Chatley on-line: Chatley Heath Semaphore Tower and Surrey Impressions

Not really a mountaneering adventure, but a very varied and interesting walk within the London commuter belt in Surrey. Visit to the 200 years old ancestor of mobile phone antennas.

Start at 9.30am on a rather cold sunday morning winter day. -1C in Cobham, Surrey. Penny and I start walking along the brownish waters of River Molne.

After a few river bends one of the many serious looking fishermen approaches me: "Hello, have you got something to do with the Fishing Club?" Slightly puzzled I think: "Do I look like a freaking fisherman? (nb Mammut gloves, North Face jacket...). I answer, slightly disturbed: "no I don't ...". So the keen angler goes on:  "you know, this (nb the river banks..) is private property and your dog should be on a lead". I simply nod and keep walking.

It is amazing what happens when the wilderness is so scarce and people are everywhere: everyone tries to secure his own little private unspoilt haven to play their own hobby!
the anglers, the hikers, the bikers, the joggers...

I quickly rejoin the public footpath moving now across frozen grassland and rejoining a small road. We walk towards a buzzing persistent background noise: one does often not see a highway but can hear it from very far. We pass by The Lodge and the path bends left to cross the impressive M25 on a small bridge. On the other side the path climbs a small hill towards the Chatley Heath Semaphore Tower.

It really is the ancestor of mobile phone technology:  this is a unique signaling tower build in 1821 by the Royal Navy, before Telegraph was invented, as part of a network of 13 towers, each 8km apart, to relay messages from London Admirality to Porthsmouth Harbour. Long before GPS, navigators were relying on exact chronometers for route/position calculations and so the famous "one o'clock signal" was vital: it was generated in London and relayed via the Navy Semaphores in exactly 23 seconds to Porthsmouth Docks. This  elaborate system became obsolte in 1847 when signals were sent for the 1st time over the electrified telegraph lines along the newly built railway tracks.

The following walk around Ockham Common is like being in wasteland: extensive "thinning operations" a leaving a huge mess behind and this instantly reminds one of the ongoing global deforestation issue...
I pass by Hatchford Mausoleum, an example of a classical "Temple of Sleep" built in 1921 as a tomb. It is now abandoned.

Moving now out of the forest tha path now follows minor roads; I pass by several huge mansions and farms dispersed among the rolling Surrey hills.

At noon I am back at the strting point in Cobham and at the nearby 400-year old pub "The Plough". In front of the roaring fire I enjoy  the Beatles in the background and my Sunday Roast while reading the Sunday Telegraph.

What a good way to start a Sunday !