There are places you will only ever visit once in your lifetime. And then, there are those you will keep on revisiting for the rest of your life. For me, the North Downs, which begins on the Surrey-Hampshire border and stretches for 153 miles (246 km) until it reaches the Kentish coast at Dover, is slowly but surely becoming my dearest countryside haunt.
In one of my previous blog posts (In search of the finest prospects in Surrey Hills), I already enthused about the stunning scenery and the beautiful rolling countryside around and within the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) as +Shawn Moore and I took on the gruelling hike across Box Hill and Headley Heath last October.
This time, however, the challenge was even greater - hiking 14 miles (22 km) in six hours - Leith Hill to Box Hill with a maximum elevation of 1114 ft (340 m) above mean sea level (AMSL). I used the 'My Tracks' app to trace our route (see the map below for walk sections and stats).
Leith Hill, set within the prominent Greensand Ridge, a heavily wooded sandstone escarpment and range of hills in the southeast of England, is the highest elevation in Surrey (294 m AMSL). Although its altitude is dwarfed by the three highest peaks of Britain, namely Ben Nevis, Snowdon and Scafell Pike, one must learn to appreciate every significant hill formation in the flatter geography of southern England.
Once you reach the top of Leith Hill, deceptively unspoilt remnants of quintessentially English countryside unfold in all directions. Of course, much of the surrounding landscape you see today is actively managed to conserve and enhance '
the special qualities and key landscape features' of Surrey Hills AONB - a nationally important designation - which includes within its borders both Leith Hill and Box Hill. You may like to explore the AONB's 5-year management plan in more detail; it encapsulates a sustainable vision for its diverse landscape types and biodiversity, while taking into account the ongoing economic and cultural development of the area.
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| Compared to Box Hill, Leith Hill is an easy climb |
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| View to the north from Leith Hill Tower towards the North Downs |
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| View to the south...on a clear day you can see as far as the English Channel |
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| View of Box Hill from the North Downs Way |
The Surrey Hills landscape is made up of a patchwork of different character areas each one distinctive with its own identity and set of features. With only 40% of the Surrey Hills being designated as agricultural land, farming (cereals, mixed and horticulture) is a minority occupier of the area that helped create a beautiful and forever changing landscape.
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| What's hiding beneath this idyllic scene? Find out here |
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| The seasonal cycle of ploughing, drilling seeds and harvesting provides a valuable habitat for many species of farmland birds like the peewit, skylark and barn owl |
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| Prior to our approach to Box Hill, the route led us past the lush vineyards of Denbies Estate |
The top 3 biotic highlights I've spotted during the walk:
1. a bluebell wood
There's nothing more delightful that an unexpected discovery of a bluebell wood during mid to late spring.
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| Bluebell wood near Moor Copse |
Britain has three different species of bluebells, but only one is native. The distinctiveness of our native bluebell Hyacinthoides non-scripta could be at risk because it readily crossbreeds with both its Spanish cousin H. hispanica, often planted in gardens, and with the resulting fertile hybrid H. hispanica x non-scripta (Plantlife, 2004).
The British bluebell thrives in the moist and shady conditions found in broadleaved woodland or scrub. According to some estimates, roughly half of the world's total bluebell population is found in the UK. What an enormous botanical privilege it is, don't you think? So, pop a reminder in your calendar to seek out at least one of your local bluebell woods next spring. Visit the Woodland Trust's bluebell search to find your nearest woods.
A word of warning: In the UK, it is illegal for anyone to pick native bluebells from the wild for sale. This law came into force in 1998 through their listing on Schedule 8 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981).
2. a british lichen
'A lichen is a stable self-supporting association of a fungus and an alga or cyanobacterium.'
I spotted this wonderful soil lichen on a rotting tree stump. It is the common pixie-cup lichen
Cladonia chlorophaea (Cladonia, meaning branch or twig-like), which is typically found on soil, mossy banks, peat and rotting logs. The cups of
C. chlorophaea gradually taper to a basal stalk, and the structure of its blue-green thallus (i.e. body) resembles upward pointing thick-stemmed trumpets.
On your next walk, make sure to look out for lichens on trees, stones or on the ground - they add 'beauty and maturity to a landscape' (Gilbert, 2010), which deserves our admiration.
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| A soil lichen Cladonia chlorophaea living on a tree stump |
I highly recommend the following books on the topic of British lichens:
- Gilbert, O. (2010) Lichens (Collins New Naturalist Library, Book 86). Harper Collins UK.
- Jahns, H.M. (1983) Collins Guide to the Ferns, Mosses, and Lichens of Britain and North and Central Europe. Collins.
- Lindsay, W.L. (1856) A Popular History of British Lichens. Lovell Reeve.
3. Tillingbourne and a glistening cascade
Of the watery highlights, two features stood out for me:
Firstly, an unexpected cascade (known as Tillingbourne Falls), thickly overhung with trees, came into view as we walked alongside the Tillingbourne stream. As the water cascaded down over several gradual descents into a small stone basin, the landscape suddenly acquired a fairytale-like quality.
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| Cascades and a pool just off the Greensand Way |
Secondly, the sparklingly clear Tillingbourne stream exuded sheer delight and tranquility upon the landscape and us, the passersby. Its waters once provided a source of energy for driving grain and textile mills as well as gunpowder works in the Tillingbourne valley.
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| In the valley of the Tillingbourne stream |
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| The Tillingbourne's stream bed |
Hope this post has provided some inspiration for your next outing. Happy hiking!
