Exploring Guildford town and River Wey Valley, Surrey Hills, England

The weekend was brilliant, the great BRITISH summer has arrived and how, lucky for those who got to see the Wimbledon matches live and savour some strawberries and cream. I’d been meaning to do this walk with my enthusiastic trekker hubby who has so much patience with my near-zero capacity to do long treks, but his love for the outdoors, the way he plans a trek, and the effervescent high he gets after he’s back from his favourite climb at Box Hill seem to have seeped into my existence too. So come sunny Saturday and Hubby, my cousin sister and I decided to go for a long walk in Guildford, inspired by the book ”50 best walks of Surrey”, we set out for making it to St.Martha’s Church, didn’t really make it there but had a wonderfull relaxed long walk.

After we got off the train at Guildford Rail station, we got onto the high street. It was ablaze with wildly colorful goods being sold at Street Stall, the Guildford Summer Fest is on until the 3rd of August. Getting distracted from our route was never so easy and welcome. I had to really stop myself from buying one of the vibrantly colorful wicker baskets on display.

Guildford highstreet

Not to be missed is The Guildhall and the prominent clock protruding outside. It is an iconic 16th/17th-century building rich in history. To read more about it do browse through this site and this one too.

Also, browse this post and this one for some interesting information about the clock and the building’s rich heritage. I have been considering taking up membership to the National Trust too to explore their properties. If you are considering it too, why not have a look at this blog post about Packwood House

Then we turned into Chapel Lane from the High Street and entered the Guildford Castle grounds. Eager sunbathers, families, and tourists had flocked to this beautiful historic site, with carefully manicured lawns and pretty flower beds. Such are the places where one does not how to stop taking photographs and really take in the beauty of the place and enjoy the moment…

Across the Guildford Castle Ground and on the A-281 we walked through Guildford Boat House car park and then the Wey Navigation and Godalming. It’s a perfect place to eat our packed lunches of soft wafer thin ham, pickles, and crunchy salad, roast chicken, and tomato chutney, and quench our thirst with lots of orange juice. A moment of calm follows as we indulge in people watching, gazing at the greenery, and staring into space. In the background the happy cackle of lots of little kids expending their energy, many couples in canoes on the River. We chat up the ice-cream man, very popular indeed, banana and strawberry it is for us 😉

Walk along the Wey

As we start walking along the banks of the River Wey, the tranquil scenic surroundings bring a feeling of calm and we only stop for a few photographs.We walk past the bridge over the river which leads to North downs way and before we get to St. Catherines Lock we pass by a group of these beautiful ponies.

We then turned back the Pilgrim’s way towards North downs Way and stood atop the wooden bridge and watch people in canoes and boats sail past, people exercising their pet dogs who seemed eager to swim across the river and retrieve a precious well chewed on branch.

Had we continued towards Chantry Woods we would have seen the bluebells but decided to head back. A moment’s breather at Shalford Park and back to the station it was for us. One long huge platform at Guildford Station marked 1,2a,2b !So platform 11 and 3/4th….maybe it does exist after all??!

If you too would like to do one of the many walks across Guildford, Surrey, the following websites have a lot of usefull information. I’d say getting your hands on the booklet 50 best walks in Surrey is a great investment!

Looking for Travel Inspiration? Have a browse through my other travel posts too!