin the NDW, stopping in Puttenham for lunch.
Another short stop at the Watts Gallery before climbing The Hog and arriving in Guildford for the traditional beer.