Oxted and the North Downs Way

If Swindon or Crewe is your idea of a railway town, then you’re in for a surprise. The railway came late to the medieval village of Oxted, but it didn’t destroy the character of the place. Instead, when Oxted expanded to embrace the new arrival, it developed its own unique style. To begin with, it looked as if Oxted wouldn’t get a railway at all. Parliament had authorised an independent line between Croydon and Royal Tunbridge Wells in 1865 but, in all but name, it was part of a turf war between two powerful companies competing for traffic between London and Hastings.

Parts of the line were actually built, including the tunnel on the walk. But there were all kinds of difficulties, including a riot against the contractor’s Belgian workforce, and work was abandoned around 1870. Years passed, and in 1878 Parliament approved new proposals for a railway linking Croydon, Oxted and East Grinstead. This time the old rivals were working in partnership. The new scheme took over the abandoned works from the 1860s, and construction went ahead smoothly. After a wait of almost 20 years, the line through Oxted finally opened in March 1884.

By coincidence, the Fabian Society of socialist thinkers was formed in the same year. One of its founder members was Edward Pease, who lived at nearby Limpsfield. He and others soon discovered that they could live in the country without having to cut themselves off from London society. Intellectuals such as D H Lawrence, George Bernard Shaw and Sidney and Beatrice Webb were among many who used the railway to attend Fabian gatherings. The author Hilaire Belloc also used the railway – though he didn’t come by train. In his book The Old Road, Belloc describes how he set out to prove the route of the Pilgrim’s Way by walking the track from Winchester to Canterbury himself. He reached the cutting near Oxted tunnel at nightfall, and stumbled down the railway line in search of an inn.

Take the walkway from the corner of the car park (by the toilets) to Station Road East and turn left. Turn left again when you get to Gresham Road, then turn right at the top into Bluehouse Lane. Lastly, turn left again into Park Road and, at the bend, continue straight ahead on the signposted public footpath towards Woldingham, between the school and its playing fields. Cross the stile beyond the playing fields, and head around the field edge towards the footbridge over the M25 motorway.

Cross the motorway, and follow the path to the left to go through a metal kissing gate and swing left onto the North Downs Way (NDW). Follow this breezy downland path to reach a signposted T-junction, and bear left on the NDW to drop down steeply, through a kissing gate to a lane. Turn right for 30yds (27m) and then left, signed NDW. Soon pass through a kissing gate and follow the field edge until it turns right for the assault on the North Downs ridge. Pass through another two kissing gates before bearing left.

Follow the path as it burrows through the trees, and turn hard right up a flight of 110 steps. Don’t miss the view from the seat a third of the way up, directly above the railway tunnel. Swing left at the top of the steps, and follow the NDW to the road at Ganger’s Hill. On reaching a few more steps on your right continue ahead on the NDW.

Continue on the path below the road until reaching a fingerpost, then turn left off the NDW, dropping down towards Oxted. Join the bridleway halfway down, and carry on across the bridge over the M25 onto the lane past Barrow Green Court on your left. Cross over Barrow Green Road, squeeze through the kissing gate buried in the hedge directly opposite, then follow the fenced footpath along the edge of the field past Townland Pond, on your right, and out onto Sandy Lane, beside The Lodge.

Turn right, pass underneath the A25, and cross Oxted High Street at The Old Bell pub. Follow Beadles Lane for 200yds (183m), then turn left into Springfield and fork off onto a footpath at the bend in the road. Drop gently down to Spring Lane, and the picturesque Oxted Mill (The Watermill is privately owned). A 500yd (457m) diversion, on the Greensand Way, leads you to The Haycutter pub, crossing straight over Spring Lane. Zig-zag right and left, then take the waymarked path through a kissing gate, over three stiles and through the meadows to the pub.

The main route turns left past the mill, and left again over the stile at the sluice gate. Follow the path over a stile and a little bridge through to Woodhurst Lane, and turn left. Turn left again into Woodhurst Park and take the narrow footpath on the right, and cross the A25 into East Hill Road. At the foot of the hill, turn right up Station Road West, then go through the station subway at the top. Turn right into Station Road East to return to the car park.