12.4 miles / 20 km - Main Walk
(Both loops of this walk can be shortened to give a total walk of 9.4 miles. You can also finish a few miles early at Otford, or after lunch at Shoreham).
If you missed the evening walk last week, here is another chance to catch the lavender fields at Castle Farm (if there's no lavender left in the fields, you can find it in the shop).
The morning (northern) loop takes in both Lullingstone Park and Castle Farm, before heading back to Shoreham for lunch. The afternoon (southern) loop heads down to Otford, from where you can return along the valley, or take a more energetic route through wooded hills back to Shoreham.
Lunch: Shoreham has several eating places: The Crown (01959-522903) is at the northern end of the High Street, the King's Arms (01959-523100) is in the centre of the village, nearby is The Mount Vineyard (01959-524008) with a restaurant serving pizzas and sharing boards; and near the church is The Samuel Palmer (07508-440027), an up-market pub/restaurant replacing Ye Olde George Inn.
Tea: As well as the above, there are a couple of tea shops in Shoreham High Street and one at the Aircraft Museum. Otford also has a choice of tea shops and pubs.
2 comments:
As of Thursday afternoon this week the lavender is all still there, you will be pleased to hear. The place smells like a National Trust gift shop….
N=7 hardy types defied rail strike and dismal weather forecast to venture forth on this walk (two admittedly coming by car). W=The-rain-held-off-in-the-morning and we enjoyed a fine circuit up onto the downs, with abundant wildflowers (marjoram, basil, thyme, carrot - a positive salad bowl…) and possibly the last two yellowhammers I will hear this year.
On the Lullingstone golf course two of us….we don’t use the L word in these reports, do we?, but let’s say we took liberties with the stated route. We passed the lavender fields, still in glorious flower, and not sure if we were ahead of or behind the others, took up residence in the Crown Inn in Shoreham and sent out (electronic) emissaries.
The rest turned up in due course and we all enjoyed a pleasant lunch, not cordon bleu but served in a very friendly manner. Three of us even had puddings.
One announced she was ending the walk here. The rest of us set off through Shoreham village in the drizzle. Once we got onto the downland it started to rain with more enthusiasm and we “trousered up”.
Soon after, three announced they were going back to Shoreham. Three of us carried on over Fackenden Down, usually a glorious butterfly site - but alas not so in the rain.
Approaching Otford, the other two were pulling away, and not wanting to hold them back (nothing to do with the now relentless rain, you understand…), I left them to do the rest of the southern loop and went in search of tea. Alas, the Hospices of Hope had closed early and the other two cafes were also shut. I got tea in the Bull, where I wrote the first draft of this report in the midst of a massive social event that seemed to involve the whole population of Kent bellowing at each other, and then went for the 16.59 train.
This passed without incident, though not without sundry youth blasting the contents of their social media feeds at me. I presume the early finishers got the 16.02 from Shoreham and hope the non-car driving southern looper got the 18.02, the last train.
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