Length: 13.5 km (8.4 miles)
Toughness: 5 out of 10 Some modest inclines
London Victoria: 10-42 hrs SouthEastern service to Gillingham Bromley South: 11-05 hrs
Arrive Sole Street: 11-31 hrs
Return: 02 mins and 32 mins past the hour
After last Wednesday's mudfest, I am hoping conditions under foot will be better today - but being January, I make no promises...............
With the permanent closure of the lunch pub - The Amazon & Tiger, in Harvel - this pleasant circular walk is now a picnic walk, stopping for lunch in the pretty hamlet of Harvel, so please bring along provisions for your lunch. If the weather is inclement today you might prefer to do the walk in one go, without stopping for lunch, and taking refreshments at walk-end at the Railway Inn in Sole Street (the pub you pass fifteen minutes earlier in the village of Luddesdown - the Cock Inn - does not open until 4 pm.)
As for the walk, much of it is along the Weald Way through a mixture of farmland and woods, with several ups and downs but nothing knowingly strenuous.
T=2.17
Walk Directions are here: L=2.17
6 comments:
Yes, sad loss of The Amazon and Tiger😭😭😭
I am relieved to say I do not believe I need to extend an apology this week (as was called for last week) for the muddy conditions on the day - to the n=18 who attended today's walk. Yes - there was mud, and some woodland paths were tricky, but on the whole, given the time of year, the mud was manageable for most of us on today's walk.
Our walk started in w=lovely-sunshine-turning-overcast-with-drizzly-rain-at-lunchtime-then-improving-later. In fact, we enjoyed sunshine again, in glorious light, as we climbed up from Luddesdown cricket ground before dropping down to Henley Street. Before that, at the start of the walk, we all went off piste - careless or what ! Some opted to continue on the walk "wrong way round" or clockwise, leaving the rest of us to fudge our way to regain the correct route.
Views were lovely today, and I was surprised to observe since I last did this walk some three and a half years ago, that so many fields which were previously meadows, had recently been turned into vineyards - many hundreds of hectares of vines. Whilst the previous meadows were environmentally nice, I guess the current use is more productive and economic for the farmers or land owners.
My small group of four arrived in Harvel for our lunch stop at about 1-30 pm, to find the clockwise walkers sitting on one of the benches overlooking the village pond and already enjoying their picnics. The four of us occupied two further benches and counted in 16 of our entourage as they arrived in relays. The last 2 eventually checked in after most of us had moved on.
Our afternoon was equally enjoyable, particularly when the sun returned, as we enjoyed more fine views along the walk route. Arriving back in Sole Street, some 10 of us enjoyed refreshments in the Railway Inn, where the jolly landlord and landlady made us most welcome. The 16-32 hrs train arrived on time to speed us back to London.
Finding mud-manageable walks to post for our SWC Wednesday walkers is proving challenging for your mid-week walk poster - and he now needs a bit of assistance as he struggles to come up with ideas. So, if anyone would like to suggest a walk which might be suitable for us, please e-mail me at marcusDOTperryATbtinternetDOTcom - removing the usual. Criteria - a proper, pukka gen country walk, mostly flat (no steep hills), sea views or good water features, max forty minutes train journey from London, no traffic noise, gourmet lunch pub (if not choice of two) absolutely NO MUDDY PATHS, length circa 8 miles, chic tea cafe at walk-end which doesn't close at tea time, and so on. There you go ! !
Many thanks !
@Marcus. You forgot a cafe near the start, preferably with nice terrace, for the drivers to wait in case of delayed trains :)
Sorry Andrew - how remiss of me: of course a posh cafe at the start for you car drivers is (another) must.
https://www.kentonline.co.uk/medway/news/plans-revealed-for-revolutionary-winery-designed-by-wemble-249044/
The area we saw covered in vines looks to me like about 1 sq km (about 250 acres). Denbies says it is 265 acres and the vineyard north of Seaford is 230 but aiming to reach 350. So if this one is going to extend all the way to Cuxton, it will be easily the biggest vineyard in the south east.
However . . .
https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2021/12/locals-thwart-billionaires-plans-for-britains-biggest-winery/
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