Hitting the trails

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 The temperature has soared over the last week. Following the coldest and wettest May on record we have pure sunshine and 28 degree heat. Lovely weather to be out in, but not great for running.

The last thing I wanted to do is go out on the streets of London with the humidity and pollution. Instead I took a look at the map and scanned for some nice easy to reach trails. Thankfully there are plenty just outside the south of London.

On Saturday I decided to aim for the North Downs Way which runs parallel with the M25. Within half an hour I was at Biggin Hill and parked at the nearest safe point. A short bimble through some streets brought me to Tatsfield. I headed east and found a beautiful wooded area which protected me from the sun. I had brought plenty of fluids and a bar of Kendal Mint Cake to keep me going.

Soon I was climbing through open fields with panoramic views over the Surrey Hills. My quads were burning and it felt good. What goes up must come down and I made up time scrambling downhill avoiding loose rocks and tractor tracks.

The fresh leaves on the trees, the birdsong and the cool breeze put a smile on my face. The sweat was pouring down my face which I took as a good sign that I was drinking plenty.

At 6.5 miles I turned back hoping to complete a half marathon. This time I made my way along Whitelands Shaw and through Park Wood before emerging once more in Tatsfield. The last half a mile was a steep uphill section called Stock Hill. I hammered it to the top hoping it might be a Strava segment. It isn't. 

The next day I went out again, early in the morning before it was too hot. I arrived in Hosey Hill just outside Westerham and found a shaded spot in the woods to park the car. Tooled up again with plenty of water I started out with a long, steep climb past Hosey Common and a few Oast Houses. Continuing to go uphill I entered Scords Wood.

This is part of the Greensand Way, a sandstone ridge that stretches 108 miles from Haslemere in Surrey to Hamstreet in Kent.

Other trails forked off in every direction and I enjoyed simply following my nose. Eventually I arrived at Toy's Hill. At 230m I could see across the valley to Ide Hill whcih has the highest village Green in Kent. I set off back down and up the other side through fields of wild flowers with rabbits hopping along in front of me.

This time I needed to walk much more, partly due to the 1500 feet of elevation the day before, but also due to the gradient that made running impossible. I made it to the top and found a circular route around the hill with a magnificent view over to Bough Beech Reservoir.

Now six miles in I headed back down and up to Toy's Hill and some more trails in the woodland. I came across Emmett Gardens with its ornamental features and ram pump, some dog walkers and dozens of cyclists at the road corssings.

As the day before I was sweating profusely, but the wooded areas cooled me off. I accidentally ended up at the bottom of Toy's Hill again so did another loop up to Ide Hill and back which added some more elevation.

I confirmed that navigation isn't my strong point when I found myself two miles further from the car than I had anticipated. I managed to find my way back with 2500 feet of climb and another half marathon in my legs.

Here are some photos of the beautiful sights in this area.













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