Hackhurst and White Downs
Hackhurst and White Downs is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in the heart of Surrey in England.
Features
Selected as the devoid of farmland southern slopes of more than 3 square miles (7.8 km2) of a wide part of the escarpment, which in turn stretches for 9 miles (14 km) this is a mixed tree-type woodland on the chalk escarpment[1] centrally traversed its whole length by the North Downs Way.[2]
The area occupies the northern extremes of Shere and Abinger and narrowly touches the southern ends of the parishes of East Horsley and Effingham. Crossed by paths, for instant access small car parks are by one precipitous and winding road that crosses north-south and another runs east-west just north of the top of the escarpment on a lower part of the escarpment. Nevertheless the climbing paths and slopes to the south are steep and integral to its panoramas and tree diversity.
Human use
The National Trust maintain most of the SSSI ensuring biodiversity and putting wood to good use in woodcraft, building timber and other uses. The area is extremely well marked in Ordnance Survey maps for hiking which connects to the centre of Shere and the small car parks are well mapped in the latter 20th century editions of maps onwards. The sharp hairpin means that only one edition of the London-Surrey cycle classic has used the road over the range of hills here and BMX riders tend to have more signed areas in the denser concentration of paths to the west of this area instead.[3]
References
External links
Coordinates: 51°13′48″N 0°24′06″W / 51.2299°N 0.4018°W