This year Liz Bonsall of Chaldon History Group, in agreement with Chaldon Village Council, resurrected the twice a year walking of all the public footpaths and bridleways in the Village, and brought together a team of eleven leaders for the walks.
On Sunday 4th October this Chaldon tradition was re-established after a gap of a few years. The six Chaldon Walk routes were walked, covering all 13 miles of paths, and going back to the original purpose of inspecting and reporting on their condition. The leaders and walkers looked out for problems with hedges, stiles, signs etc. and notes were written in the little blue books. The notes are then collated and reported to Chaldon Village Council and Surrey County Council Rights of Way Officer for any action that is needed.
Sunday was a wet and windy day, and still 21 people and 1 dog turned out for the walks, which was very encouraging. Social distancing and government guidance on being COVID secure was followed.
The practice of the twice yearly walks was started in 1922/3, and it is great to have re-established it before the centenary in 2022.
The walks used to end with teas in the Village Hall. This year we asked people to bring a picnic tea, and all walks were planned to end at Six Brothers Field, where we would have had socially distanced picnics in our groups of six. Unfortunately the wet weather cancelled this part of the plan.
If you would like to walk any of these routes yourself, and have the addition of historical and nature notes, see the Chaldon Walks page in the menu list. If you’d like to join the leader team or have any questions, please contact Liz Bonsall Tel 01883 340508 or email lizbonsall@aol.com