IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Crabtree Lane, DORKING, RH5 6BQ

The houses nestle in a heavily wooded landscape.

Six Mile Bottom, an informal (and misleading) name for the bridleway along the foot of Norbury Park, skirting the fields of Swanworth Farm, here seen just short of its southerly junction with Crabtree Lane and the south carriage drive to Norbury Park. To the right is a short cut across to the carriage drive and up Crabtree Lane towards Crabtree Lane car park.

looking north-west

This footbridge carries the footpath over the old course of the River Mole (see Image). In the distance you can see the railway bridge and footbridge (see also Image) that cross the River Mole proper.

This is the old course of the River Mole, now only an oxbow lake connected to the river at one end. It's not marked on the modern OS Explorer or Landranger maps, but can clearly be seen on the 1873 map at http://www.old-maps.co.uk/ , and also shows up well on GoogleEarth.

Quite late on this overcast day the sun broke through, lighting up this hillside - though not for long. Down the slope, the nearest buildings are at Chapel Hill Farm. Across the Mole Valley, Box Hill has yet to catch the sun - and the area beyond, towards Gatwick, looks very gloomy.

I saw very few sheep around Norbury Park on this bitterly cold day. These two trotted off as I approached, and huddled in the shelter of a thicket. This loop of old river-bed was once the course of the River Mole - the frozen body of water is an abandoned meander, a feature not as often seen on Geograph as might be expected. 'Abandoned' isn't quite the right word - left alone, I don't think the river would have left its old bed; most likely it was evicted by men with shovels, at some time in the last two hundred years. The present course of the River Mole lies behind the camera, and the water was flowing fairly fast, following recent snow.

Looking towards Norbury Park (the white building on the skyline) from near Westhumble. The crescent of trees in the middle distance is a former meander of the River Mole.

Norbury Park (the white building on the skyline) is a grade II* mansion built in 1774 by William Locke. For listing particulars see www.historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1228829. Seen here from near Westhumble, with a former meander of the River Mole on the right.

Water is a scarce resource on the chalk grasslands of the North Downs. The footpath up the hillside follows the fence.