TOUGHNESS 2/10
This short walk in Kent was the New Year’s Day walk on its first outing in 2019
TEAPOT ISLAND has closed permanently and its record breaking collection of teapots is now in Dorset.
The overall shortness of the walk gives you a choice of two slightly upmarket pubs at lunchtime or back in Yalding if you’ve got the munchies.
TRAINS Take the 10.04 DOVER PRIORY train from CHARING CROSS, calling at WATERLOO EAST 10.07, LONDON BRIDGE 10.13 reaching PADDOCK WOOD AT 10.53
Change at 11.03 and arrive at YALDING 11.10
Return trains are half hourly .12 and .41
Buy a YALDING return.
EXTENSION The walk can be extended by 8km to BELTRING or even further to PADDOCK WOOD, both of which stations are on the return journey.
T=swc.320
L=swc.320
3 comments:
I’ll be there tomorrow with my pup! See you!
I didn’t count as I did not plan to do the walk report, but around n=15 maybe on this walk? Plus a dog, who had an amusing fear of kissing gates. Despite a slight train delay, we made our connection at Paddock Wood.
Mostly it was w=yet-another-cold-sunny-day. There was a bit more cloud later, but we won’t mention that. The ground was icy in places, needing care at times. Two people I was with slipped over, thankfully without injury.
The morning of the walk was very pleasant and undemanding, following the Medway. Once we left the riverbank and a tediously busy road, two of us went the wrong way for a while. But the reward (for me at least) was a very clear view of a flock of linnets and chaffinches on alder trees. Plus a - sadly rather rare these days - mistle thrush singing.
Seven or eight of us went to the lunch pub - again I didn’t count. I thought the £20 I paid for a few tubes of pasta was a bit steep, but someone who had the pie reported good portions. None of the sandwichers came in for a drink so we never saw them again.
The afternoon descent to Yalding was short, on a bridleway somewhat tricky in places due to the ice. But it meant five of us got to the village tea room before it closed at 4pm. Once we had found an alternative to a closed footbridge onto Teapot Island and done the final loop to the station, the sun was setting, so we felt we had adequately filled the day. We got the 4.41 train.
N=18 plus Luna the dog.
We were disappointed to find the Boathouse closed, but cheered up by a statement from Shepherd Neame saying they hope to reopen it early in February.
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