Excursion to Box Hill

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Excursion to Box Hill







On the 1^st day of our staycation, 11 May, we headed for Box Hill. We took the train from Victoria station. Having been away from Vauxhall for a few years, Mark doesn’t feel nostalgic about the time he used to commute to Vauxhall. However, when our train was running through the rail bridge and showing the skyscrapers around Vauxhall, he found something strange – his former office skyscraper, Market Towers, had disappeared. He told me that there will be an exclusive hotel replaced on the site of 1 Nime Elms Lane in the near future.







Having travelled with the train in the lunch time, we took lunch on the train. We got off at Box Hill & Westhumble station. It was a long time ago we visited Box Hill. I couldn’t remember the buildings around the station. We found the blue plaque installed on the wall of one of the residential houses – it said Fanny Burney, diarist, novelist, once lived at that site. Mark soon found the way to go to Box Hill. As we approached A24 road, I could recognise the place – subway to Burford Meadow, Burford Bridge Hotel, and the car park.







We started climbing the footpath, starting at the right back of the Burford Bridge Hotel. We followed on the grassy track. It was quite steep. The grassy path led us to the chalky path and viewpoint to Flint Cottage where one of the Victorian authors, George Meredith once lived. The chalky path led us to the woodland where a clump of scented trees, which are the materials for boxes, were thriving. In following the woodland track, we reached the summit and viewpoint. The sunny weather offered us wonderful views of Westhumble village, Dorking town, and lush and sizeable parklands.



We popped to the National Trust visitor centre and popped in the shop. And then we started following one of the trekking course in the woodland. There were a wide variety of wooden houses and athletic equipments built up from place to place in the woodland. We had planned going to the Broadwood’s Tower, but Mark mistook the route. We followed the signposts, but everywhere, surrounded by trees, wooden equipments, tree ferns, and wildflowers, looked the same – and it took a while for us to find the way to back to the visitor centre.



The sunny weather encouraged us to carry on walking; we took the grassy path near the Solomon Memorial. The grassy path led us to the woodland the grazing field. We enjoyed overlooking the farmland and its surrounding parklands.



As we came back to the visitor centre, we found the information leaflets of the walking courses which we should have been taken before walking.



We decided to take the route via the stepping stone on the way back to the station. Unlike the woodland walk on the top of the Box Hill, there were quite a few walkers going up and down along the way to stepping stone. As well as box trees, we found another scented plant, wild garlic, at the foot of the trees. Surrounded by the dense woods including the aging horse chestnut trees, the stepping stones offered an enchanting, mysterious atmosphere.







We enjoyed a day out to Box Hill on 11 May. Having picked up the latest information leaflets of walking courses, we do feel obliged to come back there to do part or complete one of the walking courses on the Box Hill soon.

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