Length 17.2 km (10.7 miles), 3/10
I thought it was time to try this recommended walk, not far from London. It's a completely different route through the Kent countryside from the one ending in Sole Street a month ago, with "brief glimpses into the past" along the way with a characterful lunch pub.
Travel: 0942 from Victoria (Denmark Hill 0952, Bromley South 1006), arriving 1021. Return trains at hourly 32 past the hour. Get a return to Sole Street.
Lunch: The Ship Inn, Southfleet, Tel. 01474 833238, looks worth a visit. It is 9.5km (about 6 miles) into the walk. It's a 13th century building made from the timbers of a ship that ran aground in the river Fleet!
Tea: The Railway Inn, Sole Street is just next to the station and makes a good place to wait if you've just missed a train back.
Slightly shorter option: it's possible to finish the walk at Meopham (don't turn left with the Weald Way 270m after Nash Street, but go straight on past Nurstead Court and reverse of the start of walk 173 Meopham-Rochester) saving 1km. Trains depart Meopham 3 minutes after Sole Street.
For walk directions, map and GPX click here
T=swc.207
3 comments:
There's an extra return train at 17:02
A whopping #24 turned out for this walk on a #sunny day. Everyone seemed to find the walk much more scenic than the website description suggests, but it's definitely the walk for you if you like pylons!
About half the group lunched at the Ship, which got a good report. Nearly all the others dropped in for coffee or a beer after having our sandwiches at various sunny spots in the churchyard. The group I was with got a bit confused after lunch and found ourselves at the Manor Farm Barn by accident. Several popped into the farm shop there. Apparently we missed the gruesome sight of many "dead" mannequins piled up on the other side of a fence on the path we should have taken - had they been making a zombie film?
On along some more tarmac-heavy sections until we were rewarded with a very beautiful final section along the Weald Way. My group got to Sole Street about 10 minutes before the 1532 train. There we met an advance party who had had time for a pint at the Railway Inn, and more and more walkers streamed on to the platform as the train approached, so I think most of the group made that train. Thanks for a great day.
The walk notes need some serious revision including paragraph numbers and the elimination of two pubs one of which is closed and boarded up and the Wheatsheaf is a private house.The Ship is the recommended lunch stop and has an excellent menu at all price points, a beautiful conservatory restaurant and excellent service. I can recommend the prawn ms in red pesto with pappardelle pasta and it was well worth booking our table of 10 to sit together in comfort and convivial company for group cohesion.
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