SWC Walk 113: Tenterden to Rye – Varied Landscape between Two Cinque Port Towns ending in Picturesque Rye t=swc.113
Distance: 13.4 Miles or 21.5 km for those more metrically minded
Difficulty: 5 out of 10
Train: Take the 9:29 AM Southeastern train from London Charing Cross (9:32 Waterloo East; 9:38 London Bridge) to Headcorn, arriving 10:33; then take bus route number 12, leaving opposite Headcorn Station (not the forecourt!) at 10:53, arriving at Tenterden at 11:17. Return trains from Rye are at 48 minutes past the hour (changing at Ashford for either slow or highspeed train). Buy a day return to Rye.
This walk covers varied ground from the low hills in the eastern High Weald to almost the sea, largely following the High Weald Landscape Trail. Starting in Tenterden, known as the “Jewel of the Weald”, the walk heads through a wooded valley with loads of wood anemones and then passes Chapel Down Winery (which offers tastings in its shop) on its way to the Isle of Oxney, an area of high ground which was once surrounded by the sea and rivers, before heading on into Rye perched up on a hill. On the way, you pass by Smallhythe Place, originally the harbormaster’s house when Small Hythe was a major port town before the River Rother changed course. You can find more information about the walk and download the walk instructions here.
The intended lunch pub -- the Swan Inn (01797-344444) in Wittersham has had periods of closure. However, it reportedly reopened in June 2022 but you would need to call ahead to check if it is serving food. Other options include the cafe at Smallhythe Place or as some of us did in Spring of 2022 after wine tasting at Chapel Down (at the time, 5 pounds per person for several tastes with a credit provided to the purchase of a bottle), enjoyed our picnics at their outdoor tables accompanied with a nice refreshing bottle of rose, I believe. Check with them before about picnicking on their grounds.
Tea and other late afternoon refreshments can be had at the Cock Inn in Peasmarsh. Rye also offers a variety of refreshment spots.
Enjoy the walk!
2 comments:
N=13 on this walk, a very creditable turnout given the train-plus-bus outward journey (which all worked fine). We decided from the get-go that the lunch pub was a non-starter (of which more anon…) so we lost a couple of people to sandwich shops in Tenterden. But they caught up later. In general there was “variable geometry” on this walk, people we lost track of reappearing, others never seen again after the first five minutes. I hope everyone had a nice day.
Someone nicked the promised weather. Instead of sunny and warm but windy, it was w=grey-and-later-a-bit-drizzly. Another “nul points” for BBC Weather. Most of the woods were invested in Battle of the Somme-style mud, at times with added fallen trees, like being on an SAS training course. Fortunately there were large field sections which were just a bit squelchy.
Some stopped to taste wine at Chapel Down. Others had picnics and tea at the well-hidden cafe at Smallhythe Place. (Some did both.) Two of us had tried ringing the Swan Inn in Wittersham the day before, but got a generic BT answering message. The pub’s Facebook page says nothing about food. So we gave it up for lost. When we got to it, it was open with a couple of locals at the bar. If that is all the business they want, good luck to them.
Spring is coming on like a truck. The wood anemones that should be a key feature of this walk were more than half over. Bluebells and wild garlic were more than half out. I saw other flowers I would not expect to see till mid month. None of this is good news from a climate change perspective.
In Peasmarsh my group split 3:3 between supermarket cafe and pub. But the cafe had closed at 4pm, 10 minutes earlier, so it was 6:0 for the pub in the end. Afterwards we set off to wade and plod towards Rye.
En route we saw a ewe that had just given birth, the afterbirth still hanging off her, the two bedraggled lambs wondering if being born was such a great idea. Most of the ewes we saw today were undelivered, however. Spring is early but lambs seem late.
Arriving in Rye we summoned our last ounce of energy to climb to the Ypres Arms - now only a drinks pub, but who was complaining? One or two stragglers caught us there, including one who had caught the bus from Peasmarsh. After discussing food options we opted to stink out the 7.48pm train with fish and chips. Many then caught the party train to London Bridge, while two abstemious types (all right, one abstemious type and me) gratefully sunk into the comfortable high speed to lovely St P.
I guess no one saw Paul McCartney who I understand is a Peasemarsh resident.
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