Hindhead tunnel. In my head I always pronounce it ‘tu-nel’ (/ˈtʌnl/), the Norwegian way. My drive to the start of this short recce of a section of the KAW had unexpectedly transported me back ten years to my time in Norway. During a summer working as a hiking guide amongst the mountains and fjords two hours northeast of Bergen ‘tu-nels’ featured frequently on our minibus rides to and from the walks.

English: tunnel /ˈtanl/ Norwegian: tunnel /ˈtʌnl/

dictionary.cambridge.org

The sudden plunge into a dirty white cylinder, the echoing thrum of the vehicle engine, the chemical tang of car fumes and the disorientating sweeping turns all felt strangely familiar. All I needed to complete the transition was the patient, devoted family man Knut in the driver’s seat, perhaps buoyed up by one too many strong, dirty tasting Scandinavian coffees, pointing out locations where English people had driven in dangerous weather conditions and plunged into the churning river. ‘And they all died! Ha ha ha’, was the conclusion to each of these misguided adventures.

Unsurprisingly my arrival in Hindhead was much less dramatic. The broad road through the village, the old A3, truncates very abruptly at the National Trust car park. Since the Hindhead tunnel was opened to traffic on 29^th July 2011 a huge heathland restoration project has been carried out by the National Trust, with funding from Natural England, and an army of local volunteers.

As a first-time visitor I couldn’t even imagine the old infrastructure necessary for the main road from London to Portsmouth that existed over this airy viewpoint. I warmed to my old ‘tu-nel’ memories and appreciated the one that ran beneath me. The flat blues of Frensham lakes hovered northwards above the tree covered slopes, and to the northeast, beyond the Surrey hills, was the shimmer of the capital’s skyline.

The flat blues of Frensham lakes hovered northwards above the tree covered slopes, and to the northeast, beyond the Surrey hills, was the shimmer of the capital’s skyline.

Following the ‘Sailor’s Stroll’ route I stayed high on the wooded ridge with the grassy scoop of the Devil’s Punchbowl below and to my left. Then, hugging the western side of the woodland, I began dropping down using metalled byway, loose stony track, sunken, beech leaf mulched hollow road and narrow, grassy centred, tree shaded lanes until I reached Thursley. I passed the silvery shingled church spire, a small neatly mown green and another Norseman, Thor no less, on the village sign.

The southern open dry heathland section of Thursley National Nature Reserve was next. Not far in I was concentrating on keeping traction in the rippled sand when I glimpsed movement ahead. A young female adder, the length of my wrist to elbow, as wide as a chunky thumb, with caramel diamonds the length of her back rippled out of the lilac ling onto the path. I dropped the bike and stopped to watch. There was a gentle shhh of the sand under her muscular body as she pushed and slid across the undulations leaving a scooped trail in her wake. A few trembles in the dense heather on the far side of the path and then she was gone, sliding into the shade of a delicate silver birch.

The KAW doesn’t delve into the boggy north of the reserve with its yellow spikes of bog asphodel and glistening traps of sundews but bridlepaths do venture into it, so a foray is possible. Time was against me though, I needed to head back but the fresh air, exercise and the natural world had lifted me. And the weather was good; and I wasn’t likely to drive into a churning river; and I wasn’t likely to die; Ha ha ha!

Information and Facilities on route

National Trust Hindhead https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/hindhead-commons-and-the-devils-punch-bowl has a café (10am -5pm daily, may close at 1pm on wet winter days) with toilets inside; A free drinking water tap on the outside of the building and parking (Chargeable hours 6am – 9pm every day, no overnight parking, NT members free, non-NT members up to 2hrs £1.50 / hr, up to 4hrs £4, all day £6).

Thursley National Nature Reserve (pdf) https://mk0surreyhillsnfif4k.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/thursley-nnr-welcome-note.pdf

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