Seven free guided walks at Painshill and Claremont between October and December, booking required. Plus Christmas Day and Boxing Day walks and 10 bike rides.
Elmbridge Borough Council has published its free walks programme for October to December. It includes seven guided walks inside two landscape gardens that normally charge for entry: Painshill Park in Cobham and Claremont in Esher.
Those garden walks must be booked in advance. Every other walk on the programme is free and you just turn up.
The council announced the autumn season on 21 September. The dates below come from the council’s October to December programme, a 40-page PDF.
The garden walks you need to book
| Date | Garden | Time | Pace |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat 10 Oct | Painshill Park, Cobham | 10.30am to 12pm | Slow, slopes |
| Thu 15 Oct | Painshill Park, Cobham | 11am to 12.15pm | Slow, slopes |
| Mon 19 Oct | Claremont, Esher | 11am to 11.45am | Slow, flat |
| Mon 2 Nov | Claremont, Esher | 11am to 11.45am | Slow, flat |
| Sat 14 Nov | Painshill Park, Cobham | 10.30am to 12pm | Slow, slopes |
| Sat 12 Dec | Painshill Park, Cobham | 10.30am to 12pm | Slow, slopes |
| Mon 14 Dec | Claremont, Esher | 11am to 11.45am | Slow, flat |
The Painshill walks meet in the Painshill Park car park (KT11 1AA). The Claremont walks meet in the car park near the toilets on Portsmouth Road, Esher (KT10 9JG).
Two Nordic walks also go round Painshill, on Thursday 26 November and Thursday 31 December, both 2pm to 3.30pm. You need your own poles, and they also need booking.
Claremont is run by the National Trust. Its own admission prices are £14 for an adult without Gift Aid, or £15.40 with it. National Trust members already get in free.
How to book
The programme says places are booked through the council’s online walk booking form, which stays open until 24 hours before each walk. You can also email health@elmbridge.gov.uk or ring the sport and health team on 01372 474574.
The council’s landscaped garden walks page still said on 28 September that online booking for October to December was “coming soon”. If the form is not live when you try, use the email address. The council says those emails are read between 9am and 3pm, Tuesday to Thursday. For a Saturday walk, send your request by 3pm on the Thursday before.
Christmas and Boxing Day
Two festive walks close the year:
- Christmas Day, 11am to 11.45am: the “Merry Meander”, a slow walk from Lakewood car park on Portsmouth Road, Cobham (KT11 1BG). Arrive 15 minutes early for festive nibbles.
- Boxing Day, 11am to 1pm: a slow, flat walk from Sadlers Ride car park in East Molesey (KT8 1ST) to Hampton Court for a hot drink.
Neither needs booking.
Three local history walks
Three walks this season stop along the way to explain local history. All three are slow and flat and run from 10.30am to 12pm:
- Thursday 22 October: The Old Village, East Molesey. Meet at Walton Road car park, KT8 0ST.
- Friday 20 November: Molesey Cemetery. Meet at St Peter’s Church, Walton Road, West Molesey, KT8 2HF.
- Friday 18 December: Sport on the Hurst. Meet at the river end of Graburn Way, East Molesey, KT8 9AL.
The weekly walks
These run all season from the same spot:
| When | Walk | Meeting point |
|---|---|---|
| Every Monday, 11.30am | All-inclusive 1km walk or wheel | Outside Xcel Leisure Complex, Walton |
| Every Tuesday, 10.30am | Molesey Circular | Council car park, Walton Road, East Molesey |
| Every Wednesday, 10.30am | Around Walton-on-Thames | Walton Community Centre, Manor Road |
| Every Friday, 10.30am | Thames Path to Molesey Lock | Riverside Pantry, Molesey Cricket Club, Graburn Way |
| First Thursday, 10.30am | Woods and Commons | Sandy Lane car park, Oxshott |
| Last Monday, 10.30am | “Lucky Dip” country walk | Claygate Centre for the Community, Elm Road |
The Monday walk or wheel is a 1km route with three benches on the way. The council’s page for it says it suits people with limited mobility, a long-term condition, sight or hearing loss, or mental health problems. You can stop at 100m and wait on a bench for the group to come back. It does not run on bank holidays, so there is none on 28 December.
The Wednesday Walton walk starts at the Walton Community Centre, which reopens as the Walton Community Hub on Tuesday 29 September.
There are also longer country walks further afield, including Bushy Park, Mickleham Downs, Westhumble and Shere, and a free-entry walk round Hampton Court Gardens, just over the river from East Molesey, on Saturday 10 October.
Ten free bike rides
The same programme lists ten Monday cycle rides between 5 October and 21 December. They follow towpaths and cycle lanes at a gentle pace, with a café stop halfway. Most start from Sadlers Ride car park in East Molesey and run 12 to 16 miles, for example to Kingston and Richmond or to Lower Sunbury through Bushy Park. There is no ride on 28 December.
You need a bike in working order and should arrive 10 minutes early on your first ride to fill in a registration form.
What it means for you
- All of it is free, with no Ramblers membership needed. Some meeting points use pay car parks, which the programme marks with a £ sign.
- Book the Painshill and Claremont walks. They are the only ones on the council’s list that need it, apart from the partner walks run by Princess Alice Hospice and the Mary Frances Trust, which book through those charities.
- Check before you set off. The council posts any cancellations at elmbridge.gov.uk/wellbeingwalks.
- If you keep coming, the council asks you to register free through the Ramblers Wellbeing Walks sign-up, choosing “Ramblers Wellbeing Walks Elmbridge” as your group.
For more to do across the borough this season, see our things to do in Elmbridge page.
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