Always The Sun

LETJOG PEAK No 20: Leith Hill, Surrey (295 metres)

Walk Date: Monday 15 May 2023

For all the wildness of the higher summits further north, today was the first time on my LETJOG Peaks challenge that I have let out an audible ‘Wow!’ on reaching a County Top. Leith Hill, at 295 metres, is not the highest peak I have reached, but its prominence of 256 metres over its surrounds more than qualifies this mount as a ‘Marilyn’. However it is the surprise, when emerging from the dense beechwoods of the dip slope to the north, of the extensive views over dozens of miles of southern England, right across to the South Downs, that really takes the breath away: uninterrupted fields and forests as far as the eye can see. Just fantastic!

My walking route today, in blue, took me anti-clockwise through the centre of Dorking, then westward out of the town along lanes, before joining the Greensand Way up the Tilling Bourne valley and through the beechwoods, eventually to Leith Hill – on the descent through Coldharbour and Holmwood the forests became coniferous before my return to the town

I was not really familiar, hitherto, with this part of the Surrey Hills, an Area of Outstanding National Beauty that comprises the western end of the North Downs, but what a pleasure it has been to get to know this part of our island a little better, if just for one short day. Late springtime sees so many parts of our country at their best, and it seems to me that everything and everywhere has burst into life during this last week or so. Accordingly there is a profusion of green in my photos of today’s walk!

At first sight this parade in West Street, Dorking perhaps seems unremarkable – but the building with the blue fascia dates from the early 1600s and was once home to William Mullins who joined the Pilgrim Fathers’ voyage on The Mayflower in 1620

A country lane post-box amongst the foliage

There are so many fine houses in this part of the country, all beautifully set – this one really is beyond perfect!

The start of the gentle climb towards Leith Hill . . .

. . . and eventually heading up this sunken path

Some amazing bark on these sturdy chestnut trees

About to emerge onto the summit of Leith Hill . . .

. . . whilst, back over my northern approach, from afar the London skyline!

And just to prove that I was here – the tower (not open today) and the Leith Hill trig point

Back into the woods, to begin my descent

A one-time dry-stone wall, now colonised by this avenue of trees

Coldharbour Cricket Club, at an elevation of 270 metres and accessed by a steep rutted track, is another surprise in the heart of the woodlands

The sights and smells of my descent through the pinewoods contrasted with those of my morning in the more familiar deciduous forest

This view, from a clearing in the trees near Hambridge Brow in Holmwood takes in Dorking in the middle-distance, and extends as far as the arch of Wembley Stadium (just visible on the skyline, above and to the right of the crane)

One joy of this LETJOG Peaks challenge is that I can pick and choose my walking days, at least to some extent, in order to enjoy the good weather. So this two-day trip was put together at short notice as it became apparent that the start of this week was due some fine walking conditions. Hence my tendency towards ‘always the sun’. I am sure that some wet days lie ahead, but meanwhile what a pleasure it has been to enjoy another bright spring day on the trail, and to get to know a new area!

It may seem strange after such an idyllic springtime day in rural Surrey to choose a Blog heading from a song by The Stranglers. After all many of their lyrics, particularly in their early existence, reflect an attitude sitting somewhere between anti-establishment and outright misanthropy. Established in 1974, the Surrey-based band started out as The Guildford Stranglers, soon shortening their name: music critic Dave Thompson notes their transition ‘from bad-mannered yobs to purveyors of supreme pop delicacies’. ‘Always The Sun’, the Blog heading that I have adopted for today, is one-such song, a self- penned single taken from The Stranglers’ 1986 album ‘Dreamtime’, and well worth a listen if you’re not familiar with it – in my opinion of course!

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