Test Valley District

Farnham to Guildford (23km) through rain, hail and shine, but mostly wind 😂
What a fabulous (but very weather-changeable) day to complete our final solo day of the Pilgrim's Way (we'll walk the rest of the way in groups of 2 or 3 days). The journey began with a drive to Farnham through the most torrential, almost equatorial, rain! The windscreen wipers were on max and we wondered whether we'd actually get to walk anywhere! By the time we reached Farnham, however, it'd stopped and we were able to park and do some lunch shopping as the kitchen at the pub we'd planned to stop at was closed on Mondays 🙄.
We'd missed the church in Farnham where we could get our passports stamped so wandered into the local council offices thinking they might have one (as well as an all important loo stop before we began walking). A very nice lady (who'd never heard of the Pilgrim's Way and was astounded that we were walking to Canterbury, but not in one go!) managed to locate a very nice man who told us, no, they didn't have a stamp, but they could frank our passports. So we ended up with probably the nicest stamp of all 😊! A quick loo visit and a drive to the railway station, and we were off on the start of our North Downs section of the way. I think it was something like 1100 before we finally began the day's bimble so lunchtime arrived pretty quickly, not at the pub we'd thought we'd stop at, but at the church lych-gate in Seale, a welcome shelter from the cold wind! Each of the churches we've stopped at has had a stamp for Pilgrim Passports so we have a lovely visual reminder of each section. By this time, we'd experienced torrential rain, drizzle and hailstones, as well as some very welcome sunshine, but the wind hardly ever left us. Often, though, we were fortunate to be walking between banks of trees that afforded us some shelter. For some of the way, we followed the path of the Hogs Back so (if you know this area) there were quite a few hills to climb, but it really was a fabulous day and we kept warm with all the effort we put in to walking!
We finally stopped for a long drink and a packet of crisps (Pam, chorizo flavour, Julie sweet chilli) at the pub in Puttenham where we'd have liked to have eaten lunch (I'm not sure I'd have lasted that long though!) then it was the final 12kms into Guildford.
Today's walk was very green, through woods and past farms and golf greens, benches dedicated to past walkers, and little hobbit-like doors 😊. We saw a few buildings and walked through a couple of villages, but it was mainly agricultural land with sheep and lots of horses and, as we got closer to Puttenham, hops country (see pic).
We finally reached Guildford station gone 1700 but we couldn't find anywhere for a stamp. Next time - maybe Guildford Cathedral! It's a good job Julie knew the area 😂 and the route along part of the River Wey, which led us past a gorgeous little stone bridge and a delightful bronze of Alice in Wonderland and straight into M&S for some well-deserved chocolate and alcohol 🍸 for the train journey. The train back to Farnham meant we got back to the car at about 1800 and I finally got home at 1930. Hence our next few sections will be walked over 2 or 3 days - we'll have a little holiday each time 😊😊😊 and won't have to take the train each day! And, hopefully, the sun will be shining ✨️ 🙏 😎Read more