One of my To Dos this year is to finish my re-walk of the North Downs Way. I originally walked it between 2006 and 2016, but it was very sporadic: 4 sections in 2006, 5 in 2011 and the final 4 in 2016. Given how long it took, after becoming an Ambassador for the trail in 2021, I thought it was only right that I re-walk it, given that it had been 15 years since I’d walked certain parts of it.
So in the summer of 2022, I set about it, deciding to this time walk it in reverse (so from east to west). That year I got as far as Halling, before I ran out of year. It’s then been a sporadic effort as and when I get time and have the inclination to inch progress further west.
I’m now firmly in the zone where there are blog posts missing from my original walk of the North Downs Way, so I’m making an effort to fill in the gaps.
I managed to get to Dunton Green in 2023, then Merstham in 2025, which is where I picked it up this time.
As it’s winter, I wanted to make the best use of the available daylight, and so timed my travel so I’d arrive in Merstham for sunrise. This had me crossing London Bridge on my walk between Fenchurch Street and London Bridge stations, just as orange was appearing in the sky behind Tower Bridge. Which is one of my favourite ways to start a walk.
A short distance from the station along the main street to the point where I turned off to meet the NDW itself. This took me first of all through a golf course and up onto the Downs, where the sun was now in the sky and making everything magical.
This didn’t last that long, though, as a descent into the hamlet of Gatton then brought me to Gatton Park, and the grounds of the boarding school there, which the Way runs straight through. As I skirted the school buildings, a group of youngsters were being led out for a PE lesson in the winter cold. There may have been an inward chuckle that this still happens.
Just after leaving the buildings behind, there’s a set of standing stones (modern) erected to mark the millennium, imaginatively titled “The Millenium Stone”, despite the obvious flaw in that logic.
I now lost my way slightly on my way up to the wooded slope, also called Gatton on the map, by following the actual waymarking on the bollards, which had me cross the road and heading for the M25 before I realised it wasn’t right. It wasn’t far to retrace my steps.
This wooded section then brought me out just before the A217 and the picnic area and viewpoint for Reigate Hill. Some great views over the mist-filled valley below.
Better still, the cafe was open, and I made full use by ordering a sausage and bacon ciabatta, devouring it on a bench looking down to the town below.
On my way again, and Reigate Hill proper, first passing Reigate Fort, built in the 1890’s to guard against invasion by the French. Then some outlying bunkers or pillboxes.
Finally, there was the memorial to a B17 bomber that crashed on the hill in 1945, marked by a modern day memorial based on the wingtips of a B17, spaced at the correct distance. Apparently it also contains some fragments of the actual crashed plane. I forgot to get a picture though.
Next up was Colley Hill, which I don’t remember at all from my original walk. Nice and open and airy.
But it didn’t last long, as the path turned to descend the escarpment. A muddy slope which I had to take really carefully, I hoped that was as bad as the day would get.
But no, it got worse. At the foot of the escarpment, ran a footpath that basically consisted of churned up mud and not much else. It was very slow progress, my shoes were caked, and sliding all over the place. It wasn’t something I wanted to last for long. Except it lasted for a good couple of miles, although it felt like more.
As I approached the B2032, I took stock of the situation. The mud had taken it out of my legs and generally sapped my motivation. I still had around 9 miles still to do. Being a very short distance from a station, I decided to call it and come back to finish off when the mud was in a better (less muddy) state. So I ended the walk at Betchworth and made my way home.
Over the years, one of the things I’ve learned (but apparently completely forgot to consider this time) about this sort of walk is: don’t do it in the winter as the mud saps your motivation. Just come back later when it’s firmed up. And that’s what I’m going to do, probably returning in the summer to finish it off.
With about 1.5 days worth of walk left, I very much hope to complete the re-walk this year, making it a 4 year project vs the 10 years it took me to walk it the first time.
Then the question is: do I turn around and start a re-re-walk ….?
