SWC Walk 337: East Malling to Maidstone, Yalding, Beltring
or Paddock Wood t=swc.337
Distance: About 11.7 miles or 19.0 km for those more metrically minded to finish in Maidstone (with various options to shorten) and slightly shorter to finish in Yalding.
About 14 or 17 miles (23 or 25 km)
respectively to finish in Beltring or Paddock Wood
Difficulty: 3 out of 10
Train: Take the 9:25
AM Ramsgate train from London Victoria
(stopping at Bromley South 9:42), arriving at East Malling at 10:20. Return
trains from Maidstone East are at 59 past the hour; Yalding at 12 and 47 past
the hour; Beltring at 15 and 44 past the hour and Paddock Wood on the hour and
19 minutes past. Buy a day return to Maidstone or Beltring or Paddock Wood
(depending on how far you plan to explore).
This walk starts by passes through some orchards before
descending towards the Medway passing an interesting Medieval manor house. It also passes by 4 interesting bridges
displaying fine examples of Medieval workmanship. The main routes continues
into Maidstone; however, for those of an adventurous spirit, I would propose that
we pick up the afternoon instructions of the Yalding Circular at West Farleigh
(the location of the recommended lunch stop on both walks). The route back to
Yalding is slightly shorter than going to Maidstone – but offers an exploratory
extension to either Beltring or Paddock Wood – eyeing the map, it looks like an
alternate route to Beltring exists that passes by a different pub in
Laddingford and avoids the family park and busy road crossing mentioned in the
instructions. You can find more information about the walks and download the
walk instructions here and here.
The recommended lunch venue is the Tickled Trout
in West Farleigh which appears to offer outdoor dining. Both endings of the walk will undoubtedly
have some al fresco post walk refreshment options.
It is expected to walk in groups of no more than six and provide contact details. To facilitate the collection of contact details, please pre-register for this walk on the "events" page at https://www.lwug.co.uk/. You will need to first sign-on and possibly register if you have not previously registered on the site.
If you test positive for COVID within a week of attending this walk, please contact me by emailing {remove the AAA} AAAcovid@lwug.co.uk, a private dedicated COVID reporting email address.
Enjoy the walk!
1 comment:
Seven assembled on the platform at East Malling under w=cloudy-skies-soon-followed-by-a-torrential-downpour. A late starter caught up with us while we were exploring the Nettlestead churchyard, making for n=8 on this relaxing Sunday outing. Fortunately, the initial downpour did not last too long and we enjoyed some brighter spells during the morning route through various orchards -- some with blossom but many now into full leaf. A real surprise in the morning was a vast display of bluebells looking very fine in Cattering Wood. The route then descends to follow the Medway for a spell before lunch. Along this stretch we encountered some newly arrived foals -- looking all legs....Some intel gathered on the train indicated that the pub had plenty of space in their garden, so rather than trying to picnic in another deluge from the heavens, all enjoyed a pub lunch trying to squeeze under the umbrellas on their tables....It was one of the longest and most steady downpours, I have ever encountered in this country.....and a slightly surreal experience to spend an hour eating a fine roast lunch under a slightly small umbrella in the midst of such steady rain....but at least we had an umbrella and were not actually walking or picnicking during this time.....
Over lunch options were discussed, including a train station in East Fairleigh....However, towards the end of the meal, the rain lightened a bit and two set off for Yalding while the rest carried on to Maidstone. The route to Yalding was pleasant with nice views on the descent from the Greensand Ridge. In Yalding, we had a late afternoon "tea stop" at the pub on the river under a much more substantial canopy and light shower. We then decided to walk along to Beltring along a quiet and rural stretch of the Medway with some sunny spells. For research purposes, we diverted to the pub in Laddingford which is a 15 minute walk from the delightfully remote Beltring station (about 800 meters of which is on a reasonably quiet road).
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