Beating the bounds is a centuries-old tradition, aimed at reminding everyone of boundaries that were important in their lives at a time when maps were rare. As part of the 40th anniversary celebrations for Ramblers we thought it would be fun to Beat the Bounds of our “parish” Mole Valley. The Bounds will be divided into 11 sections, mostly circular walks, some with the option of a whole day or two half day routes. Each section will be offered on at least two dates, once on a Wednesday and the other at a weekend. We hope you will feel inspired to complete the circuit over the year, culminating in a celebratory gathering at Headley on Wed 28th October. If there are sections whose dates you cannot make we can look into sharing the routes for self-guiding.

We shall provide willow wands to beat the boundary each time it is crossed. We invite you to bring along any musical instruments to add to the festivities (tambourines, bells, drums!) during walks. There is also the opportunity to join a Morris dancing workshop in on Saturday 21st March, and maybe we can learn a dance to perform later. Please contact Fiona or Louise for further information and how to book. Tradition has it that in many parishes the completion of the beating of the bounds is marked with a barn dance and plenty of strong drink. We too can provide a barn dance, to be held in Bookham on Saturday 19th September (save the date).

Here are the walk dates, with the right-hand column available for you to complete your own record of achievement. Pin to your noticeboards and add to your MVR calendars.

Day Date Section Start and route outline Miles Leader Date walked Wed 29/0 1 Headley Heath Common linear 7.5 Pauline & Jan 1 Wed 12/0 2 Bookham & Effingham Commons 6.5 Andy 2 Sun 16/0 1 Headley Heath to linear 7.5 Pauline & Jan 2 Sat 07/0 2 Bookham & Effingham Commons 10 Andy 3 Wed 11/0 3a , Effingham Ranmore 6.5 Dave S 3 Wed 25/0 3b White Down, Hammer 7 Dave S 3 Sun 05/0 3a+b Stony Rock, Effingham, 12.5 Dave S 4 Sun 19/0 4 back via Abinger Hammer 8 Louise 4 Sat 25/0 3a+b Stony Rock, Effingham, Abinger Hammer 12.5 Fiona 4 Mon 27/0 4 Holmbury Hill back via Abinger Hammer 8 Louise 4 Wed 06/0 5a Holmbury Hill, Forest Green 7 Chris Gr 5 Wed 13/0 5b Forest Green, Wallis Wood 6 Chris Gr 5 Sat 23/0 5a+b Holmbury Hill, Wallis Wood 13 Chris Gr 5 Wed 10/0 6 Wallis Wood, Okewood Hill 8 Fiona 6 Sun 28/0 6 Wallis Wood, Okewood Hill 8 Fiona 6 Sun 19/0 7 Okewood Hill to linear 7.5 Jacqui 7 Wed 29/0 7 Okewood Hill to Rusper linear 7.5 tbc 7 Sun 09/0 8 Rusper ca 8 Susan 8 Wed 19/0 8 Rusper Charlwood ca 8 Susan 8 Thur 23/0 9 Charlwood Leigh linear 7.5 Jacqui 7 Wed 02/0 9 Charlwood Leigh linear 7.5 Fiona 9 Wed 16/0 10 Reigate Heath Leigh 9 Henri 9 Sun 20/0 10 Reigate Heath Leigh 9 Henri 9 Sat 17/1 11 Reigate Heath Headley ca 11 Peter C 0 Wed 28/1 11 Reigate Heath Headley linear 5.5 Peter C 0 Wed 28/1 Grand finale at Headley village hall 0

We look forward to welcoming members and visitors to on any of these walks. Full details will be published in our walks programmes and available on our website www.molevalleyramblers.org.uk. If you have any questions please contact the relevant leader or Fiona on [email protected]

Fiona Spencer 03.03.2020 Walks Programme Coordinator