Graham Pearcey

Walk number 4 (8 miles / 3.25 hours):

• Park in Farnham Road car park, Guildford, GU2 7NP (approach via Guildford Station long-term car park, but don’t park there as it charges £7 minimum).
• Eat at The Britannia, 9 Millmead, GU2 4BE. Food is served all afternoon until 10:00 PM daily.
• Leave the car park at level 5 and turn right onto the pavement of Farnham Road. Cross the railway bridge and at the main corner don’t cross the road but remain on the same pavement to bear right. A short distance along Park Street, take the pedestrian subway as signed for High Street, and diagonally cross the car park towards The White House pub. Walk along Millmead, pass The Britannia and then immediately cross the pedestrian bridge at Millmead Lock.
• Turn right before reaching the second bridge, onto the towpath.
• Continue along the towpath opposite Guildford Boathouse to the footbridge steps. Do NOT cross the bridge but turn right, and continue opposite Guildford Rowing Club (GRC) along the River Wey towpath, following the bends in the river.
• Eventually a bridge comes into sight. Turn sharp right before a stone seat onto a steep lane to pass Ferry Cottage and Pilgrim Cottage on your right. Cross a railway bridge and proceed until Ferry Lane emerges opposite The College of Law. Turn right and then left into Sandy Lane. After passing the back of town houses, turn right at Piccards Manor to follow the North Downs Way (NDW) arrow, and ignore the tracks off, to reach Piccards Farm.
• Continue past cottages numbered ‘97’ and ‘96’ on the left and subsequently Piccards Farmhouse on your right, onto the farm road. Turn left then right following the NDW signs into woods. (The sign “Authorised access only” by a gate only applies to vehicles. Enter the gate if it is open, otherwise climb the stile to the right of the gate.) Follow this track until it reaches a T-junction. Go left. Ignore the narrow track immediately merging in from your left and the subsequent wider track leading to a gate on your left. Instead, head uphill following the narrow sandy track which takes you through the woods, eventually crosses a bridleway and on reaching farm buildings becomes a wider sandy track.
• Keep straight on to pass the Watts Gallery, on your right, and reach a main road (Down Lane). Turn left along Down Lane, soon leaving the NDW to follow a Compton sign and reach Coneycroft Farm. Beyond the farm, follow a public footpath sign through newly fenced fields. Turn right to proceed along the full length of a concrete drive, then right again through a new gate and immediate left through a gap.
• Keeping to the left side of a field follow the track to a stile. You have reached the half way point of the walk.
• Proceed along a path bounded on both sides by a wire fence. Pass houses on your right and carefully descend steep steps, turning right and then in about 40m turning left at the junction and through a gate that may be open. Continue along this track, passing a lodge on your left.
• When you reach the Loseley Park Opening Times sign, look out for a footpath taking you left along the edge of the Loseley grounds. Cross a track and new stile, and shortly afterwards go through a black swing gate to reach the pond. Maintain direction, keeping the pond to your right, to reach an identical gate. Pass through and go straight across a field (to the right of two large trees), through a third black swing gate, and across another field to the fourth and last such gate.
• Keep straight ahead at the crossroads alongside Pillarbox Cottage, continuing past bungalows and two cattle grids on your right. Maintain direction onto a grassy uphill track. At the top, continue straight ahead to pass Surrey Police H.Q. (Mount Browne) on your left. Emerge onto a road and keep straight on to the junction with the A3100. Turn left and, at the bus stop, cross the road to a public footpath sign by a barrier.
• Take this footpath, which proceeds under a railway arch to reach the River Wey. Turn left onto the towpath, signed “Guildford”. Pass the stone seat you saw earlier, and retrace your steps via The Britannia pub to Farnham Road car park.

This route was last walked on 2 September 2010, and the directions were accurate then. Please e-mail me if you find any errors, if you would like a copy in Word format, or if you would prefer a version that starts and ends at Guildford station.

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