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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 14 April 2018

Saturday Walk – The Hucking Estate and Leeds Castle

Extra Walk 253 – Hollingbourne Circular, via Hucking
Length: 17 km (10.6 miles), with shorter options. Toughness: 5/10

10:22 Canterbury West train from Victoria (Bromley South 10:39), arriving Hollingbourne at 11:28.

Trains back are hourly at xx:59. You could also take an outbound train at 28 minutes past and change at Ashford for a High Speed train to St Pancras, but you'd have to pay a hefty supplement for this.

This walk features a climb onto the North Downs ridge and a meander through the Woodland Trust's Hucking Estate, followed by a circuit on public footpaths of the scenic grounds of Leeds Castle. The views of the castle are spectacular but you have to endure some noisy main roads and railways to get there, so if you're prepared to give it a miss a short stretch through Hollingbourne Meadows is offered as a more peaceful alternative.

I've started the walk later than usual because its early lunch pub (the Hook & Hatchet Inn: a disappointment in the past) has been revived and is well worth a try. However, it's less than a third of the way through the full walk and you might prefer to carry on to the up-market Dirty Habit down in the village, perhaps after taking one of the suggested morning short cuts.
T=swc.253

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I plan to attend

Anonymous said...

me too

Anonymous said...

Dirty Habit looks good for lunch with VEGAN options

Anonymous said...

Seeing as the previous commentator didn't mention it, in the interests of fairness and equality I have just checked and it seems that Hook and Hatchet also have Vegan options
From the menu
Gluten free, vegan and vegetarian menu available

Anonymous said...

love the later start ! thanks Sean

Bridie said...

N=24 on the walk Weather was w=lovely sunny all day. Thanks for writing and posting Sean. Most of us got the 17.59 train back to Victoria

Anonymous said...

After the short report by Bridie I thought that I would add a bit of detail.
21 got off on the train which only had two bogs in the four carriages but none of them were working. Nothing to do with me said the guard.
1 chap arrived by car though by all accounts we were lucky by him walking with us instead of meeting us at the pub. Someone said that as there were 2 lunch pubs 4k apart he couldn't tell which we would use so had to walk with us.
According to one walker ewes and their lambs identify each other by the number written on them in spray paint (seriously?). He seemed convinced
One got a late train and walked straight to the pub - say 500 metres but she got lost so did a longer walk than any of us so she says.
Muddy walk - those in shorts regretted there choice of clothing.

There was a very very jet black helicopter parked outside the first pub where some of us had stopped for a short drink and a few of us were like excited school kids when we heard the engine start and ran up the field to have a look. What a lovely powerful sight though not very green.
Story goes it was a Russian oligarch who had popped to the pub for a drink.

One walker got left behind in the conveniences at this pub so ran of to catch them up but failed so came back to join us at the Hook and Hatchett pub until we walked out - so it goes.

16 stopped for tea at the kiosk by the castle in Leeds (?) and then caught the 17.59 with working toilets

Anonymous said...

To add to the previous comment: those in shorts were delighted by their choice with the sunny weather burning down on us. A few in long trousers were overheard sighing about a missed opportunity.

Anonymous said...

The pub Dirty Habit which served gourmet lunch for at least 10 walkers really deserves a mention. (I see it has be omitted from previous 3 walk comments). Two walkers even broke the ‘bad habit’ and had dessert here. Some had suggested we could just come here for a three course lunch followed by a stroll in the ground of Leeds Castle on a lazy Sunday...... I am keenly waiting for that post!

Anonymous said...

N=24 walkers plus one well-behaved dog! he deserves a mention.

Andrew said...

play nicely :)