Friday 24th August 2018 Day 4 – Farnham to Guildford : 24.17 kms /49461 steps elevation 228m
I awoke refreshed after a peaceful sleep and comfy mattress. It’s so quiet here, all I can hear is the soughing of the trees and the background noises of the house.
the view from the bathroom
I walked towards town along the roads along which I had arrived last night….they looked very different in the bright sunshine LOL I also wondered how I had managed to navigate the road in the dark without falling on my face.
I. Do. Not . Feel. Like. Walking. Again. Today. 😂 😂 😂 But I must. So onwards. But first a visit to Farnham Castle.
Farnham Castle Oh My Gosh…stunning. Definitely worth the time taken to explore….as with Chawton I’ll write a separate blog about the visit…meanwhile here’s a sneak peek
After spending a good 30 minutes exploring the castle from top to toe, I made my way down the Blind Bishop’s Steps – 7 paces by 7 paces… Bishop Fox’s steps down the side of Farnham Castle. Very cool.
From the 7th century Farnham belonged to the Bishop of Winchester, and developed to become a town by the 13th century.
From the castle I strolled downhill into the town centre, passing the amazing 17th century alms houses built in 1619 by a man named Andrew Windsor
Alms Houses built 1619
At the junction instead of turning left to follow the route, on impulse I decided to turn right and walk the length of the main road. Enroute I discovered the museum in Vernon House….fabulous place. Wow.
King Charles I stayed at Vernon House in Farnham on his way to his trial and execution in London in 1649. They even have King Charles I’s night cap that he wore whilst staying at the house on his way back to London.
the night cap worn by Charles I when he stayed at Vernon House
Leaving the museum I made my way over to St Andrews church. There has been a church on the site of St Andrews since the 7th century, and the building contains 9th century foundations. The present building dates from the late 11th century.
A quick explore and then I made my way back through town and following the guide set off towards the station.
Farnham appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 and has an amazing history. I definitely would like to spend a full day here the next time I walk the Pilgrim’s Way….the next time? LOL hmmm
Just on 11:45 andddd I’m Finally on my way 😂 😂 😂 4.5 kms walking exploring Farnham and I’m now 2 hours behind schedule again. Here I join the North Downs Way.
The North Downs Way from Farnham
After a few hours of walking during which I passed Moor Park House…wow, pretty amazing, passed Farnham Golf Club (The Sands), I eventually stopped in the middle of a vast nature reserve to add my dna to Surrey’s soil. (I’ll leave that to your imagination LOL) I spied a bountiful hedge of blackberries; I ate and ate and ate till I was full. Whilst I was resting a little old man came toddling by in a black raincoat. I asked him “aren’t you awfully hot in that raincoat?” to which he replied “I don’t trust the weather!”. We both laughed. “British weather eh! Can’t trust it”. He asked where I was going, so told him I was following the Pilgrim’s Way (albeit having taken a bit of a diversion to walk along the North Downs Way which was quieter). He then proceeded to give me a 20 minute history lesson that ranged from Seale Church to Thomas Becket to a church in France dedicated to Becket and St Martha’s Church in England which is the only St Martha’s church, but thought to be corrupted from Thomas Becket, Saint and Martyr. So I’m now a lot wiser. Bless his socks 😊😊
After that I visited the church in Seale which is just awesome and where I found a pilgrim stamp for my passport. In 1487 the village of Seale was called Zeyle and the church dates from the 12th century.
and from there picked up the Pilgrim’s Way again which I have since regretted as it runs along a steep up and down, very narrow, very busy, very bloody winding road with cars whizzing by every few seconds. HORRIBLE. 😭😭 I also visited the amazing St John the Baptist Church in Puttenham and finally I reached Puttenham: I rested just outside the village of Puttenham and wished I had a car. 😂😂😂
It was a gorgeous day and I had no desire to walk any further 🙄🙄🚶🚶🚶 ah well. Onwards I guess. Guildford is unlikely to come to me 🤔🤔🤔
I passed the Watts Gallery Artists’ Village a bit too late to visit and much as I really wanted to visit Watts Cemetery Chapel, I was simply too tired so plodded on. The route took me along ‘Sandy Lane’ which was as it’s name suggested……very sandy, and extremely hard to walk along! urgh As the day was drawing to a close I finally reached the outskirts of Guildford and stopped off at Ye Olde Ship Inn, St Catherine’s Village
Ye Olde Ship Inn, St Catherine’s
for supper…a delicious vegetarian calzone that really lifted my spirits…..
and then it was a longggggg walk into Guildford and to my airbnb.
Today was a hard hard day. I got wet, and I climbed more hills than I ever wanted to….but I saw some amazing places, visited an extraordinary castle, saw a few fabulous churches and some wonderful old buildings. Further scenes from today’s walk along both the North Downs Way and The Pilgrim’s Way. Occasionally they diverge. So many beautiful places. I managed to get a few stamps in my passport as well 😃😃
The AirBnb turned out to the worst venue I have yet stayed at on AirBnb. But I was booked in for 2 nights, so I had to just grin and bear it. I didn’t have the energy to start looking for a different place. Fortunately I had the house to myself so the comment made as I was shown to my room, didn’t transpire….”I hope you don’t mind but you’ll have people walking through your room to reach the bathroom”. Uhmmm what???? yes, I do bloody mind….you’ll have to make use of another area. The ‘bedroom’ was a walk-through landing between the stairs and the bathroom and NOT a proper bedroom at all. It was dirty, the stairs were dirty, the carpets were dirty and the host had made up the top bunk…hello?? I’m 63!!
I spent 2 nights and a day in Guildford; I’ll do a separate blog for Day 5 in Guildford.
I’ve created a short video with images of the route
In case you missed Day 3 of my walk along The Pilgrim’s Way – click here
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