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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 6 August 2016

Saturday Second Walk - a little known corner of the North Downs

SWC Walk 173 - Cuxton to Halling
Length: 18km (11.2 miles)
Toughness: 6 out of 10

9.55 Southeastern High Speed from St Pancras International to Strood, arriving 10.27, changing there (down under the underpass to the opposite platform usually) there for the 10.34 to Cuxton, arriving 10.38

ALTERNATIVELY, the 9.09 from Charing Cross (9.12 Waterloo East, 9.27 Lewisham) to Strood arrives at 10.19 and connects more comfortably with the Cuxton train.

Get a day return to Halling (pronounced "Hauling")

For walk directions click here.

This varied Kentish walk has not had an outing for two years, as far as I can see. It revisits territory familiar from the Snodland to Sole Street and Cuxton to Sole Street walks, but with plenty of surprises and twists all of its own.

Attractions include a reserve managed by the charity Plantlife, which may have some interesting flowers, a neo-classican mausoleum, and the pretty valley of Luddesdown, with its organic farm.

Lunch is in the village of Cobham, where you can choose between the Leather Bottle, with its somewhat slight connection with Dickens (it gets a very brief mention in Pickwick Papers) or the less touristy Ship Inn and Darnley Arms.

In the afternoon the standard walk descends to the river Medway at Halling and there is an optional loop through marshes along the river (again, interesting flora may be present). Or you can talk an alternative ending back to Cuxton, which is slightly shorter.

In both cases your tea stop will be a fairly rough and ready pub. The one in Halling I remember as friendly but a bit stuck in the 1970s.

Trains back from Halling are at 18 and 48 past (22 and 52 from Cuxton) with connections at Strood getting you to St Pancras in about 50 minutes or Charing Cross in 1hr 25 minutes


4 comments:

Terry Wogan said...

Will I need my sun lucky hat??

Terry Wogan said...

Or lucky sun hat!

Terry Wogan said...

Train delays, missed connections, stuck on platform, we all are 30min behind you, I think my old hat need a good old washing!!

Ian T said...

N=11 Most arrived 30 minutes late thanks to the HS1 leaving St P 6 minutes late (no driver!) and missing the connection by 1 minute, despite it having been asked to wait. 2 got there on time on the Charing X train. It were a tough walk on such a w=hot-sunny day. Lots of up and down bits (I’m sure there were more ups than downs). Still, mustn’t grumble. Good views etc