Getting out of London - Good dog walks?

I'm thinking of trying to get Cain out of the city for a nice long stroll in something resembling the countryside this weekend. I don't drive so would need to get him there on the train, avoiding going through Central London if possible. I do have Richmond train station near me where lots of mainline trains go through. So maybe something in Surrey? How rural is Surrey? I'm looking for a location with the walk quite near the station and hopefully with a dog friendly pub for lunch. Nothing too far away, don't want him on the train longer than an hour if possible.

Any thoughts?

Not sure if I'm around this weekend but if you fancy another weekend, I'm 20 minutes on the train, no changes, then a 20 minute walk to where I live (half of which you can go down a pretty quiet footpath between some horse grazing fields) and then you end up with a lovely meadow with long grass, a little lake, with a path that leads around to through two other grassy areas, under a train track onto the farm next to where I live. There's only a couple of horses & their foals in the fields that it leads on to and they stick together so you can take a wide route around them back onto the footpath, into more fields, then continue down the footpath past my house (you and Cain are welcome to take a drink pitstop) and head back towards town/the station. The local pub 5 minutes from the station has allowed Kiki before, or there's apparently one if you split off from the footpath in this meadow that's dog-friendly - haven't been there myself but think it's a 10 minuteish walk. If I remember/it's not too rainy, I'll grab my camera and walk the whole route so you can see what sort of terrain it is. This is one of the fields you can walk through - no cows in it at the moment (excuse the snow, I only ever seem to take photos of the views around us when it snows!)


Too many horses & cows to head through these one but just an idea of the area



The ground is all pretty smooth so the route's easy to walk with a long line if you're worried, I've walked Casper all around it with a long line when I first got him and couldn't let him off, and tend to put them both of lead for the meadow bit as there's sometimes deer in there (know there's a couple of baby ones around at the moment) but mine are fine off-lead around the farm fields. Then again, they're used to the horses and cows so don't bother chasing them, if Cain's not met many farm animals might be best to keep the longline on (though if the field in the first photo is empty, it's a pretty good field to test out recall with a trailing long line if you're feeling brave)

I could plot the route out if you fancied it anyway, even if I'm not about, but you'll have to stick to the footpath a bit more strictly incase the farmer's dad is about as he's a bit of a stroppy guy sometimes, he's still only just about warmed to us and there's always been various members of our family here over the past 20 years

have you done Richmond Park, Ham Common, Wimbledon Commons, Parliament Hill Fields and Hampstead Heath?

Thanks krylr, that looks gorgeous there. Love that field!!! What train station is it near?

Thanks C&D, have tried Richmonmd Park and Wimbledon Common. Lovely areas but so packed with dogs and dog walkers on the weekend I just want to try and find a place which is pretty quiet as, while I am desperately trying to socialise Cain, I need a break. I'd love one nice long rural-ish walk where we weren't bumping into strange dogs every few mins and I didn't have to constanly reel Cain in on a short lead. Couldn't find Ham Common, looked on Google maps? Will check otu the others on another day though, when I can face the masses lol!!!

I now have a vaguely ambitious idea of taking him to a beach. I originally thought Brighton but its an awful pebbly beach and is going to be ram packed with people. Any thougths of nice quiet-ish beaches on the South East coast? Sand would be nice, as would nearby cliffs for walking. Would need to be within walking distance of a train station. Dogs would obviously need to be allowed, however "on lead" seasonal restrictions are fine as Cain doesn't come off lead at the moment anyway.

Any ideas?!

I'll PM you details. Took Kiki over last night and got some photos, didn't get to resize and upload them all but here's a few of her in some of the fields. We were out for about an hour and didn't bump into one dog (or any deer). Just a few cows at the farm (farmer made me out to be a liar, got home after my post and he'd moved the cows back to the field I said they weren't in anymore!), however they were all bunched up and didn't mind us walking past.

Don`t go to Southend as the *%^$£" Councils has banned dogs from all beaches.
If you go to Leigh on Sea (C2C line from Fenchurch Street) you can get on the Coast path behind the station, and the walk takes you along the Estuary for miles. There is a cafe part-way along, and it`s very safe. You can see for miles so you can let even dog-aggressive dogs run because you`ve plenty of time to see people approaching. If the tide`s in your dog can swim. Let me know if you need more directions.

If you can get to West Humble which will take 1 hour and 6 minutes with 1 change from Richmond we could walk around Norbury Park. It's where I walk my boys every day and it's lovely.

http://www.go4awalk.com/userpics/deanwoodrow7.php

Crikey, all these options! Thanks guys I'm starting to think I may have left it a little late to plan for this weekend, plus Cain's extending lead is in need of repair which I haven't done yet. However I will look into all the options, see how to get there and definately have a go soon! Have to try and pick a coolish weekend or he'll melt on the trains. Ooh, I'm all excited now though. Enough to occupy us for a few weekends. Really, thank you

Hi ~ I live about 6 miles west of Brighton (Shoreham) near the sea. I definitely wouldn't recommend Brighton in the summer ~ too crowded & pebbly, non-dog friendly beaches.

However if you are able to get a train from Victoria to Brighton, then what about the train to Shoreham? There's a direct line from Victoria the same as the Brighton line but at Haywards Heath the train goes to Hove & misses out Brighton, then onto Shoreham. From Shoreham Station it's about 10 min walk to the River Adur estuary & you can walk all along the river banks on both sides. The river is tidal so at low tide there are sandbanks & reed beds (my dogs love running through the reeds ). There are lots of dog friendly pubs in Shoreham, many with gardens.

You can walk from the river mouth inland for about 6 miles to Bramber where there's a pub (The King's Head) with a garden backing onto the river bank & direct access to the garden. It does good food but can get a bit busy on warm weekends. There are 2 other pubs a lot nearer if you didn't fancy a 12 mile round walk though. The fields on either side of the river are livestock free but some contain lots of rabbits ~ a great source of fun for my dogs!

Also if it's low tide, the beach at Shoreham is sandy & you can walk for miles along the sand (to Worthing if you want to!) but the beaches are pebbly at high tide. It's obviously a lot busier at weekends & when the weather's warm.

If you are interested I can PM you more details & a map?

Worthing/Shoreham/Goring-by-Sea are great, but only when the tide is out so you get sand (otherwise it is mainly pebbles - boring). Does tend to get busy though on weekends and sunny days. During weekdays it is nearly always nice and quiet. With the tide out you can see all around you including people coming from quite a distance away, so you'd probably be fine letting Cain off lead. Only problem is you would require a change or two on the trains and the station(s) are still a little way from the beach, so perhaps better for an over-night stay than a day trip.