T= swc.78 Length: Main walk: 16.5km (10.3 miles) with options to shorten or lengthen..
Difficulty: 4 out of 10
This walk starts from a lonely station and wends its way through remote valleys, woods and tiny settlements in the undulating landscape of the High Weald. It descends into the Eden Valley for refreshment stops in the beautiful villages of Penshurst and Chiddingstone, before ending in Hever. Each of these three villages has an interesting church which is worth visiting, as well as a popular historic house open to the public.
Trains: Catch the 10.07 Uckfield train from London Bridge (East Croydon 10.22), arriving Cowden 10.53. Return trains from Hever run hourly at XX.05.
Buy a return to Cowden.
Lunch: In Penshurst village, after about 7 km the Leicester Arms Hotel (01892-871617) is suggested for a pub lunch. The Porcupine Pantry at the entrance to Penshurst Place serves sandwiches, baguettes, hot and cold drinks. Later in the walk, at Chiddingstone, the Castle Inn is another option. It reopened earlier this year.
Tea: The Tulip Tree tea room up a cobbled street (01892-870326) in Chiddingstone just before the Castle gates. There is also a tea room in the grounds of Chiddingstone castle
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1 comment:
N=7 turned out despite the dire forecast, hoping that it wouldn't be as bad as predicted but prepared with full waterproofs, a couple of umbrellas and one serious poncho. Paths were good despite recent heavy rain and even those covered in a couple of inches of water were firm underneath. The weather was w=bright-and-humid-to-midday-changing-to-persistent-heavy-rain. Three decided to cut out the loop to Penshurst and followed a lane directly to Chiddingstone where the church porch offered shelter for lunch after which they went to the Tulip Tree tea rooms for hot drinks and cake. While there, the sky cleared and the sun came out. We carried on towards Hever and were caught up by the Penshurst 4 who had picnicked but not dallied for additional refreshments there. The wind rose in the afternoon and dried our outer layers. We made it to Hever without further significant rain. One went for a drink in the pub there, six went straight to the station. All caught the slightly delayed 16.05 train.
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