Trail Run: Godalming to The Sands

1. Godalming to Milton Wood (1.7 km)
Exit the railway station, turn left and take the stairs down to the lower car park. Turn left onto Westbrook Rd, then right in to Vicarage Walk after 50 m. Emerging onto Borough Rd, turn left and follow the lower footpath over the wooden bridge and through Guardian House car park. Continue under the railway bridge. As the road curves, turn left onto the footpath (marked by a metal fingerpost) just before the small bridge over the river. Continue on, passing the Westbrook Mill development on your left to join the asphalt path on the river bank. After 0.5 km the path forks. Bear left, following the footpath directly alongside the river. Follow this for 0.5 km as the river bends in an ’S’ shape and you come to an old WW2 pillbox. Carry straight on up the rough track by the end house. Turn left at the top and take the public footpath through Milton Wood.

2. Milton Wood to Hurtmore (1.3 km)
Follow the narrow footpath through Milton Wood as it winds, dips and rises. This track can be muddy and there are boardwalks in some spots that can become slippery. Continue for 400 m until you pass through a wooden gate onto a small lane. Continue straight over the sandy crossroad of paths at Hurtmore Bottom and follow the garden wall of a large stone house to your right. Follow the lane round and up the hill, past more cottages on your left. After 300 m, turn sharp left onto the footpath just before you pass under the road bridge. You will emerge onto Hurtmore Rd.

3. Hurtmore Road to Shackleford (1.8 km)
Cross over Hurtmore Rd and continue left under the A3 flyover, joining the higher footpath through a clump of trees opposite the Guildford bound A3 slip road. After 200 m take a hard right into a gravel lane directly on the junction with Grenville Rd. Follow this track for 400 m, passing houses on the left until you reach Roker’s Lane – a wide grassy footpath. Turn left and continue until it ends at Grenville Rd. Cross directly over the road onto a sandy path and follow it round as it skirts a small field and exits through a tiny, unmade car park. This is Shackleford village – you will see the Post Office on your right hand side.

4. Shackleford to Gatwick (3.2 km)
Continue past the Post Office, with grass verges and the walls of Aldro School to your left. Turn left into Lombard St, signposted to Cutmill. After 200 m, take the right hand footpath, following the fingerpost to join a narrow track between cattle fields and pastures on your left. Passing through three small metal gates, you will emerge onto an unmade road and a cluster of cottages – complete with a life-sized fibreglass cow – near Lydling Farm. At the t-junction turn left and follow the track up a sandy climb, with private woodland on the right and cattle fields to your left. Continue until the track levels out and reaches a crossroads of paths. Turn right and follow the broad, sandy bridleway as it gradually descends for 1 km to reach Lombard St and the hamlet of Gatwick.

5. Gatwick to Crooksbury Common (2.5 km)
Turn right on Lombard St and pick a safe route around the sharp bend in the lane. Ignore the first footpath on the left after the bend, marked with a fingerpost. Continue a further 70 m until you are directly opposite a driveway with rustic barns being used as garages, then take the discrete footpath which forks left off the road into woods. Continue for 0.5 km and cross over Suffield Ln onto Lower Puttenham Common – past felled timber and forestry works. Continue straight – the track will gradually open up as the trees thin and heathland becomes dominant. When you reach a t-junction of paths turn right and follow the track to Britty Wood Car Park. Pass the notice board in the car park and take a left turn into the woods, further bearing left after 200 m, when the track forks. The sandy path gradually rises then descends between tall pine trees. As you pass the bird hide at the bottom of the slope, bear right and skirt the new, fenced plantation close to Seale Rd. Cross the road by the Hampton Estate sign, following the fingerpost towards Crooksbury Common.

6. Crooksbury Common to Littleworth Road (1.2 km)
Pass through the car park at Crooksbury Common and continue through the vehicle access gate onto the main gravel track. The heather slope of Culverswell Hill will be to your right. Continue on the track up the gradual incline for 0.5 km, bearing slightly right to leave the gravel track and join a narrow ascending woodland trail that skirts a large modern house with landscaped grounds on your right. You will emerge at the top onto Littleworth Rd.

7. Littleworth Road to North Downs Way (2.2 km)
Cross the road, turning right and then immediately left into a forest track just past the boundary of the large gated property (Gairholm). Follow the track, skirting the golf course on your left. After 300 m follow the track round to the right. It will dip and rise until you reach a t-junction with a wide gravel track after 200 m. Turn left and after a further 200m, take the right hand turn at the crossroads of tracks. After another 200 m turn left into Binton fruit farm and follow the footpath straight across the centre of the field. Turn right at the edge of the field to join the North Downs Way. In 400 m you will emerge onto Elstead Rd.

