Length: 18 km (11.2 miles). Toughness: 2/10
Trains: Get the 1004 from Charing Cross (London Bridge 1013), arriving Paddock Wood at 1053. Buy a return to Yalding (or Wateringbury if you might want to extend the walk: see below). Trains back from Yalding are xx:12, xx42, changing at Paddock Wood.
"This is an easy walk in the Medway valley, with a large chunk of it alongside the river. The afternoon is a loop out through Yalding village to Hunton, returning to the same places at Twyford Bridge for tea. You could then get to Yalding station via the main road but a slightly longer alternative route would take you through a community orchard.
Optional Extension: If it's a nice day you could carry on alongside the Medway to Wateringbury station, an extra 40 minutes or so.
Lunch/Tea: There are two popular refreshment places on the banks of the River Medway at Twyford Bridge, after 6¾ km. The Boathouse pub (01622-814359) is on the north bank, opposite the “bistro-style café” on Teapot Island. These are the suggested lunch and tea stops respectively, but you could choose to have a light lunch in the café.
T=swc.338
3 comments:
Sadly a notice on The Boathouse's website says that the pub is closed this weekend for planned maintenance. Google confirms that two former pubs in Yalding village (the George and the Walnut Tree) have both closed so it looks like the café on Teapot Island is the only place available for refreshments.
Thanks Sean. Apologies for not checking
The late announcement of a closed lunch pub is a good way of discouraging walkers and not surprisingly only four teetotallers alighted from the train at Paddock Wood. In typical fashion they were joined on Teapot Island by a notorious late starter who'd decided at the last minute to do the second part of the walk. In theory that would make n=5 on a w=muggy-but-dry day, but two soon slipped away and only three completed the circuit.
The Boathouse pub was fenced off with no sign at all of the 'planned maintenance' supposedly happening this weekend. Not a good sign. And a little research revealed that Teapot Island has been on the market for a year but with no takers so far. The owners are keeping the café open until October but it might not survive into next year. Needless to say they're doing their best to discourage customers by closing at 4pm and so we had a tea-free as well as a beer-free day.
The focal point of this walk is very much the riverside pub and café at Twyford Bridge and if these both go there won't be much to commend it.
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