Book 1 Walk 36 - Borough Green to Sevenoaks
Length: 15 km (9.3 miles)
Toughness: 4 out of 10
London Victoria: 10-25 hrs Southeastern service to Ramsgate Bromley South 10-42 hrs
Arrive Borough Green: 11-10 hrs
Return
Sevenoaks to London Charing Cross: 7 trains an hour
Rail ticket a day return to Borough Green & Wrotham works at Sevenoaks railway station, although you will need assistance to pass through its barriers
Leaving Borough Green you walk through the town before heading down enclosed paths to the pretty hamlet of Basted, with its ponds. You now head along a number of bridleways which can be muddy. Onwards then through apple orchards and along tracks to the village of Plaxtol, where a visit to its Cromwellian church is recommended. You now walk over the grassy fields in the Fairlawne Estate. Shortly before leaving it, at a cross paths, it's decision time. For a pub lunch you take the route in the Directions to Shipbourne and the Chaser Inn. Otherwise, the main walk heads for the National Trust property, Ightham Mote, where you stop for lunch at its very acceptable cafeteria.
After lunch the main walk continues up bridleways and at times on the Greensand Way to a Lavender Farm, before you drop down to cross fields before heading along tracks and paths which dip in and out of woodland. You eventually come out almost opposite Sevenoaks Preparatory School. You now walk down the side of its playing fields to a woodland path which takes you to a deer protection gate, an entrance to Knole Park. You now enjoy a walk through this park to Knole House. Here you can stop at its Brewhouse Tearoom - if still open - for an early tea. Otherwise, your tea options are in Sevenoaks which you reach after leaving the park through another deer protection gate.
In Sevenoaks High Street you find the usual suspect coffee shops plus Bills and a number of pubs, You have a bit of a hike from the High Street downhill to Sevenoaks Railway Station, served by regular Southeastern trains to London Charing Cross.
T=1.36
Walk Directions are here: L=1.36
2 comments:
n=13 off the train for today's walk. It was w=cold-and-overcast-in-the-morning-then-lovely-and-sunny-from-lunchtime-onwards, and a couple of degrees C warmer: it was one of those scarf, hat and gloves sort of days, but once we were walking we all soon warmed up. No wind today. Some mud but not as bad as I was expecting on the bridleways between Basted and Plaxtol. No-one opted for the detour to Shipbourne for a pub lunch and instead all in the group headed for Ightham Mote, where half of us dined and some of our sandwichers joined us for a warming cuppa. There was a bit of a queue to be served but we all managed to find seats in the very busy cafeteria. The food on offer did its job to provide us with sustenance for the afternoon leg of the walk. Amongst our fellow diners was a SWC Saturday regular with her own walking group, another 13 in number, and it was nice to exchange pleasantries with her: they were doing a Sevenoaks Circular walk - possibly following our SWC extra walk directions, or a variation of it.
I stayed behind as our group, post prandial, made ready to leave: I wanted to visit the NT shop, which I duly did, and purchased some very nice stocking filler presents for my great nieces and nephews.
The afternoon leg, in the sunshine, was delightful - this walk seldom disappoints, whatever the weather. There was still some leaves on beech and oak trees, a lovely yellow to orange colour, adding to the lovely colour on the path floor.
I'm not sure if the faster walkers stopped for tea in Knole Park or Sevenoaks, but I caught up with four in our group in Knole Park at the same time as our SWC walker with her own walking group appeared, and we mixed and matched up the path as we all exited it and entered Sevenoaks.
The SWC walkers all headed for the railway station and whilst I stopped for a cuppa in the station foyer my companions caught one of the regular fast trains to Charing Cross. I followed them on the next fast train leaving Sevenoaks.
A proper cold winter's day walk, latterly in lovely sunshine. More please.
Addendum - correction: I have just remembered our SWC colleague was not leading her own walking group / club but a branch of U3a - if not, something similar.
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