Backup Only

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.

Sunday 9 April 2017

Sunday walk: Kent's Low Weald - a haunted jaunt

Pluckley Circular
Book 2 walk 21 (with longer options online).
Difficulty 1 out of 10 (I'd say 2 or 3 for the longer versions)
Length 7.2, 9.2 or 11.2 miles (11.5, 14.7, or 18 km)

The land around Pluckley, in Kent's Low Weald, was owned by one family for 900 years. Their distinctive Dering windows and black horse symbol can still be seen on many of the buildings. The "Darling Buds of May” TV series was filmed in the area and the walk passes the original author's house.
After lunch, two optional loops extend the basic walk to a more respectable length.
I'm not going to bore you by banging on about Pluckley’s many ghosts. Perish the thought.
Trains
Get the 09:42 Ashford International train from Victoria (Bromley South 10:00, Orpington 10:07) arriving Pluckley 10:54.
Return trains at xx:37 to Victoria. Get a return to Pluckley.
(Wealthier walkers could take the 9:42 High Speed HS1 to Ashford International  from St Pancras and change at Ashford for the Victoria-bound 10:31, arriving Pluckley at 10:37. Returning, take the xx:53 back to Ashford and change. This offers little advantage outwards - unless you want to arrive early - but  makes the return journey shorter by 20 mins. If you need to upgrade to return by HS1, do so before boarding.)
Lunch
The Swan Inn in Little Chart is recommended 01233 840 702. They've got a garden by the stream.
A bit later, in Pluckley, there's the Black Horse 01233 841 948. Phoning advised for both.
Tea
For the short walk, you have a choice between the fore-mentioned Black Horse, (which is fine, unless you’ve just had lunch there - maybe put on disguises so they don't realise!) or, later, the Dering Arms, 01233 840 371 opposite the station. It closes at 4.30 on a Sunday so don’t hang about.
Both of the longer options take you past the Rose and Crown at Mundy Bois 01233 840 048. From there, allow 45-50 minutes to the station.
On the longest option you also pass The Barrow House (formerly the George) in Egerton 01233 756 599.
Unless you are a fast walker you are unlikely to reach the Dering Arms before it closes (4:30).
Directions All three walk options are available online. Book 2 itself only offers the shortest one.
T=2.21

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi all,

I would like to do the longer versions.

Any good map readers can come along please let me know.
Ta

Mike

Anonymous said...

I remember that when this walk was posted last year no-one turned up ?.. well no-one visible anyway..

Anonymous said...

I would turn up if someone would commit to coming... :-)

Anonymous said...

Intend going. This is a lovely walk. The alternative has lunch stop at 9miles. I am not sure if I can last that long.

Mr M Tiger said...

Anonymous 2: When I last posted this walk (admittedly a Sunday last July), there were 12. I believe that was the last time it was posted. According to the stats page, the average for this walk is 10 (though that would include Saturdays).
Mike: A map always helps but I wouldn't have considered it an essential for this walk. I’ve never had any bother with the written directions and this is hardly the Cairngorms. But different strokes for different folks.

Anonymous said...

I would like to come on this walk but our printer is broken, can some kind soul print off an extra copy of the directions? I would like to do the longer version of the walk (11.2 miles). Hilary

Anonymous said...

Have managed to get the "retired" printer to oblige, so now have walk directions for tomorrow, hurrah! Hilary

Anonymous said...

This is the lion seen from the train near Headcorn http://thebigcatsanctuary.org/

PeteG said...

Around n=20 for this walk on a lovely w=hot_and_sunny spring day. An early hit of bluebells and plentiful pubs. About half did the short walk, the rest of us the full 11 miles.
The majority ate at the Black Swan, and had no trouble being served. Annoyingly, the Dering Arms closes at 4pm and frustratingly wouldn't serve us at 4.05. The consensus seemed to be that it was excellent up until Egerton, but a bit too much road walking.

Anonymous said...

The Black Swan was an excellent choice for lunch, it is about the half way into the 9.2miles or 11.2 miles walk, good portion, quality cooking and reasonable price plus free nachos and dip courtesy of the pub while we were waiting for our food. What not to like!

Mr M Tiger said...

Thanks Pete and "Anonymous # 10"
I take it you mean the Black Horse, not the earlier Swan. The Dering Arms website says 4:30 on a Sunday but they obviously can't be relied on. On other visits, I think they've stayed open even later. Hope it didn't detract.