Chilham Circular - including a quirky new lunch pub

15.4km (9.6 miles) T=swc.138

9.34 train from Charing Cross (9.37 Waterloo East, 9.43 London Bridge) to Chilham, arriving 11.08

OR

10.04 Southeastern High Speed train from St Pancras to Ashford, arriving 10.42, changing there to the above train at 10.56.

For walk directions click here, for GPX click here, for a map of the route click here. 

After a period of closure, the lunch pub on this walk, the Compasses in Sole Street, has been reopened by the people behind the Timber Batts pub (formerly an alternative lunch pub option on the Wye Circular). A menu of burgers (including vegan ones), pies and ribs is offered in a quirky atmosphere. It is only open for lunch at weekends, so I thought it might be fun to check it out.

The walk itself includes a gentle climb up onto the downs through field and wood in the morning, then a section of downland ridge in the afternoon, with fine views, before descending to Godmersham, where you can see the estate that is featured on the back of the £10 note (for its Jane Austen connections).

The last section into Chilham is on a quiet lane, perfectly doable in the dusk or dark if necessary. There is a new tea room in Chilham, the Church Mouse, but it shuts cruelly early at 4pm. However, the nearby White Horse pub will be open for drinks either hot or cold (and possibly desserts: its website is unclear about food times).

Leave about 20 minutes to get from the village to Chilham station, since there is nowhere nice to wait if you miss the trains, which leave hourly at 15 past, taking 1hr 36 to Charing Cross. If you have paid the high speed supplement, you can save 33 minutes on the homeward journey by changing at Ashford (arrive 28 past, leave 40 past) for St Pancras

.