Sunday Walk: Benfleet to Leigh Folk Festival / Benfleet Circular

Short walk: 3.5 miles difficulty: 1/10 (with castle: 4 miles, 3/10), or longer 9.8 mile circular walk.
The short walk follows the Essex shoreline to Leigh Folk Festival  Once there, you'll find free stages along the waterfront as well as artists in other venues. Athough free, there will be collection buckets and merchandise. We usually detour to Hadleigh Castle on the way.
Anyone averse to frivolity and crowds can follow the circular walk via Benfleet Down instead. Or use the morning section for a more energetic approach to the festival.
The walks follow different directions from the station so don't tag on to the wrong group. We wouldn't want you accidentally enjoying yourself.
Trains. Get a return to Leigh-on-Sea. 
The 09:53 Benfleet train from Fenchurch Street is suggested for both walks, arriving Benfleet at 10:55. This allows time for picnic at the castle or the circular. The back entrance to Fenchurch St station is not far from Tower Hill underground - follow the signs. It's a half-hourly service - you could get a later one if you're going straight along the creek - no castle, no picnic -  but you'd miss all your little friends :(
Return trains from Leigh on Sea are at xx:00, xx:30 to Fenchurch Street, with a faster one to Liverpool Street at xx:42. Trains leave Benfleet 4 or 5 minutes later. The last train is at 22:56 arriving Fenchurch St at 23:46.
• Directions for the short walk: here. Most of it is through Hadleigh Castle Country Park. Along the way you have the option to turn left in the direction of the castle ruins, a good place for a picnic (you can get food in Leigh but things get busy). Note the railway station on your way into Leigh – that’s where you will be leaving from.
• Directions for the circular walk: here. This shares the same picnic spot as the short walk (Hadleigh Castle). The Rare Breed Centre at Hadleigh Farm is close to the walk route and their tea room is open for lunches. The notes suggest Leigh-on-Sea for lunch but Leigh’s waterfront will be busy today. You could explore uphill, however, away from the festival, round the Broadway area.
On the return to Benfleet, you pass a possible tea stop on a boat, the Barge Gladys. It serves simple meals, craft beers - and tea and coffee on request. The Hoy and Helmet in Benfleet High Street has received good reviews.

Sunday Walk: Staplehurst to Headcorn ... or Sissinghurst .... or both

SWC Walk 80, Difficulty 2 out of 10
Staplehurst to Headcorn 12.8km (7.9 miles)
Staplehurst to Sissinghurst 12.6km (7.8 miles)
Staplehurst to Headcorn via Sissinghurst 19.8km (12.2 miles)
An easy walk in the Kentish Weald. The basic walk is Staplehurst to Headcorn but you can divert to Sissinghurst Castle, famous for the gardens designed by Vita Sackville-West. If you want to spend time in the gardens, there’s a bus back to Staplehurst every two hours - or - you can complete a longer walk to Headcorn.
Trains: Get the 9:40 Dover Priory train from Charing Cross  (London Bridge 9:49) arrives Staplehurst 10:44.
Return to Charing Cross from Headcorn at xx:14 and xx:44. Get a return to Headcorn.
Lunch:
The Camra-recognised Bell and Jorrocks, Frittenden (01580 852415) for the basic walk. The village once sought fame for its non-existent treacle mines.
Or,  the National Trust Restaurant at Sissinghurst Castle (The restaurant can be accessed without paying the entrance fee).
Tea: In Headcorn you have the George and Dragon and the Village Tea rooms (closes 4:30), both on the High Street.
Sissinghurst. Entry to Sissinghurst Castle's gardens costs £13.80 unless you're an NT member. If you want to get the bus back, it's a 30 minute walk to the stop, following paragraphs 86-97 in the directions. The two-hourly number 5 bus leaves for Staplehurst at 13 :12 15:12 and 17:12 (last one). These arrive at the station at xx:25 to meet trains at xx:48. You can also walk a further 1.6 miles from Sissinghurst to Cranbrook and catch the same bus at 13 :04, 15:04 and 17:04.
Walk Directions here
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Saturday Walk: Clacton-on-Sea to Walton-on-the-Naze

7.1 miles / 11.5 km
13.4 miles / 21.5 km with extension around the Naze

This is a straighforward coastal walk via Clacton, Frinton and Walton, mostly along the seafront promenade and passing some sandy beaches.  The extension round the Naze takes in wilder scenery with crumbling cliffs and a nature reserve.

Trains: Take the 10:21 from London Liverpool Street (10:28 Stratford), arriving at Clacton at 11:44.  Return trains from Walton-on-the-Naze at xx:00, change at Thorpe-le-Soken.  A return to Clacton should be fine, if not you would only need an extra single from Walton to Thorpe-le-Soken.

Lunch: Either stop at the beach cafes along the route, or follow the walk directions inland for a pub lunch at the Oakwood Inn.

