Sunday 18th February 2018. An ascent of Box Hill 224m/53m, near Dorking, Surrey. From West Humble in the Mole Valley. 10.2km, with 260m of ascent. 3hrs 0min.

Box Hill lies in the North Downs in Surrey. The western end of the escarpment is a popular walking and beauty spot, managed by the National Trust. For further details, see at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Box_Hill,_Surrey.

Down in South-East England again due to yet another paternal emergency (which made me miss Rob Woodall's Welsh Tump completion), I took the opportunity, after I had stabilised the situation, of heading, as slight compensation, to the Surrey Hills AONB for a few hours of fresh air and exercise. The sun was shining as I left my father's house, but the forecast was for it to cloud over by midday, and so it did. However, it remained bright and dry, and I was thankful for that. I was desperate to get out, after three days either inside or travelling to and from the hospital.

After combat on the M25, I drove along the A24 from Leatherhead, turning off before Dorking to park in the (free) train station car park at Box & West Humble. I was lucky, as only one parking space remained. I set off down the lane through the village, using an underpass to gain access to the other side of the main road. There I picked up the North Downs Way. This led me through woodland to a set of stepping stones over the River Mole. The river was swollen with rainwater, so I took the sensible alternative of crossing a little further downstream by a bridge. The network of paths were busy with locals and Londoners out making the most of the better weather. I heard a number of Scottish voices, making for a nicely incongruous note in deepest Surrey. A set of muddy steps led me steeply up the escarpment through woods mainly of oak, beech and box to a busy viewpoint near the road and car park. The view over the town of Dorking to Leith Hill 295m/246m, the highest hill in Surrey, was worth the climb.

As I followed the trail east the mud got worse, but the crowds soon fell away and I had the path mainly to myself to slip and slither on. I stopped at the grave of a horse, obviously well-regarded by the care that had been taken in its burial in the woods. Where the North Downs Way began to descend steeply to the valley below, I diverted onto a bridleway which took me to the road that runs along the ridge east to the village of Box Hill. I followed this through the village, turning south on a footpath into the woods again. I was soon at the summit, a flat area in the woods close to a large water tower, with no view. A short diversion to the edge of a large quarry, however, gave me a good prospect south and south-east across the Weald towards the distant coast.

I retraced my steps to the village, taking the ridge road west this time back to join the crowds. Passing the visitor centre, I arrived at Box Hill Fort, built in the 1890s as part of the string of the outer fortifications of London. From there I picked up a fine wide grassy descending ridge which brought me down to the river again, a short way from the underpass I had used on my outward route. As I walked back through the village to my car, I was cheered to spot the very first clumps of spring flowers I had seen in the verge at the side of the lane. Heartened by my walk, and the first signs of spring, I drove to Leatherhead for tea and a chat with an old friend, before heading back to attend to my father's needs and commands.