News

4th July 2026

A walk along the Wey Navigation

This is Sue Hackman’s report of the walk along the Wey Navigation - as I couldn’t make it. “Starting from the Sutton Place Estate, we had the chance to admire the beautiful little church of Edward the Confessor set amongst the most tranquil and attractive surroundings of any church in England. As we walked towards the river, the path took us past the historic and manicured farms and outbuildings of Sutton Place. If there is such a thing as “English Picturesque”, this is where it is done to perfection. Eventually we arrived at the river at Triggs Lock, which marks the mid-point of the Wey Navigation, which was constructed in 1653 at roughly the same time as our local Bowers Lock. From the lock, the walk was rich in wildlife with all the sights and sounds of nature one associates with a river in summer – abundant wildflowers, waterlilies, rabbits, goats (goats?), a huge family of ducks, and other animals along the route, including the odd human being enjoying a paddle. It was the most beautiful and tranquil walk taking us about forty-five minutes to reach the New Inn Pub in Send, a riverside pub which serves really decent pub food and excellent beer”. Our next walk is around the estate at West Horsley Place followed by lunch at the Tiger Lilly Bus Company’s float on Saturday 18th July. Please email sue.hackman1@gmail.com if you are interested in joining the walk.

17th June 2026

Guildford Society visit to Goddards on Abinger Common

One of the things about being a member of a society like the Guildford Society is that you don’t get to meet other members unless you are on one of their committees, or maybe if you attend the AGM. So, it was a nice surprise over lunch at the Abinger Hatch to find out that members of the Guildford Society are really quite a pleasant bunch of people. The Abinger Hatch goes back to the 17th century and, before becoming a well-known local hostelry, was at various times a Post Office in the 18th century and later part of the Surrey Trust Company estate which managed the local pubs in the area. “Goddards”, which was the whole purpose of our visit, is a large country house at Abinger Common designed by Edwin Lutyens in 1898 for Frederick Mirrielees, a wealthy philanthropist, as a charitable holiday home “for women of limited means”. Later in 1910, Lutyens was commissioned to extend and convert the house into a large private residence for Mirrielees’ son. The house was finally bequeathed to the Lutyens Trust in 1991 and is currently owned and managed by the Landmark Trust. It is considered one of his most important early houses designed by Edwin Lutyens in the traditional Surrey style with a garden laid out in collaboration with the celebrated garden designer Gertrude Jekyll. Apart from some quite astonishing hand-crafted metalwork designed and fabricated by John Starkie Gardner, one of the most respected metalwork designers of the Arts & Crafts period, the house incorporates a number of delightful elements collected by the Mirrielees family including fragments of stained-glass windows and Delft tiles. 

7th June 2026

Burpham Community Association walk at Painshill Park

Our walk was at Painshill Park, an 18th‑century landscape garden near Cobham celebrated for its dramatic vistas and follies. It was built by Charles Hamilton (1704–1786), the ninth son of the 6th Earl of Abercorn, who constructed the park between 1738 –1773 drawing inspiration from Renaissance landscape art and his Grand Tours across Europe. He designed the garden as a curated journey - each turn revealing a new scene or architectural feature - a wonderful example of an 18th century English Landscape Garden, a movement that rejected formal geometric layouts in favour of naturalistic romantic scenery. Our walk took us along by the lake, past the Ruined Abbey and the Mausoleum, to the Grotto which was atmospherically and eerily lit. We then travelled on to the Cascade, and the Water Wheel which was designed to pump water from the Mole River up to the lakes, and finally on to the Alpine Valley and the Hermit’s Hut. The story goes that Charles Hamilton hired a man to serve as a hermit with strict conditions that he must live in the hermitage; must avoid washing; must grow his hair and nails long; and must appear conveniently when visitors arrive but should then scurry away and speak to no one. The contract was supposed to last for seven years with a generous payment at the end. However, the story goes that the hermit lasted only three weeks before being discovered drunk in a local inn. Our next walk is on 4th July along the Wey Navigation starting at 10.30 from the car park near the "Edward the Confessor Church" at Sutton Place through to Triggs Lock arriving at the New Inn Pub for lunch.

