Betchworth & Buckland Nature Trail
3 Betchworth Post Office footpath / A25 green corridor
Cross Old Reigate Road and take the footpath beside Betchworth Post Office. Be careful of the trip hazard of bare roots on the ground. There is a patch of thick scrub, mainly bramble just before the gate onto open farmland. The well trodden path points to the chalk hills and the remains of Betchworth Chalk Quarry in the distance. There is a meadow on one side and a thick hawthorn and blackthorn hedge on the other. In winter robins, fieldfares and finches feed on their berries. Beyond the hedge, to the west, thousands of trees have been planted by the Betchworth Estate in a significant woodland regeneration project. It will be interesting to watch the woodland mature in years to come. Further west, on a clear day, there is a good view of Leith Hill.
A25 Green Corridor t
The path runs towards the A25 whose tree and shrub-lined margins form an almost continuous east-west 'green corridor' through the 4Bs.
This corridor did not exist prior to the construction of the A25 in 1927. The green corridor connects two fragments of ancient woodland and intersects numerous hedgerows running north-south. It is an important ecological structure facilitating the movement of birds, insects and plants.
About 20m from the road the path crosses a dense thicket of blackthorn, field maple and bramble before traversing an uncultivated area of grasses and knapweed. The road itself is lined with tall ash trees, mature field maple, wild cherry, elder berry, hawthorn, buddleia, bramble and nettle.
