After living here most of my life, this was the first time I had actually ventured out into the Devils Punchbowl at Hindhead, when it hadn’t been snowing. The last time I was here was when we had thick snow which must have been at least 2/3 years ago. Other than that I hadn’t really visited the place, and it’s just on my doorstep!!
How it has changed since the old A3 was ripped up and returned to its natural state. The scenery is breathtaking and the stories of highwaymen robbing people who travelled that route make interesting reading as you walk around this great National Trust land. They used to hang people who’d done wrong, and leave the hanging there in cages until they had rotted away as a deterrent for others.
Luckily this has long since gone, and the only reminder that this took place is the Celtic cross at the summit of Gibbet Hill.
Jelly and myself decided that as it was such a lovely day, we would go for a nice long walk and work off the excesses of previous days. The longest and most challenging route we could do was Hidden Hindhead walk which was a distance of 3 miles with a lot of ups and downs.
The scenery was amazing and it was nice and quiet too, after the hustle and bustle of the car park where it was jammed packed with other walkers and youngsters with their families.
We settled for a picnic at Temple of the Four Winds. From there we had views across over to Farnham and the Hogs Back and Guildford and beyond.
I think we will be visiting this place regularly going forward, it’s right on our doorstep, and is just as beautiful as the New Forest but only 6 miles up the road.
