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This Week's Walks - Archive

Please see the Saturday Walker's Club This Week's Walks page.

This is an archive of walks done by the Saturday Walker's Club. You should only need to use this page if the SWC website is down.

Saturday 15 August 2015

Saturday First Walk Book 1 Walk 15 Leigh to Tunbridge Wells

Book 1 Walk 15 : Leigh to Tunbridge Wells
18.9km (11.7 miles) or 15km
5 out of 10.
Explorer 147 or Landranger 188

OS map here

Take the 9.45am from London Bridge Station to Leigh (Kent), going via East Croydon at 10.00 and Redhill at 10.18 arriving at 10.43
4 trains per hour back direct to London
Buy a day return to Tunbridge Wells.

The route of this walk is through a landscape of great beauty, confirming the description of Kent as the Garden of England. It proceeds through the grounds of Penshurst Place, with fine views of the house, taking in a truly pastoral landscape of rivers, lakes, woods and rolling hills; and passes through the lovely village of Penshurst. The walk then makes its way along the River Medway and into historic Royal Tunbridge Wells, through woods and parks which extend right into the heart of the town. The suggested tea place is in the colonnaded Pantiles about 15 minutes walk from the station..


The suggested lunchtime stop is the Spotted Dog ( http://www.spotteddogpub.co.uk/   tel 01892 870 253) at Smart's Hill, after a third of the walk. This is a large and very popular pub with good food, log fires for the winter and a superb view across the Medway Valley to Swaylands and Penshurst. You will arrive here about 90 minutes after leaving the station.
Food is served from midday to 3pm
Nearby is another large and popular pub, the Bottle House Inn ( http://www.thebottlehouseinnpenshurst.co.uk/   tel 01892 870 306).
Alternatively, for late starters, the Leicester Arms (  http://www.theleicesterarmshotel.com/  tel 01892 870 551) in Penshurst serves à la carte and bar meals all day.

There are several tearooms in the Pantiles, some with outdoor seating. Some of the restaurants and wine bars here also serve excellent cream teas in the afternoon, such as Woods Restaurant & Wine bar at no.62 (tel 01892 614 411). Cafés include Just for You at no.42 (tel 01892 539 652), The Picnic Basket at 26-28 (tel 01892 527 690) and Gastronomia G. at no 7 (tel 01892 618 281). Alternatively, there are several pubs and snack bars near the station. A five-minute walk past the station up Mount Pleasant Road will bring you to The Opera House, a splendid building which more recently was a cinema and bingo hall, and is now a JD Wetherspoon pub.
Lots more info here
http://www.walkingclub.org.uk/book_1/walk_15/index.shtml

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Give the Pantiles a miss and a little further on you'll find the high street with it's cafes and very nice cakes.

Karen said...

Book
1 Walk 15 : Leigh to Tunbridge Wells
Distance: 18.9km (11.7 miles) 5/10
n=8, w=sunny-warm

Very nice walk with unexpectedly good weather. 5 had a good lunch at the Spotted Dog, seated outside with lovely views across the countryside. 3 picnicked nearby.

One of the highlights of the afternoon was an encounter with some friendly piglets that were grazing in a field alongside some sheep. Lots of fields of cows to traverse also. Walk was surprisingly tiring as there are many long, slow climbs and descents.

Arrived Tunbridge Wells not long after 4. 6 eschewed the tearooms on the Pantiles and instead had very good tea and cake at Juliets on the high street. I left the others after tea as they made their way to the station, and I took a walk around the town, making the 17:39 train.