Last August I visited Surrey on an Art Fund tour – Surrey Arts and Crafts. I only managed to write here about the afternoon we spent at the Landmark Trust property Goddards. But we did spend a whole day at Watts Gallery in Compton. The Artists’ Village is fascinating and includes an amazing amount of G F Watts and his wife Mary’s work.
There are countless pretty villages and cottages in Surrey but Hambledon and the National Trust preserved Oakhurst Cottage take some beating. Initially, I saw the place on one of my first visits to Surrey last January and I made a mental note to book a tour in the summer.
Nourishing soup to set me up for the afternoon’s walk
Lovely Winkworth Arboretum is very near Godalming and I’ve visited lots of times this year. It’s one of Oliver (pug)’s favourite places and we both enjoy our walks there. There’s something for both of us. My attention was drawn to two other nearby sites – a walk and a house to visit. In fact it is possible to walk from Winkworth Arboretum to Oakhurst Cottage and include part of the Octavia Hill Trail en route. On my last Saturday in Surrey I decided to visit both but after a fortifying lunch at Winkworth I drove to Hydon’s Heath for the trail and then on to Oakhurst Cottage for a guided tour.
Where once the busy, congested A3 once ran is now a haven for nature and for peace and tranquility and a walker’s and naturalist’s paradise. These days the A3 is a major dual carriageway route between London and Portsmouth and the beautiful landscapes of the Devils’ Punchbowl and Hindhead Common have been preserved and enhanced since the A3 is now diverted into a tunnel below this section of the Surrey countryside.
At the end of last year I found, tucked inside the winter issue of the Art Fund magazine, a flyer advertising a number of short breaks organised by the company Travel Editions with whom I’d previously spent a 3 night break in 2014 : Art Nouveau and Art Deco in Lille and Antwerp. The trip that particularly caught my eye was “Surrey Arts and Crafts”.
Earlier this month our son moved to his new house in Surrey and I made my first visit to this part of the world last weekend. Apart from visits to Hampton Court (which is almost London, really) I’ve never been to Surrey before so lots to explore on future trips. Sadly, though, no more walkin’ the dog round Belsize Park! Continue reading
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