Cafe to Cafe
A two hour drive from Ryka's at the foot of Box Hill to Loomies near Winchester. It's easy to ignore Surrey, Sussex and Hampshire when looking for good roads - they certainly don't have the obvious appeal of Scotland or Wales or the Lake District or the Peak District or... well, most other places. But despite the congestion the good roads are here, it's just a little harder to find them.
The obvious route of A24 south then A272 west isn't bad but has too many low points such as Horsham, Midhurst and Petersfield. Instead, we set off south on some back roads before joining the A24 to Kingsfold. These have some frustrating speed limits and in hindsight I'd take the A24 direct from Dorking unless it's clogged up. At Kingsfold we turned right to cut across to the A29 and then the A281 where there's a fair chance of being stuck behind a truck. The mood changed at Alford Crossways where we took Dunsfold Road and started hacking through the woods and hills. Yes, it's that Dunsfold where that program is made, and perhaps that's why no one raised an eyebrow when a yellow Nomad shrieked by.
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Cafe to Cafe route for GPS |
These are the roads we came to drive, quick, quiet (except for us) and narrow. We crossed the A283 at the surprisingly-named Cripplecrutch Hill and on to Bexley Hill with its sharply steep corners. At the top we turned right to squeeze out one more uphill sprint over to the A281 where we headed south again, avoiding Midhurst by going through Woolbeding and joining the A272 for one of its better sections that runs almost to Petersfield.
The trick is to leave the A272 at Sheet, head for Steep and then up sinuous Stoner Hill, watching out for cyclists. Then turn left on to the A32 and Loomies is on your right after the lights.