Wokcob three

Slow Way not verified yet. Verify Wokcob here.

As far as I can tell, Wokcob one and three are identical, but I can confirm that all three Wokcob routes at present are impassable. It’s a shame, because his has the potential to be a good Slow Way, maybe a great one, but at the time of writing (May 2024), the roadworks around the M25/A3 junction have blocked off a number of footpaths and A3 crossings. To get to Woking, I had to take a detour which added on 7km and took an extra 1h 40m, going through overgrown paths, stiles, incredibly boggy, flooded tracks and long, dangerous stretches of road with no pavement and high hedgerows. I have attached a screenshot of the detour (the Slow Way is in red, my detour is in blue). What I managed to do of the Slow Way (the first and last thirds) is very good, with some nice riverside paths by the River Mole and Hoe Stream, pleasant farmland and parkland. I may my amend my original review in the future, once the footpaths and crossings around the A3 are reopened (Spring 2025 at the earliest, probably longer given the track record of the Highways Agency!), but for now, none of these Slow Ways are accessible in their entirety.

This is a wonderful walk well described by Derick.
I walked from Woking to Cobham, the opposite way to Derick, on a lovely Autumn day.
I'll start with the challenging aspects of this walk first.

There is a crossing of The Old Woking Road B326 at a right angle bend. This is fine coming from Cobham as you can see both ways along the road, but coming the other way on the inside of the bend you can't see the cars coming and crossing here would be suicidal.
Keep walking around the bend about 100m and cross into the entrance to The Links Business Centre and double back to the path along the driveway (see picture).

The land either side of the foot bridge crossing the A3 has been churned up by heavy machinery and the Path has been obliterated, head for the bridge which is easily visible, and then head in the general direction over black sandy dunes with shredded trees and you will pick up the path. Not all the work is A3-road-related, some is the restoration of heathland by removing woodland. These works are almost finished and the path should be restored soon.

There are many gates, stiles and narrow footbridges many of which are in poor repair. Care should be taken. One stile is a fence which you will have to climb over, some bridges have holes.

Talking of holes, there are 3 golf courses, 2 are lovely but the one near Pyrford is poorly signed and careful navigation is needed.

Despite these challenges, which are easily overcome, this is a beautiful walk, full of variety. Open fields, riverside walks, shady woodland and fields. Quite a delight, a 5* when the works are finished. The Bagshot Sand absorbs water and there is only a little mud. In Autumn the hedgerows burst with fruits and berries. I did worry if I would make it to the end of the walk with my pockets bulging, weighed down with my own bodyweight in sweet chestnuts.
The Anchor Pub at Pyrford Lock is conveniently at the halfway point. Road walking is minimal. The Graveyard and Church in Cobham is worth a look. I really enjoyed this walk.
Gates, kissing gates, stiles, narrow paths and uneven surfaces make this unsuitable for wheels.

I walked this from Cobham to Woking on a sunny spring day, where the previous day it was also sunny but the past week had seen quite some rain.

After leaving Cobham's High Street the route starts along a slightly busy road, but only for a short while. Soon after crossing the river Mole, the route turns across pasture which was fairly soggy (photo #1), but not too much. After a few stiles and bridges across streams I ended up in a very muddy field (photo #2) with two horses who kept their distance, before emerging on the quiet Pointers Road, with no traffic beyond a runner. You then cross the M25 on a footbridge (photo #3), before going steep up through woods (photo #4) to end up at Semaphore Tower. From here the route continues along easy going sandy/chalky paths of the fairly open Chatley Heath (photo #5), before going through some more woods to end up at a cleared space around the A3 crossing. Here lots of paths have now disappeared (hence the reason for this Wokcob 3). The route then continues along lovely Wisley Common with a pond, before ending up at the little village of Wisley itself. You cross then the river Wey, before ending up on your first golf course (photo #6), with easy going (new) metalled paths. After crossing the River Way Navigation and its lock (photo #7), you then end up on your second golf course. Here you don't follow the paths, but instead skirt around the different holes over the grass, although you do cross a few fairways so be aware of flying balls! After leaving the golf course you end up on open land with fields of cows (behind fences). The paths are easy going again, although you do make quite a climb up to Church Hill (photo #9). After crossing that road, you end up on the "Sheep Walk" which goes straight to your third golf course (photo #10). This was quite a lovely section, with lots of birds and yellow flowers (photo #11) in the verges in the wood covered path. Once you've left this and crossed Old Woking Road, the route continues along the river Hoe (photo #12), another highlight of this walk. Just before Woking park you leave the river for some uninspired walking (photo #13) straight towards the station (photo #14).

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