16th May 2026

Burpham Community Association walk at Leith Hill

The walk took us up the hill past an ancient stone wall and along part of the Greensand Way up to the Tower, which is an amazing viewpoint. Leith Hill is the second highest point in the Southeast standing at 1,029 feet above sea level. Looking North you can see the tower blocks in the City of London and looking South you can clearly see Chanctonbury Ring on the South Downs. We enjoyed some hot pasties for lunch before descending some very steep steps and returning on a circular woodland walk to Leith Hill Place. Leith Hill Place, which dates from 1600, was the home of Richard Hull who built the tower at Leith Hill in 1765. It was also the home of Josiah Wedgwood and the childhood home of the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams who was the grandson of Josiah Wedgewood. For some time, the house was a music school for the nearby Hurtwood House College, and it was interesting to hear that Hans Zimmer, the celebrated composer who wrote the music for the film "Inception", once studied here. Finally, we returned to the Rhododendron Car Park via a walk with delightful views over a Capability Brown style landscape and through the famous rhododendron garden. The next walk is at Painshill Park on Saturday 6th June where we will enjoy the famous landscape gardens and visit some of the follies.

13th May 2026

Burpham Community Association visit to Goddards

Goddards is a large country house at Abinger Common designed by Edwin Lutyens in 1898 for Frederick Mirrielees originally as a charitable holiday home for women of limited means. In 1910 Lutyens was commissioned once again to extend and convert it into a large private residence for Mirrielees’ son. It is currently owned and managed by the Landmark Trust. It is considered one of his most important early houses designed in the traditional Surrey style with a garden laid out in collaboration with the celebrated garden designer Gertrude Jekyll. A central range, which originally had common rooms on both floors, divides two wings, the southern of which also contains a bowling alley. The house incorporates a number of delightful elements collected by the Mirrielees family including stained glass and some Delft tiles. The house was finally bequeathed to the Lutyens Trust in 1991. Our tour took in all the principal rooms at ground floor level including the bowling alley - where Chris scored a “spare”. A big thank you to Andrew for organising it.

30th April 2026

AMEN visit to the Farnborough Air Science Museum

Our visit to the Farnborough Air Science Museum included an interesting collection of historic aircraft, flight simulators, and aviation research material. Following coffee on arrival, we enjoyed an excellent guided tour of the museum. We saw some amazing historic aircraft including a full-size replica of the British Army Aeroplane No.1A built by Samuel Franklin Cody which achieved the first powered flight in Britain here at Farnborough in 1908. Apparently, the aircraft lifted unexpectedly high, flew under control, then crashed while avoiding trees. But the flight was long enough to be recognised as the first controlled, powered, sustained flight in Britain. We also saw a BAE Hawk T1 used by the Red Arrows and various flight simulators which you can try out under supervision. We even had an opportunity to sit in the cockpit of a Harrier Jump Jet which was a surprisingly tight fit. The museum is open at the weekends with free entry, and volunteers on hand to explain all the exhibits. Following our visit to Farnborough we all enjoyed lunch at the delightful “Royal Oak” near Pirbright. Next year the plan is to visit Thorpe Park and have a go on the tallest and fastest rollercoaster in the UK – because it’s on my bucket list - or maybe it's just my midlife crisis.

19th April 2026

Burpham Community Association Walk at Hatchlands

Hatchlands is a Grade I Listed Building designed in 1756 for Admiral Edward Boscawen by the leading Georgian architect Stiff Leadbetter with interiors by Robert Adam. The Music Room, with its distinctive cupola, was added later in 1903 by the architect Sir Reginald Blomfield. Hatchlands is notable because it contains some of Adam’s earliest English interiors commission soon after his return from the Grand Tour. The house is also home to the Cobbe Collection, the world’s largest group of historic keyboard instruments linked to famous composers, including pieces associated with Chopin, Bach and Franz Liszt. It is astonishing to think that these composers actually played on these instruments. The collection also included some amazing paintings including the only painting of Shakespeare done in his lifetime. The Long Walk, which took in the bluebell woods, was a round walk of approximately 2.8 miles through Repton‑style parkland with ancient oaks, ponds, and long views reaching as far as the City of London. Our next walk is at Leith Hill on the 2nd May to enjoy the rhododendrons at their peak and visit Leith Hill Place, the childhood home of the composer Vaughan Williams.

