Trains: slightly complicated...
- The quickest option (though involving a supplement and no boundary zone 6 concessions) is to take the 10.20 Southeastern High Speed train from St Pancras to Strood, arriving 10.54. You then connect to the 11.03 Medway Valley line train to Aylesford, arriving 11.19
There are also two non-high speed options:
- The (Rainham-bound) Thameslink train from St Pancras (9.32), Farringdon (9.37), London Bridge (9.48). Greenwich (9.57) or Abbey Wood (10.16) to Strood, arriving 10.59. Note that this gives you just 4 minutes to change at Strood to the 11.03 train to Aylesford. This hould be no trouble if the Thameslink train is on time: you just dip down into the subway and up onto the next platform. If not, you have a half hour wait for the next Aylesford train.
- The 9.31 train from Charing Cross (9.34 Waterloo East, 9.40 London Bridge) to Maidstone East, arriving 10.33. You then have a short walk to Maidstone Barracks station for the 11.02 train to Aylesford, arriving 11.07 - so 12 minutes earlier than the rest of the group.
Buy a day return to Maidstone stations (with high speed upgrade if applicable) unless you are sure you are going to do the circular walk (and are not travelling outward via Maidstone), in which case a day return to Aylesford is apparently slightly cheaper.
This walk has only been done twice, and not since the pandemic. In January 2020 it made a nice winter walk, with a pleasant start along the river, the pretty village of Aylesford, and a climb up to fine downland views in the early afternoon. It has to be admitted that there is also a stretch alongside a motorway - a trademark of this particular walk author - but beyond that you come to the intriguing Kitty-Kat House (Kit's Coty House - Ed), the remains of an ancient burial chamber - "Kent's Stonehenge".
There are (hopefully) two possible pubs for lunch, one more upmarket, the other more traditional. Both still seem to have functioning websites...
At the end of the walk there is a choice of walking along the river back into Aylesford or the other way into Maidstone.
Trains back from Aylesford are at 07 past to Strood, arriving at 24 past. High speed trains then depart at at 35 past, getting you to St Pancras in 33 minutes, or 1 hour after leaving Aylesford.
Non-high speed passengers can get the above train to Strood and then the 45 past Thameslink train, which takes 1hr 12 minutes to London Bridge. But it is actually eight minutes quicker to London Bridge to get the 19 past train in the other direction from Aylesford to Paddock Wood, changing there (arrive 50 past, depart 58 past) for a train to London Bridge and Charing Cross via Tonbridge.
Trains back from Maidstone East are at 13 past to London Bridge (55 mins) and Charing Cross (66 mins), 27 past to Victoria (59 mins)
6 comments:
Or, for a simple alternative, take the 09:25 from Charing Cross (London Bridge 10:33) to Paddock Wood, arriving 10:20, and cross the platform for the 10:30 Paddock Wood to Strood service, arriving Aylesford at 11:07.
The high speed train option seems to cost £16 with rail card against £8.70 from Swanley or Abbey Wood travel route options. There are no trains at all from suburban West London into Waterloo so I’m opting for the Elizabeth line to Abbey Wood all being well!! for the Strood train and onward to Aylesford.
N=16 on this walk - 5 on the high speed train, 3 on Thameslink, 5 via Paddock Wood, 2 by car, and one starting from Halling because he did not think the walk long enough.
The Halling starter apart (we met him later), we all set off along the river (woodland snowdrops here) to Aylesford village, where we inspected the church (it has a nice organ and that is about it). From there to lunch we crossed a vineyard and arable fields, and saw a paper recycling mill.
There was discussion about whether to stop at the Butcher’s Block or other pubs. The Block seemed full and to have a rather fancy dress code, but six managed to squeeze in. Warned that the Windmill was not doing food, seven of us made the steep climb to the Robin Hood, who were very welcoming. Five of us lunched there: the other two evaporated and were never seen again.
My Robin Hood chums inveigled me into having pudding, and then all but one announced they were getting in their cars and going home. I could not entirely blame them as the weather had become disappointingly w=drizzly. Two of us continued alone and only belatedly realised we had missed the best bit of the walk - a downland section along a ridge.
We will draw a veil over the walk alongside a dual carriageway that followed - not the finest stretch on the SWC walks. At the end of it we came across five other walkers who had kindly waited for us at Kit’s Coty House. From there we descended - with one final encounter with the dual carriageway - to a park that was once a zoo and had snowdrops in it. Also the first cherry plum blossom I have seen this year.
The last section of this walk I recall as a pleasant stroll along a river. But the river path is now blocked part way and one is decanted onto a rather industrial main road. After this, Aylesford looked a bit drab in the grey fading light, and it did not help that the Chequers was entirely laid for dinner, and seemed a bit unsure whether they wanted drinks custom. But they had a heated terrace overlooking the river that was not too bad, where we had tea, coffee and wine. We then got the 18.49 to Maidstone Barracks and the 19.13 from Maidstone East to Charing Cross (a new Southeastern service, only introduced in December), fortified with “supplies“.
In fact, four other arrivals at the Robin Hood were not allowed to eat our sandwiches outside the pub. Evaporation might have been an option, but instead we walked on to the bleak and wind-blasted viewpoint about a km further along the North Downs Way. Then down to Kit's Coty which we stopped to admire in the drizzle; through the park (probably not following the route exactly) as the weather brightened; and on to Aylesford, where some of the group (not me, I was behind) met the car party who had been having a look at the Priory. We caught the 1637 to Strood and then divided between different trains to London.
The Butchers Block kindly squeezed in 6 walkers and the food was excellent and swiftly served at prices no more than any other pub today. Needless to say the ambiance and decor were upscale but no dress code enforcement prevailed as I sat in my boots on a wooden floor. Given the lack of food at the Windmill I really must recommend booking lunches especially on a Saturday to avoid the uncertainty of pub lunch availability. A quick show of hands at the station and a phone call is all it takes to know if you’re going to get fed!! Some of us don’t have the time or energy to shop for picnic food and need to sit down in the warm to rest at lunch time.
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