Ascent/Descent:
395 m; Net Walking Time: ca. 4 ½ hours
Toughness:
5 out of 10
Take the 09.10 train to
Ramsgate from Charing Cross,
(09.13 W’loo East, 09.21 LBG), arrives Wye 10.38.
Alternatively, take the 09.09 Margate train from St. Pancras, (09.16 Stratford
I’nal), change at Ashford (arr. 09.47, dep. 10.11), arrives Wye 10.17 (or wait in Ashford for above train).
Return
trains:
xx.21 to Victoria, xx.55 to Charing Cross (shave off 30-60
mins in each case by changing at Ashford onto a High Speed train to St.
Pancras).
This
is a very nice walk in its normal version that suffers from an uppity gastro-pub
that doesn’t really want walkers, definitely doesn’t really want walk-in custom,
does want customers to turn up exactly on time and expects customers to settle
for a long and drink-fuelled meal. That’s not great a combination for the average
SWC-punter. So why not try a slightly different route (longer, you guessed it),
that goes past one or two other pubs to check them out for a possible revised
route? Check the route map on our webpage here
for an idea.
The
description for the normal walk goes like this:
“This
walk goes high up on the Crundale Downs (“crun” in Old English meant chalk, and
‘dala’ meant dell or valley), with breathtaking views. The walk comes to an
isolated Norman church at Crundale, then on to a 15th century inn
for lunch. The walk then passes Crundale House and the manor of Olantigh,
crosses the River Great Stour and returns to Wye through its churchyard, for
tea at a teashop at the bottom of Church Street or at a pub next to the railway
station.”
Lunch: The Compasses Inn in Crundale (8.8 km, food to 14.30) on the
normal version of the walk. You should
book a table for 13.00 hours or thereabouts to guarantee you’re not late for the
booking.
Else
it’s either The Bowl Inn in Hastingleigh or The Timber Batts Pub & Forge in Bodsham.
Tea: The Kings Head or The Wye
Coffee Shop and Kitchen (open to 17.00) in the centre of Wye, or The Tickled Trout near
the station.
4 comments:
Extension via Hastingsleigh only adds 3.4 km; Extension via Hastingsleigh and Bodsham adds 5.0 km.
Planning to catch the train from Charing Cross instead of St Pancras. Anyone else?
Sure
n=9 takers for this early start (considering the clocks had gone forward overnight) in w=dry-and-warm weather. All walked the 'long' extension via Hastingleigh and Bodsham. And all enjoyed that very much. Plenty of quiet coombes with long views to walk through (i.e. also lots of up and down), a CAMRA-recommended pub in Hastingleigh (cash only), and then an absolute gem, the most quirky pub around, and that by a country mile: The Timber Batts and Forge in Bodsham. You have to see it to believe it. AND the food was tasty (burgers and fish & chips only, Pizzas on Friday evenings). AND the staff was nice. We will be back.
We got back to Wye early enough for one to dash to get the 17.22 train, all else went to the pub for a chill-down drink.
Oh: no mud! I repeat: no mud! Not even in the many arable fields.
But loads of daffs, in lots of places, but in Wye the churchyard was practically all daffodils.
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