The Devil's Punch Bowl and the sea of sand - 7.5 miles hilly

http://photos3.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/6/c/0/4/event_255027652.jpegWe explored the countryside West of the Devil's Punch Bowl back in May, and we are now returning to the Bowl to explore North towards the vast sandy expanse of Rushmoor.
This countryside is mostly beautiful sandy heathland with mixed woodland, and we will see a lot more of the Bowl itself than we did in May. Most of the return leg is along the Greensand Way. Near the end we will pass over the (in)famous Gibbet Hill, scene of an 18th century murder and its gruesome retribution.

The walk is a bit unusual as the first half will be one big gentle downhill, and obviously the return leg will be one steady climb back onto the Bowl, but is otherwise fairly easy.

We start and end at the Punch Bowl Café, operated by the National Trust, where you can have an early lunch. There is the Three Horseshoes Pub in Thursley, where we could drop in for a drink, depending on the size of the group, but the plan is to have good picnic break on Rushmoor half-way through the walk, so please take plenty of food and water to last the walk. The walk should last at least 3.5 hours.

As we hope to have warm sunny weather, please bring sun cream as some of the paths are exposed without shade.

Parking: you can park in the National Trust car park, which charges about £3, however there is free parking in nearby streets such as Tower Road.

Dogs are very welcome on the walk.
£2 for meetup costs.