7th March 2026

Burpham Community Association walk to Woking Palace

On Saturday Sue led the walk to Woking Palace. Woking Palace was originally recorded as a "hunting lodge" on manorial records in 1272. It was later extended to become a Manor House, and by 1466, it became a Royal Palace when it was the home of Margaret Beaufort who was extremely wealthy and was the mother of Henry VII and the grandmother of Henry VIII. Margaret Beaufort was married four times and bore her first child at the age of 13. It is said that she founded the Tudor dynasty after the defeat of Richard III at the battle of Bosworth. As the mother of Henry VII, she was deeply involved in governance, estate management, and even legal reforms. Henry VIII, her grandson, spent a lot of time with her as a child when his brother Arthur was the heir apparent. Later he was to spend his honeymoon with Katherine Parr at Woking Palace. Most of the work to the palace was undertaken during his reign. The Palace included a Great Hall for entertainment, guest apartments, a landing stage for visitors who arrived by river, a fruit orchard and ponds where they farmed fish for food. Queen Elizabeth I also stayed at the palace but less frequently and by the late 16C it had fallen into disrepair. In 1620 James I sold the palace to Sir Edward Zouch who demolished the buildings and used the material to build Hoe Place. Our next walk is at “Hatchlands” on 19th April to enjoy the bluebells at their peak.

5th January 2026

Summer Walks in 2026 organised by the Burpham Community Association

Why not join us for a series of walks and visits organised by the Burpham Community Association this summer. Dogs are welcome. If you are interested in a particular walk, you are advised to sign up at secretary@burphamca.org.uk to get details of the final directions and arrangements and a notice about likely weather conditions on the day. To see photographs and write-ups of last year's events, see the Past Events Page.

7th March        Visit to Old Woking Palace. The palace was the home of Henry VIII’s grandmother, and he                              was a frequent visitor in his youth. Free. Meet at Manor Way car park at 10.00 am.

19th April        Visit to Hatchlands Park and House – a walk in the park at prime bluebell time including a                            visit inside the house. The park is free. Entry to the house is £14 but free for NT members.    

2nd May           Walk to Leith Hill – a walk to the top of Leith Hill to enjoy the views and the rhododendrons                            at their very peak and a visit to Leith Hill Place. Entry to Leith Hill Place is £6 for non members.

13th May          Visit to Goddards – Goddards is an outstanding country house designed by Edwin Lutyens.                              The visit includes a guided group tour of the house. 

6th June           Visit to Painshill Park – Enjoy the hillside follies of Painshill Park. Fabulous landscape                                       gardens and a tour around the hillside follies. Cost £12.50p.

4th July            Walk along the Wey Navigation - from Sutton Park along the Wey Navigation through                                  Triggs Lock to the New Inn Pub for lunch.

18th July          Walk at West Horsley Place - a walk around the beautiful estate followed by lunch at the                               Duke of Wellington Pub in West Horsley.

1st August       Walk at Thursley Common – a circular walk enjoying the pine woods, the heathland with the                          heather in full bloom followed by lunch at the Elstead Mill.

8th August       Walk to St Martha’s church which features a lovely walk along St Martha’s Hill with a brief                               talk about St Martha’s church by Trevor Hills and some thoughts about St Martha herself by                               local vicar James Hanson

5th Sept           Walk at Witley Common – a walk through heathlands to explore the forgotten site of the                                 first world war training camp where recruits were trained before being sent to the front. Free.

24th October   Walk at Sheepleas and St Mary’s Church – Starting at the Duke of Wellington Pub in                                    Horsley, we walk through woods and meadows to enjoy the Autumn colours and visit the                                    ancient frescoes at St Mary’s church.