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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 30 January 2016

Leigh to Turnbridge Wells, omitting Smart's Hill

T=1.15.a Length: 14.9km (9.3m)
Toughness: 4/10
Transport: Take the 9:15 from London Charing Cross, change at Tonbridge to arrive at Leigh at 10:23
There are frequent trains back to London from Turnbridge Wells.

This is a pleasant walk through Kentish countryside entering the charming village of Penshurst through the grounds of Penshurst Palace. For this shorter version of the walk the recommended lunch stop is in Penshurst and not on top of Smart's Hill before the walk continues along the river Medway. Be aware that lunch is quite early and 2/3 of the walk are after lunch. There are various places for tea in the Pantiles in Turnbridge Wells.

Walk directions can be found here.

Update: It was pointed out to me that the walk before lunch is very short and arrival time in Penshurst will be about 11:15, too early for lunch. I would like to keep the train time, though and offer these options:
  • Do the full walk up to Smart's Hill for lunch.
  • Do the shortcut but have lunch in the George & Dragon in Speldhurst. A small detour along Barden Road is required for this.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I haven't been to the George and Dragon in Speldhurst for ages but it was always a favourite of mine
http://www.speldhurst.com/
Speldhurst Hill, Speldhurst, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN3 0NN | T: 01892 863125

Anonymous said...

You could get the 09.39 from Victoria direct arriving at Leigh at 10.34 if that makes sense and I have understood the train times properly

Anonymous said...

Oh yes i have always loved the George and Dragon in Spedhurst too altho9 hardly ever eaten there jfk

Anonymous said...

I'll be arriving a bit later on the at 10.34 via East Croydon and will catch the group up later.

Anonymous said...

Leigh to Tunbridge Wells, omitting Smart's Hill
N=18 or 25 depending on who you spoke to and whether you counted just the first train load or guessed the total with the second train crowd added in
14 had lunch in the George and Dragon and it was very good though not cheap but with very good waitress service
Weather was w=glorious_sunshine and pleasantly warm all day with NO RAIN WHATSOEVER
Also some debate on how muddy it was, some said it was atrocious whilst others said it wasn't too bad
Okay the mud wasn't too bad but fording streams that don't normally exist made for damp socks
Some saw lambs but I didn't
Loads of other wildlife including badger, deer, foxes but all stuffed except the badger which was road kill
Daffs and snow drops abound around and blossom was blossoming in some trees
Tea in The Pantiles was okay but nowt to write home about - I need to choose a different tea room next time - the one that we 6 went to was the only one with seats inside
Obviously the locals know the good tea rooms but unfortunately they fill them up and leave no room for the muddy blowins
This change to the route and lunch stop at the George and Dragon is defiantly a good move
all the best
Sunni Daye