Length: 21.2 km (13.2 mi)
Ascent/Descent: 454/365m
Net Walking Time: ca. 5 ¼ hours
Toughness: 6 out of 10
Take the 09.04 Hastings train from Charing Cross (W’loo
East 09.07, LBG 09.13, Sevenoaks 09.37 etc.), change at Paddock Wood (09.53/10.03)
onto the Strood train, arrives Yalding 10.10.
Fast return trains: xx.17, xx.29, xx.47
and xx.59
This walk follows the Greensand Way all the way from Yalding to Sevenoaks. The route is fairly well waymarked.
Initially: woods, a couple of commercial apple and undulating Kent farmland. The Greensand Way then climbs up to the moated manor house of Ightham Mote to then slowly further up the escarpment. The final stretch is across the grounds of Knole House.
Lunch: The
Swan on the Green in West Peckham (5.7 km, food 12.00 to 14.00, this
is scheduled to re-open after a renovation the night before), The
Kentish Rifleman in Dunks Green (9.9 km, food to 15.00) and The Chaser Inn in Shipbourne (12.0
km, food to 15.00).
Tea: cafés in Ightham Mote and Knole House; cafés,
restaurants and pubs in Sevenoaks.
For walk directions, maps, height profiles, photos and gpx/kml files click here. T=swc.41
4 comments:
Suggest pub lunch? Doesn't normally concern me. But is a renovation the night before not rather putting Saturday in jeopardy? Just thought I would share that concern!
Austen
Re-opened 17.30 tonight, as per their website.
We were joined by a few new walkers on this outing, who immediately demonstrated both impressive stamina and commendable competence in adverse conditions. Any lingering doubts about their suitability were firmly buried somewhere beneath several inches of mud. A most excellent addition to the club.
We were eleven at the designated station, with no additions along the way.
The weather was glorious: sunshine, a gentle breeze, blue skies, with outer layers being taken off quickly. Sadly, the delights overhead were swiftly cancelled out by the realities underfoot. The mud was rich, velvety, sticky, and generously deep, with occasional streams running underneath. .
We struggled gamely up several muddy inclines, and with every turn hoped - vainly - that the next path might offer some respite. Only upon reaching Knole Park were we spared the worst of the mire, though by then the damage to boots and dignity had been done.
Any misery underfoot was more than compensated by lively conversation, which helped carry us through what was, overall, a vigorous walk. Climbing a steep muddy hill is not for the faint-hearted, and I am confident we met, if not exceeded, our weekly, possibly bi-weekly, quota for elevated heart rates.
We stayed together for the most part until lunch, when six of us stopped to eat at The Chaser Inn, while the remaining five, having eaten earlier or preferring ecclesiastical picnicking, pressed on. The pub was impressively efficient: prices reasonable, food delicious, drinks just right. Highly recommended for future walks (preferably drier ones).
Later, at the end of a particularly appalling hill, we caught up with one of the sandwich eaters. No shortcut goes unpunished, should we say. Or hill climbing ambition with sore muscles later. We reached Knolle House around 4pm, too late for a well-deserved tea at the café. We briefly considered a cafe in Sevenoaks but instead opted sensibly for the train. A few of us caught the 16:47 to London Bridge, which was pleasingly swift; the sandwich eaters probably escaped even earlier.
All in all, a wonderful outing: excellent company, invigorating exercise, and enough mud to remember it by.
N=11
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