Day Walk – Devil’s Punchbowl and Hankley Common

Saturday 7th November 2026

An interesting and scenic walk in Surrey for a change for an early winter’s Saturday. Visit the Devil’s Punchbowl and Hankley Common - the location for Bond’s Skyfall estate and WWII training grounds - before finishing on the spooky summit of Gibbet Hill.

This walk will start and end from the National Trust facilities at Hindhead Common, starting out along the lip of the Devil’s Punch Bowl, now free of traffic after the A3 tunneling works, initially heading north along Beacon Hill. Descending, we will come to the Army training ground of Hankley Common where we can try to spot where Skyfall was located and the remnants of the Atlantic Wall that Canadian sappers practiced their demolition skills on prior to D-Day. Looping round we’ll pick up the Greensand Way and climb back up the other side of the Punch Bowl to the viewpoint on the summit of Gibbet Hill. From there it is a short walk back to the NT’s cafe and car park.

The walk is about 15km or 9 miles long, contains 300m of climbing, and should take around 5 – 5½ hours with some stops. It is likely that some mud will be encountered although there is a lot of sandy soil in the area. Walking should be generally easy on footpaths, bridleways and by-ways and there are multiple options for adjustment if we need to shorten it.

Access is easiest by car, but collection can easily be arranged from Haslemere station as I will be passing directly by it.

Please let me know if you intend to join this walk and also let the me know if

• you are planning to drive and are able to offer a lift to people.
• you would like to join the walk but would need a lift.

Link to route: https://explore.osmaps.com/route/33508008/hhmc-hindhead-and-hankley-walk-7-november?lat=51.14119&lon=-0.75046&zoom=12.7696&style=TopoAuto&type=2d

On google maps: https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=18iLOumjYjKRuapbam2DlUMz9lAe9H5Y&usp=sharing

Download .gpx file: https://highdownhmc.org.uk/routes/HHMCHindheadandHankleyWalk7November.zip