Hever to Dormans
Undulating walk through unpsoilt countryside, passing 3 historic manor houses and climbing to an iron-age hillfort.
Length: Main walk 16.1 km (10.0 miles). Shorter option starting from Cowden reduces the distance by 3km (1.9m).
Difficulty: 4 out of 10
Trains: Take the 9.51 East Grinstead train from London Victoria (CJ 9:58, East Croydon 10:09) Change at Hurst Green 10:37 to catch the 10:41 Uckfield train to Hever, arriving 10:51.
Cowden is one stop beyond Hever.
The train arrives there at 10.55.
Return trains from Dormans are at xx:16 and xx:46, journey time 56 minutes to London Victoria.
Buy a day return to Hever (or Cowden if you're starting there) and a single from Dormans to Hurst Green for the return journey.
Lunch: The Fountain Cowden 01342 850528 6.0 km (3.8 miles) from Hever. There are no refreshment opportunities after this pub so ring to book if you wish to eat there or bring a packed lunch.
Tea can be had at Old House at Home pub on the western side of Dormansland just off the route. It is 0.8km (0.5mile) from the station.
For walk directions, map and GPS click here
T=swc.362
12 comments:
Specified train is showing on National Rail website as cancelled. At least six of us will take the one an hour later.
There is one at 10:21.
Have to wait for the connection, but might be a nicer place to wait.
At least one at clapham junction also waiting for the next train
Also getting 10.21 This train goes to Dormans and we could start from there and do the walk in reverse.
Might be at least one walker coming from Ashurst to hever
Good plan @Wanderer. Will do that too.
Will be good for our map reading skills!
Trains back from Hever to Hurst Green at :07.
Some are starting from Dormans at 11.13, others are going to start from Hever at 11.51.
With the posted train cancelled, six took the 10.21 train to Dormans and six planned to take the 10.51 Hever train having booked lunch at the pub in Cowden. One or two others were believed to be travelling by car but were not contactable due to poor phone signals and were not encountered by the Dormans starters so the provisional number is n=12. Doing the route in reverse, the Dormans starters relied mainly on GPX which was sometimes misleading but we didn't go too far wrong. The path started next to the train station building but was concealed by parked cars. It took us through some attractive woodland alive with birdsong before reaching the residential area of Dormansland and the Old House at Home pub. We continued through fields and woods, passing Matthew's bug house which has expanded to provide a bug cafe and COVID isolation hut. We saw the various manor houses and trespassed on the farmhouse at Crippenden due to the GPX taking us the wrong way. We are our sandwiches in a field sitting on some planks stacked at bench height on one side. No sign of the Cowden starters. Perhaps they were still in the pub when we passed Cowden village. Or was the 10.51 train cancelled too? Hopefully they'll report on their day. Two caught the 16.07 from Hever, three may have gone to the pub in Markbeech and one dallied, hoping a late started might catch up. W=a_cloudy_morning_with_sun_breaking_through_in_the_afternoon. Autumn colours starting to show in the woods.
n=15, including 3 who, unaware of the train problems, arrived by car at Hever intending to meet the group and those who did indeed reach Hever on the later train.
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