Start point:- TQ060485
Time taken:- 2 hours 19 minutes
Distance:- 10.8 km; 6.71 miles
Route:-
| Silent Pool CP - Fox Way - NDW - Water Lane - Pilgrims Way - St Martha's Hill - Downs link - Postior Pond - Water Lane - Water Lane cottages - Albury Church - CP |
The walk id based on a figure of 8 starting at Silent Pool. there are many options to vary and extend this walk as I will do on future days.
Silent Pool was probably an old chalk quarry fed by underground springs and would have been a precious source of pure water in days gone by. The pool and nearby Sherbourne Pond became home to many different species of aquatic life and one can often glimpse the blue flash of a kingfisher as it darts across the water.
More recently the pool has had a tendency to dry out due to the springs feeding the Pool suffering from the lower than average annual rainfall.
Silent Pool has always been a popular place to visit and many feel an eerie stillness looking out over the still water surrounded by the evergreen box trees.
Legend has it that this is due to the fate of a woodcutter's daughter who was surprised by a nobleman on a horse as she bathed in the pool. Having failed to lure her to the bank, he rode his horse into the water and caused the girl to move out to deeper water where she drowned. When the woodcutter returned and found her body, he also found the nobleman's hat floating on the water. It bore the crest of none other than Prince John!
St Martha's Hill is the 18th highest hill in the country
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Martha%27s_Hill
The sandy soils around St Martha's hill means that it can be fairly dry to walk footpaths etc.
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