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This Week's Walks - Archive

Please see the Saturday Walker's Club This Week's Walks page.

This is an archive of walks done by the Saturday Walker's Club. You should only need to use this page if the SWC website is down.

Saturday 10 June 2017

Cowden to Hever - a Kentish castles walk

SWC walk 78 - Cowden to Hever
Length: 16.5km (10.3 miles) with options to lengthen or shorten
Toughness: 4 out of 10

10.08 train from London Bridge (10.23 East Croydon) to Cowden, arriving 10.53

Buy a day return to Cowden

For walk directions click here

There is lots of historical interest on this walk, and plenty of gentle ups and downs, wood and pasture. The walk directions contain two possible short cuts - missing out either Penshurst or Chiddingstone - and a longer option of finishing back at Cowden.

The most obvious lunch stop is the Leicester Arms in Penshurst and you might want to spend the afternoon visiting Penshurst Place with its Elizabethan Garden (used in filming Wolf Hall: bus 231/233 goes from Penshurst to Edenbridge at 17.10 and 18.09: it takes 25 minutes and serves a stop close to Edenbridge Town station, from where your Cowden return is valid to London).

Or you can cut out Penshurst altogether and lunch at the newly reopened Castle Inn in Chiddingstone. Sadly the adjacent Chiddingstone Castle is not open on Saturdays, but on this 13km/8 mile version of the walk you might have time and energy to fit in a visit to wonderful Hever Castle, childhood home of Anne Boleyn, towards the end.

If you have not had lunch at Chiddingstone, the Tulip Tree tea room there is recommended - gorgeous cakes. Otherwise, there is a pub in Hever and one on the Cowden extension too.

Trains back are at 01 past from Cowden, serving Hever at 05 past.
T=3.78

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

n=40 on this walk with w=glorious-sunny-weather-with-an-occasional-breeze making it perfect weather for this walk with open stretches and shady woods.
Lots of us arrived at the Leicester Arms around the same time and they handled the influx of something like 25 of us with aplomb ( just looked it up to see if it was the right word and it is - self-confidence or assurance, especially when in a demanding situation ), courtesy, enthusiasm, efficiency and friendliness - hats off to the staff and I will pop up a note on trip advisor for them as well.
One day all pubs will be this good.
Other than that there is little to report as as far as I know the walk went off without incident ( well much like most of our walks really ).
Good views, gentle hills and occasional loud voices about recent political developments.
Swift halves, a glass or two of wine, tea / coffee and cake ( dessert really ) at the Henry VIII about 20 minutes before the station topped off the day nicely for about 20 of us.
Generalismo Ovaeata