Hacking in Surrey

[gallopinghooves]

Hi everyone,

Any experience on the following hacking areas:

-Polsedon Lacy, Ranmore and Norbury

-Shere area (near Newlands Corner Riding Club)

I think Shere probably has better hacking but it is a lot further from me! 50 min commute...

 

[millikins]

Hi, Surrey has some of the best hacking in the country, not necessarily the most spectacular but it's very well supplied with bridleways and BOATs. Ranmore, Norbury and Polesden you can hack for miles, can go down from Ranmore to Abinger Roughs and further south. Not so familiar with Shere but again there are extensive routes to Newlands Corner or Albury Heath (sandy tracks). Check out your parking, you can park on Ranmore but many of the car parks have height barriers to deter fly tippers and travellers.

 

[Landcruiser]

There certainly used to be great hacking around Shere when I lived there about 30 years ago. Woods, heaths, archetypal British countryside. I expect the increase in traffic has had a big impact since then though. Blackheath Common is sand and used to be tremendous for riding.

 

[Fransurrey]

We often box over to Albury, near Shere, to hack on Blackheath, Albury Heath or up to St.Martha's. Roman Temple has the biggest car park, but it's VERY lumpy. Albury Cricket Club also has a large car park, but will be busy on weekends/cricket days. Ranmore/Polesden is lovely but quite muddy in the winter. There are two car parks on Ranmore Road that are trailer/box friendly. One is Denbie's Hillside (NT) and the other is council owned. Smaller, but free - you need to think about your parking, there or you risk being blocked in by numpties. I run around Norbury a lot. Easily hackable from Ranmore, but I think Great Bookham Equestrian Centre allow parking for a fee - worth an ask, anyway!

 

[Fieldlife]

Hi everyone,

Any experience on the following hacking areas:

-Polsedon Lacy, Ranmore and Norbury

-Shere area (near Newlands Corner Riding Club)

I think Shere probably has better hacking but it is a lot further from me! 50 min commute...

Ranmore / Westcott / Newlands corner, a lot is scenic but stoney. Few canter areas. I think Polesdon Lacy better. The sandy bits of Shere are good.

 

[JenJ]

We often box over to Albury, near Shere, to hack on Blackheath, Albury Heath or up to St.Martha's. Roman Temple has the biggest car park, but it's VERY lumpy. Albury Cricket Club also has a large car park, but will be busy on weekends/cricket days. Ranmore/Polesden is lovely but quite muddy in the winter. There are two car parks on Ranmore Road that are trailer/box friendly. One is Denbie's Hillside (NT) and the other is council owned. Smaller, but free - you need to think about your parking, there or you risk being blocked in by numpties. I run around Norbury a lot. Easily hackable from Ranmore, but I think Great Bookham Equestrian Centre allow parking for a fee - worth an ask, anyway!

I'm not aware of anyone doing this, but that doesn't necessarily mean it doesn't happen! Certainly the schools are sometimes booked for outside arena hires.

Hacking is fantastic over Norbury, Polesden and Ranmore, as has already been said. Ground can be quite stony over Norbury, and canter opportunities don't seem to be as frequent as you'd perhaps expect. Ranmore can get very, very muddy on the tracks going up to the road, but the tracks alongside the road I think hold up a bit better over winter. That said, given the last couple of winters that we've had, they may all be a mess now; I've not been up that way for some time.

From Great Bookham it's possible to do a 5-6 hour ride with just a couple of crossings as your only road work.