1. Devil's Punch Bowl
Legend says that the Devil lived at the "Devil's Jumps", near Churt. He would torment Thor, God of Thunder, who lived at Thor's Lie (Thursley), by jumping from hill to hill. Thor would try to strike the Devil with thunder and lightening and once the Devil retaliated by scooping up a handful of earth and hurling it at Thor. The depression that remained is the Devil's Punch Bowl.
2. St Martha's Church
The beautiful St Martha's Church is a listed grade II historic building. Perched on top of the hill on the North Downs Way National Trail, the building is only accessible by foot. It is the only church in Surrey to be on the Pilgrim's Way and featured briefly in the 1944 film A Canterbury Tale.
3. Hankley Common
Hankley Common is a 560-hectare nature reserve and was also used in the James Bond films The World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day and Skyfall. The sets depicted a pier in the Caspian Sea where James Bond was attacked by a helicopter saw, a chase scene through the Korean Demilitarized Zone on hovercraft, and as the site of James Bond's ancestral Scottish mansion respectively.
4. Gibbet Hill
In 1786 a sailor was brutally murdered by three men which he had befriended whilst walking from London to the docks in Portsmouth. Soon after the murder a stone was erected to mark the spot where the poor sailor met his death. The three villains were tried and then hung on Gibbet Hill, near the site of the murder, as a warning to other criminals. Gibbet Hill is the highest point along the Surrey Hills route!
5. And finally...
Great Strides 65 Surrey Hills takes place on 6 June 2020 - find out more about how you can take part, or choose from three more Great Strides events.
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