Sunday walk: Wye to Chilham

17.7 km (11 miles). Toughness 7 out of 10 (but the afternoon is mostly downhill)

This walk, an amalgam of two walk halves, goes high up on the Crundale Downs with breathtaking views, then past an isolated Norman church before stopping at a 15th C inn for lunch. There, you swap walks, following the escarpment (good place for a picnic), descending to Godmersham Park and, finally, visiting the picturesque village of Chilham with its teashop and two pubs. 

Shortly after Wye's Memorial Crown, you may catch an impressive display of flowering wild garlic as you descend through Collyerhill Wood. 

The Wye and Chilham circulars went out of favour for a few years, when the lunch pub stopped accepting walk-in trade, but, thankfully, it has changed hands. 

Trains:

• Either 09:34 Ramsgate train from Charing Cross (London Bridge 9:43) , arriving Wye 11:02, Cheapest.

• or: 10:04 Dover Priory High Speed train from St Pancras (Stratford Int. 10:12) and change at Ashford (arr 10:43 dep 10:56) onto the same Ramsgate train (Platform 5). Costs more.

• Trains back from Chilham are at xx:15. High speed passengers change at Ashford for the xx:40 back to St P.

• Get a return to Chilham.

Directions:

• For the morning you follow CW1.53 Wye Circular to point 26 (the Compasses Inn).

• For the afternoon you follow SWC.138 Chilham Circular from point 38 

• Some years ago, a kindly walk elf used magic walk-glue to splice the two written segments together. They are unlikely to have been updated since – but are available here, on a secret page, known only to walk elves. 

•  GPX files are available separately on the two walk pages. Follow Wye anticlockwise and Chilham clockwise.   

• If you forget what you're doing and find yourself back in Wye, there are half-hourly trains to Charing Cross, connecting with HS1 at Ashford.

Lunch  The Timber Batts at the Compasses, Sole Street, (01227) 531898 booking advised.

Tea :  

The White Horse, open till 10, or the Woolpack open till 7. Both in Chilham.

There is also a tea room, the Church Mouse, open till 5.

 Allow 20 mins to get from the village to the station. Nothing nearby.