Ascent/Descent:
485/456m
Net
Walking Time: 6 hours
Toughness:
7 out of 10
Take
the 09.22 Canterbury West train from
Victoria (Bromley South 09.39),
arrives Hollingbourne 10.29.
Return trains from Charing are on xx.47. Buy a Charing return.
Return trains from Charing are on xx.47. Buy a Charing return.
SWC
1 comes in two versions, both short: from Lenham, one leads south to Charing,
and the other leads north to Hollingbourne. So why not make a proper walk of it
by combining the two? Walk
the start of the walk from Hollingbourne to where the two routes split map-led
(or read the written directions in reverse) and then pick up the Lenham to
Charing write-up where the routes meet.
A
large section of the walk is to the north side of the North Downs Way and passes
along some little used footpaths, making for a tranquil walk. Its attractions
include the pretty hamlet of Stalisfield Green and the historic village of
Charing for tea. Shorter Walk: finish
at Lenham Station.
Lunch: Blacksmith Arms
in Wormshill (8.3 km/5.2 mi, no food),
Ringlestone Inn in Ringlestone (9.7 km/6.0 mi, food), Harrow Inn (Hotel) in Warren Street (17.1 km/10.6 mi, food to
14.00). Tea: Mulberry’s Tea Room and The Oak (which may or may not now be a Costa Coffee).
1 comment:
N=16 w=overcast-till-lunch-drizzle-for-most-of-afternoon
16 off the train from London. One Rambler who missed the train for her intended walk with the Blackheath Ramblers took the initiative to approach one of our number in Victoria, found out we were doing a similar length walk and joined for her first SWC experience.
Nicely undulating in the morning with a couple of good ascents. Some nice views. Plenty of mud, so quite hard work. On the upside, used lots of muscles that don’t get a work out very often... Map led until lunch, so a few navigational mishaps.
8 had lunch at the very quirky Ringlestone Inn where the food was slow to arrive. The picnickers didn’t spend too long outside as the drizzle had started to come down just as we reached the pub. The slow arrival of the food was explained by an incident in the kitchen (said incident didn’t delay food service to the locals who arrived and ordered after our group).
Us picnickers moved on. More arable fields in the afternoon, but like the morning, with clearly defined paths. Some nice wooded areas. Two of us stopped at the Plough Inn about 5km from the end and found it to be a lovely pub with friendly pleasant staff. 2 of the lunchers caught us up. The rest of the lunch group took various routes to Lenham as they’d had enough of the mud. 4 of us got to Charing Station with a comfortable 5 minute wait for the train, meeting the picnickers who had eschewed the Plough Inn with the hope of refreshment in Charing. What they got was a 50-minute wait at the station as despite its size Charing, is devoid of any refreshment stop at 17:00 on a Saturday. 17:47 train to Victoria. Good day out. Would be interested in doing this walk again on a dry sunny day when the views could be better appreciated.
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