- Date: 20 November 2024
- Walk Leader: Richard Pelling
- Distance: 10 miles
Tilford – Hankley Common – Devils Jumps – Frensham Little Pond
A beautiful sunny, but crisp and frosty, morning greeted 15 enthusiastic Ramblers who gathered at Stockbridge Car Park in Tilford.
Initially we took the old Elstead Road past Stockbridge Pond, once part of a series of ponds created and used for fishing by the monks of Waverley Abbey. After looking down from some height to the River Wey below, we turned across the more open sandy Surrey Heath terrain which makes up Hankley Common military training area, part of the?Thursley,?Hankley and Frensham Commons Special Area of Conservation, a Special Protection Area and Site of Special Scientific Interest.
On passing through Lion’s Mouth we reached the replica Atlantic Wall, built in 1943 by Canadian Troops as a training aid prior to D-Day. A gentle climb to the top of Kettlebury Hill led us to a coffee stop, overlooking the dropping zone where paratroopers were trained by jumping both from barrage balloon baskets and aircraft, and with views to the Hogs-Back to the north and the Devils Punchbowl to the south.
After walking the length of Kettlebury Hill and pausing at a trig point (446 feet), we passed Rushmoor lakes and crossed the Tilford Road onto Churt Common. Ascent to the top of the regionally important geological site known as Stony Jump brought us to our lunch stop, from where we enjoyed the excellent views of priceless heathland habitat including Axe Pond (The Flashes). Stony Jump is one of three hills known collectively as the Devils Jumps, with local folklore telling of the Devil jumping between them. The Norse God Thor apparently became so annoyed at this he threw a boulder at the demon sending him flying into the Devils Punch Bowl.
Descending to pass Axe Pond, we continued a short way down the quiet Sandy Lane and then across Frensham Common, passing Frensham Little Pond, from where we returned to Tilford through more wooded scenery along the unmade Tilford Common Road.
Author and Photographer: Richard Pelling
Additional photos by Sandy Arpino and Clare McCullough