8. North Downs Way to Puttenham Common (1.7 km)
Cross the road and turn immediately left through a wooden gate to continue into the woods on the North Downs Way, marked with a fingerpost. The track winds through woodland for 350 m until you reach a t-junction of paths. Turn left to continue on the North Downs Way, passing through a metal gate to emerge onto the open slopes of Payn’s Firs and Waggoners Campsite. There is a nice view across the valley over to the Hog’s Back ridge. Follow the wide sandy track across the top of the field to enter the pine forest. Continue as the track twists and descends down to a t-junction with Totford Ln, turning left and immediately right to stay on the North Downs Way as directed by the fingerpost. Continue straight on the gravel road, directly through a small car park and heading up the hill to continue on the North Downs Way. You will see open fields through the trees on your left and the start of Puttenham Common to your right.

9. Puttenham Common to Suffield Lane (2 km)
After 0.5 km, at the top of the rise, take the right hand path, cutting the corner past Luscombe Farm on your left. Follow the sandy track for 200 m, then veer sharply off to the right to join a single track which takes you down a very steep, short incline and up the other side into a break in the trees. Head south for 100m, passing over the first track to continue on a wide sandy trail for a further 400 m. The track bends left and then sharp right through some woodland to lead you to the Top Car Park after 100 m. Cut diagonally across the car park and take the track down the steep slope to the woods at the bottom. At the t-junction of paths, turn left and continue on to Suffield Ln, emerging by a red post box.

10. Suffield Lane to Lombard Street (1.5 km)
Cross directly over Suffield Ln into Rodsall Ln. After 300 m, the lane curves left and you will see Rodsall Manor and a cluster of cottages. Follow the fingerpost right to pick up the narrow track back up into woodland. After 400 m you will arrive at a t-junction of tracks. Turn left, then hard right after 40 m into a small unmarked pathway into the trees. After 100 m, before you reach the edge of the field, take a 90° turn and follow the single track as it ascends through the undergrowth. After 200 m, take the right hand, dog-leg turn at the t-junction of paths and follow this wider track as it curves down through the woods to Lombard St.

11. Lombard Street to Peper Harow (1 km)
Turn right and cross Lombard St, following the curve of the lane. Take the third left hand turn (after 100 m) onto a gravel lane marked with a metal fingerpost. Continue on the twisting track for 400 m, crossing over a small brook until you reach the lodge house. Continue straight ahead, through a wooden gate into a cornfield. Follow the main footpath up a gradual incline, passing a distinctive copse to your left. After 400 m, you will arrive at Elstead Rd. Cross the road directly to rejoin the footpath through a metal kissing gate into the Peper Harow Estate.

12. Peper Harow to Lower Eashing (1.9 km)
Follow the track left, dotted with large cedar trees overlooking distant hills and water meadows. After 400 m, pass through the gate and turn right onto the lane leading to the residential part of the estate, passing 18th century barns and houses. When you reach the fish pond opposite the church, pass through a five barred gate into a large meadow that contains a stone dovecot. Keeping left where the track forks, continue for 300m as it rises towards a ridge of woodland. Pass through the metal gate and the narrow strip of trees and turn right when you join the footpath on the other side. After 10 m, turn left through the gate and follow the track to skirt the perimeter of a large field which descends gradually towards the A3. At the bottom of the field, turn left to pass through another farm gate and continue over the A3 footbridge onto Lower Eashing Ln, opposite the petrol station. Turn left and left again into Greenways Ln after 60 m.

13. Lower Eashing to Hurtmore Bottom (1.3 km)
Follow the lane, passing Greenways Riding School on your right and continue on the paved lane for 400 m. Pass through the five barred gate by a WW2 Pillbox and continue on the footpath, with paddocks to the right and woods on your left. The woods gradually become thicker as the sandy track weaves and twists. After 800 m you will arrive at the crossroad of paths at Hurtmore Bottom that you crossed earlier (see section 2).

14. Hurtmore Bottom back to start (2.5 km)
Take the right hand turn to join the surfaced lane and then pass through a wooden gate to pick up the footpath back through Milton Wood towards Godalming. From here, simply retrace your steps back to the River Wey and return to Godalming Railway Station.