Sylva, a discourse of Forest-Trees & the Witches' Tree - (14 miles)

On John Evelyn's birthday in 1620 a walk that's all about the trees, bathing in autumnal splendour 🍁🍂. And on Halloween a sprinkling of spookiness along the way 👻

Evelyn was the father of forestry, and a 17th-C conservation visionary. A founder of the Royal Society, widely travelled, campaigner for hospitals, diarist. And above all, passionate about trees.

The walk heads to Wotton House, his home. Home too to the ghost of Dr Samuel Wilberforce looking through its window👻. Then we head into the North Downs woods through which Evelyn wandered, past the Witches' Tree 🎃

Sylva could well be written today: "Truly, the waste and destruction of our woods has been so universal, that I conceive nothing less than a universal plantation of all the sorts of trees will supply, and well encounter the defect."

TRAVEL & WALK DETAILS
Take the 9.41 train from London Victoria to DORKING. Walk starts from Dorking station at 10.40.
An off peak day return ticket to DORKING is £10.50 with a Network card or Groupsave. Walk ends at WESTHUMBLE. Lunchtime pub stop. Bring a packed lunch.

How to join?

The walk is entirely free of charge;
You only arrange for your own travel and pub expenses;
Understand our terms and conditions below (the "IMPORTANT" part);
Understand how to stay safe outdoors, as you will be responsible for yourself. See our quick safety tips:
http://www.meetup.com/Free-Outdoor-Trips-From-London/about/

Feel free to ask any questions in the comments section!

IMPORTANT
Please bear in mind this is a free of charge, self-guided trip with a hobby group. It is not organized by a business nor any entity with commercial purposes.
Any trip details, travel advice, route planning, instructions and other content in our group merely represent our shared personal knowledge, research and suggestions as outdoor enthusiasts. As this is no business, there is no "product", "service" or "package" and also no "tour guide", "operator" or "walk leader".
Each participant is responsible for their own safety. Even if some of us are very experienced walking outdoors, nobody assumes responsibility for any kind of injury, damage or loss that may happen.
Despite this, we take extreme precautions and all trips we plan are very safe, fun, highly educational and popular. Our experienced members volunteer their time and effort to shape a pleasant and quality adventure for everyone :-)
By participating you acknowledge and agree with this disclaimer.

Here are our tips on staying safe during outdoor trips:
http://www.meetup.com/Free-Outdoor-Trips-From-London/about/

TRAVEL, ACCOMMODATION, INSURANCE
Although we provide detailed suggestions, each participant is expected to arrange their own travel and (if required) accommodation - this gives everyone the freedom and choice to join from wherever they want and stay wherever they want. Anyone interested in travel or outdoor insurance should also arrange this on their own. As mentioned above we always take extreme precautions, but some people may still feel safer if covered.
We advise not to buy tickets until the day. People getting tickets from the same station are encouraged to meet early on the day to benefit from discounts such as GroupSave.