A Group 8th September

Having seen very pessimistic weather forecasts, this morning I set off with several maps and Plans A,B and C in mind. En route to Fairoaks I happened to pass West Byfleet station, where after a few minutes' wait with Pete M we were rewarded with this view of a Black 5. The airfield was very quiet so when we were all refreshed I led Brian, Dave, Geoffrey, Jeff, John B, Mark, Mike M, Simon and Vic to Chobham and despite the best efforts of the shooters at Bisley we arrived safely at Brookwood or Decision Point 1. The weather was OK, timing was OK so I scrapped Plan C and headed west, alongside the railway. Soon we reached Decision Point 2 - do we turn right to Frimley (Plan B) or straight on up today's hill (Tunnel Hill Plan A) to Ash Vale ? Everything was fine so over the hill to Mytchett where we joined the Basingstoke Canal towpath to The Swan at Ash Vale, arriving just as light rain started. After a good lunch we continued in the dry along the towpath to the aqueduct over the A331 and a stop for photos. Returning along the towpath we soon rejoined the road at Ash where John B left us having an appointment at the Royal Albert Hall. Heading east along various lanes and tracks we emerged from White Hart Lane (Wood Street Village) to note the White Hart pub now closed. Here waterproofs were required, though happily not for long. A conventional route of north Guildford, Jacobs Well and A3 cycle track led to Watson's (no toilets) at Ripley where we had barely started to eat our cakes when some Bs passed by. We then made our separate ways home. Apologies to Mark - his altimeter function must have thought it was a holiday !

Terry