Length: 20.3 (12.6 miles). For a shorter option of 12.6km (7.8 miles), see end of post T=swc.79
9.50 train from Victoria (9.57 Clapham Junction, 10.10 East Croydon) to Hurst Green, arriving 10.34
But a day return to Penshurst
Bluebells started very early this year and were at their best last week. Will they be on the fade this week? But even if they are going over, this walk provides lots of spring delights and fine views throughout. We might even hear a cuckoo (a man can dream….)
Notes on the route:
1) Yes, the book two version of Hurst Green to Chiddingstone Causeway was posted on a Sunday a couple of weeks ago, but only one walker was reported to have turned up and this walk takes a different route for its first two-thirds.
2) To start the walk, follow the Hurst Green start of SWC walk 79 - Edenbridge to Westerham and stay on it for 8 miles to the Cock Inn in Ide Hill.
3) There switch to the book 2, walk 16 Hurst Green to Chiddingstone Causeway walk and follow this to its end (= Penshurst station)
Lunch is possible after 5.8 mile at the National Trust cafe at Chartwell - some hot food items. For a pub lunch the Cock Inn in Ide Hill after 8 miles is popular and busy, but serves food until 3pm (and from 5pm…), so it might be an idea to arrive a bit after the main rush. A nice alternative used to be the Ide Hill community shop and cafe, but sadly this now shuts at 2.30pm on Saturdays.
At the end of the walk the Little Brown Jug is a lovely rural pub with an idyllic garden, just across the road from Penshurst station.
Trains back from Penshurst are at 22 past eastbound, changing at Tonbridge to go to London Bridge and Charing Cross (59 minutes total journey time).....
.....or 09 past westbound via Redhill (last train at 18.09), changing there for Victoria (1hr 10 mins total journey time), calling at East Croydon en route. (Redhill is also on Thameslink, but it is quicker to go via Tonbridge to London Bridge)
Those wanting a shorter walk, though it misses out the Ide Hill pub and the best of the bluebells, could do the morning walk as far as Chartwell for lunch and then switch to the shorter ending of SWC walk 79 to Westerham. In total this is 12.6km (7.8 miles). London Transport bus number 246 runs from Westerham to Bromley South with standard TFL bus fares & oyster, contactless and passes valid. If doing this option, a single to Hurst Green is all you need.
1 comment:
26 off the specified train, but it transpired that a canny 10 had noticed that there was a train from London Bridge that arrived a few minutes later. So N=36 in all.
The group was never all together in one place. As is traditional, many streaked off, and those of us of more modest pace picked up scattered travellers from the second train as we went along. I gather quite a few did get to eat at the Cock Inn, though it stopped serving at 2pm due to a function. The group I was with met some leaving the Cock Inn when we arrived, but they, I think, had failed to get food. I also saw a gaggle of walkers crossing the road to the station when I got to the Little Brown Jugg at 6.15pm. But otherwise, as I predicted to the assembled company at Hurst Green, I never saw most of them after the first five minutes of the walk.
It was evident early in the walk that the bluebells were on the fade, though they still put up a reasonable show. Luckily there were plenty of other spring signs to see. A couple of swallows mid-morning. Small amounts of wild garlic in full flower. Butterflies including holly blue and orange tip. And towards the end of the walk several of us did indeed hear a cuckoo.
This walk has had a little re-jig since it last had an outing, due to the uncertain status of a track which turned out not to be a right of way. It was nice to see the GPX-watchers take the new route up Mariner’s Hill without turning a hair. Views from the top were so good that a few of us stopped to have sandwiches. We then agreed we might as well stop for tea at Chartwell too. I took my little party on a back route affording an aerial view of the house.
We met a fair few others in the National Trust cafe and had a nice second lunch outside In the w=glorious-sunshine. We then ambled along the lovely walk to Ide Hill. There a drink of a more alcoholic nature seemed in order - or, as it turned out, two. We did not leave until nearly 4pm.
Down across the fields - this section seemed much longer than I remembered - eventually arriving at the Little Brown Jug at 6.15. We met another walker there and five of us had dinner in the pub garden as the sun declined, getting the 7.22 train to Tonbridge.
Post a Comment