SWC 236: Ashurst to Eridge
T=swc.236
Train: Take the 10:07 Uckfield line from London Bridge, arriving Ashurst at 10:57. Return trains are hourly at 50 minutes past the hour. Buy a day return to Eridge.
Distance: 11.3 miles/19km
Difficulty: 4 out 0f 10
This walk covers completely different ground (except for the pub at the end) to that covered on the walk recently ending in Eridge. It passes by Groombridge Place which is usually awash with daffodils at this time year....
From a remote station this walk climbs up the low hills between the River Medway and Tunbridge Wells. A gently undulating route along field edges, country lanes and wooded valleys takes you to the village of Speldhurst, where the parish church of St Mary the Virgin contains a set of notable pre-Raphaelite stained glass windows.
After a lunch stop in the village's 16thC inn the walk loops back through more wooded valleys and fields, skirts around Langton Green and descends into the hamlet of Old Groombridge. It continues past Groombridge Place, a beautiful Jacobean manor house surrounded by a medieval moat before eventually arriving at Eridge. More information on the walk and instructions can be found here.
Lunch is at the highly-rated George & Dragon (01892-338549) in Speldhurst, after 7 km. Tea can be had in Groombridge and post walk drinks at the vey pleasant Huntsman -- a stone throw's from Eridge Station!
Enjoy the walk!
2 comments:
How is the mud forecast looking like for this one?
N=9 alighted from the appointed train at Eridge -- after train doors failed to open at Ashurst -- making for a slightly awkward start! Not wanting to miss out on either the fine pub in Speldhurst or the always entrancing Huntsman....a swift decision was made to reverse the walk to Speldhurst and then circle back to Eridge using some of the alternate routes. We lost one early on to lunch in Groomsbridge -- but collected him later on our return....after lunch, 2 continued the reverse walk to Ashurst where one took the train back to Eridge to meet the others for drinks before catching the 6:50. Aside from a couple of super gloppy patches on enclosed paths, the mud was mostly manageable -- define signs of evaporation! The daffs were glorious and we were treated to some early wood anemones....Conditions were w=surprisingly-sunny.
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