3 men on a walk 2016: Box Hill Loop

Mogador to Mickleham along the North Downs Way

This was a biggy but we needed to find new horizons to walk and this walk along the North Downs seemd to fit the bill. But it turned out to be a biggy and with plenty of steep climbs and falls the old legs certainly knew they had been on a walk today.

We parked up at Mogador, a tiny village on the top of the North Downs and only a stones throw from the M25 London Circular Motorway. The weather was forecast to be hot - well for the UK that means around 25 deg C - but with a light breeze it was a perfect walk day especially as the trail dipped in and out of woodland so we got a good mix of sun and shade.

The path mostly strode along the southern edge of the Downs and along the very steep escarpment, so often the views were truly amazing across the Wold to the south.

We knew this would be a pretty long walk and the original plan was to drop down from Box Hill to a "Greasy Spoon" Bikers cafe and stuff ourselves full of cholesterol for the second half of the walk. But not having an exact position for it we turned the wrong way and once we realised this we decided to walk on into the village of Mickleham where the map showed a pub existed. This was not a bad move as it was a very nice pub (The Running Horses) in a very pretty village. But it meant that we were off plan and so had to navigate a new route back to the car which meant that the three old men had to concentrate - never a good thing after lunch!

The very long pulls up to the top of Box Hill was a killer and the map reading more demanding but the biggest disappointment was the ice cream stall we found that didn't have any ice cream! We were mighty glad to reach the car as the legs were starting to complain. This has turned out to be the longest and steepest walk of 2016 to date and it felt like it.