Walkers beat the clock

Fourteen walkers embarked on their journey from the Red Lion in Bletchingley on October 31 at the unwonted hour of 1pm – which followed the reversion of clocks to GMT the previous Saturday night. Calculations indicated we needed to be back at the said Red Lion by 4.30pm in order to avoid benightment, and a brisk pace was set as the group, who included four women, headed south through woods and then across farmland, following the line of the Greensand Way. 

Walkers encounter a steer near Godstone

The walkers were briefly delayed by an encounter with a spirited steer who bounded towards them as they descended a meadow.  They gingerly skirted the steer, while keeping a lookout for the adult bull watching balefully from nearby.

Ominous clouds as walkers approach Polly's Peak

A key landmark ahead was Polly’s Peak, the escarpment where Martin “Polly” Perkins slipped on a grassy slope and sustained a complex ankle fracture on 21 December 2015 – winter solstice day.  The newcomers to the group were regaled with tales of Martin’s dramatic rescue by paramedics – who allowed him to succumb to hyperthermia as they left him sitting on the hillside pending the arrival of their mobile stretcher.  

The walkers next paid a return visit to St Mary’s Homes in Church Lane, Godstone – a model community built in mock-Tudor vernacular by Sir George Gilbert Scott in 1872.  It includes a chapel where choir members sang a muted version of My Lord, What a Morhing.

Thirteen of the walkers pose for lensman Pete

Halftime was spent in the familiar environs of the Hare and Hounds in Godstone.  Then the group revisited another previous scene of drama, the sandy track near Bletchingley Golf Club where lensman Pete Gillman snapped six walkers plus Phil Willis’s dog Suki as they loomed into sight through mist.  The shot was titled The Magnificent Seven and later inspired Ted Mouat, our former member who sadly died earlier this year, to replicate the scene in water-colours.

Then it was back to the welcoming surroundings of the Red Lion, where the walkers tucked into delicious and plentiful fare from the all-day menu.  Sadly the group fragmented, some setting off home early, before it could treat the denizens of the Red Lion to a beer & ditties style sing. No matter: it had been a splendid autumn outing that left all concerned feeling tired but happy. The final two walks of 2022 are planned for November 28 and December 19 - the traditional winter solstice walk (see above).