SURREY TEASHOP WALK: EPSOM DOWNS

by: MisS VictoriA DaviD

 

We passed the road a few times before, but never had the chance to stop at what is the nearest race course and enjoy seeing the rolling grassy Epsom Downs!

We had a lovely day last week and I think, it was the warmest day ever last month in England. On that day, we planned for a trip- out to take advantage of the feisty weather. We were very prepared I could say, as we had with us the book of Surrey Teashop Walks, which came from our local library. While still in the house, I filled two hand-carry bags with food and drinking liquids before driving to Epsom.

It was just a leisurely 30 minute drive to the car park, where you could view the stunning race course. Perhaps, because it was its clean cut shaven grass at the centre and the white tinted steel fence that encompasses and protects the area that captured our imagination. Both pleased my eyes, why? It showed that the people who managed the racecourse are preserving one of the many enchanting places in the U.K. Aside from the racecourse, the neighbouring wilderness was noticeable because of its tall and strong trees which, from afar, looked like newly-sprouted mushrooms. 

We walked on the green field before reaching the portal that goes into the abyss of the woods!

The 5 hour walk was very challenging for me, particularly, to feel I was lost in the woods made me hysterical and I thought of going back to where we started. We were very certain to pursue the journey but when the soles of my feet started to inflame, we decided not to track down the path shown on the map but to finish the whole walk. We stopped for awhile and ate our food kept in the knapsack. That 10 minutes of resting in the wilderness helped me to walk normal again and not like an injured soldier in the war. I was feeling better and still we didn’t follow the right direction written in the book.

We cut our way through a private road and then found a quaint pub nestled in the woods, where we drank glasses of shandy. Our enquiries at the pub led us to an A road. It was very unexpected to walk along the verges of the highway but prior to that, there were special 'things' we had seen and enjoyed! But this road affords us delightful views of the grassy green downs and some privy detached houses benefiting from that view.