Click here for full walk details - this includes information about the extension, but you can also find fuller details here.  The tip of the peninsular (Stone Point) will probably be closed due to nesting birds, but the route is still full of interest with a lovely peaceful feel away from the town.
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Sevenoaks circular with a National Trust medieval moated manor house and a lavender farm

Here's a walk within easy reach of London with some woodland cover and great views over the Weald during the afternoon section.


Length 10 miles (16 km)

Toughness 3 out of 10

Getting there

Catch the 10:00 am Dover Priory train from London Charing Cross (10:03 from Waterloo East and 10:09 from London Bridge) to arrive at Sevenoaks station at 10:35 am.

Getting back

There are six fast trains an hour from Sevenoaks back to London, so your arrival at the station is not time critical.  

Plan your journey here. 

Tickets

Buy a cheap day return to Sevenoaks. 

Maps

OS Landranger Map 188, Explorer Map 147.

Overview

This is a fairly easy walk starting through a pleasant part of Sevenoaks before entering Knole park through a a tiny gate set in a tall stone wall. There's an interesting feature about a mile before lunch where the walk passes a lavender farm (the lavender should be flowering and quite colourful about now).
The afternoon section is a little hilly along the Greensand way but there are a number of places to sit and relax to take in the vistas across the Weald. The Brewhouse Café at Knole house makes for a pleasant break before the final leg back into Sevenoaks.

Lunch

There are two options for a purchased lunch, the National Trust Café at Ightham Mote or to extend the walk slightly (mile and a half) to visit the The Chaser Inn at Shipbourne 

More details about this walk may be found on the link below
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Saturday walk - Winchelsea to Hastings via Three Oaks [New walk]

Length: Full walk: 26.2km (16.3 miles). Shorter options possible of Winchelsea to Three Oaks 12.9km (8 miles) or Winchelsea to Fairlight 20km (12.4 miles) - or Three Oaks to Hastings 13.3km (8.3 miles) T=3.316

9.34 Southeastern High Speed train from St Pancras International, changing at Ashford (arrive 10.11, depart 10.24) for Winchelsea, arriving 10.50. Change as quickly as possible at Ashford, as the Winchelsea train is only two-car and can get very crowded.

Late start option: 12.37 South Eastern High Speed train from St Pancras International, changing at Ashford (arrive 13.14, depart 13.24) for Three Oaks, arrive 13.57: you need to be in the front carriage for Three Oaks. Join the main group there at lunch (they should reach the pub at around 1.45) and do the 8.3 mile afternoon and evening part of the walk.

Buy a day return to Hastings, valid for Southeastern High Speed

This is a NEW NEW NEW route, not the same as the traditional Rye or Winchelsea to Hastings walk, though it has the same finish over the cliffs as that walk, and it borrows the alternative Winchelsea to Icklesham start from it.

Otherwise it follows an interesting inland route, over gentle hills and with fine views, before turning south and approaching the high ridge that forms the Hastings cliffs from behind - very attractive territory. In all this it cannot make any huge claims to originality because for most of its length it follows first the 1066 Walk route and then the 1066 Walk Hastings Link. But it departs from the latter to climb up to Fairlight, and then follows the coastal route (with its hills and dips) into Hastings.

This walk is intended to be a map-led/GPX walk - GPX file here and map here - but there are some written directions here - notes on the route, if you like, to be used in conjunction with a map or GPX. They may, for all I know, be sufficient to complete the walk without a map or GPX, but I can't guarantee it.

The intention is that lunch should be had at the quirky Three Oaks Inn (its website says it serves food all afternoon), 8 miles into the walk, but it might be hard to resist the wonderful Queen's Head in Icklesham, which is only 3.3 miles in. If you want to do the short 8 mile walk, you could lunch here, have tea at the Three Oaks, and then get the train from the adjacent Three Oaks station, from where trains depart at 16.36, 18.36 and 20.36 for Ashford and then the High Speed. If you are set on doing this option you need only buy a day return to Three Oaks.

Otherwise, 4.3 miles further on from Three Oaks brings you to Fairlight. The Coastguards Tea Room is, as far as I know, still operating here (it was up for sale last year, but its website is still there, so cross fingers it is still open: the website says its hours are until 6pm). This is not just a nice place for tea but you can also, if you wish, get a bus from Fairlight into Hastings at 16.35, 17.35 and 18.35, thus ending the walk after 12.4 miles.

Or fortified by tea and cakes, the last four miles of the walk are the familiar coastal route into Hastings, a series of three big dips and climbs, except that the closure of the path into Ecclesbourne Glen eliminates the last dip if you follow the official diversion (as the GPX does), and the first dip can be avoided by a short cut. In the second of the dips, if anyone has the energy, a swim may be possible at Fairlight Glen, depending on the state of the path (which is officially closed, but is rebuilt each year by the naturists who use this beach).

You end in the Old Town of Hastings, which has lots of refreshment and food options.

Trains back from Hastings are at 26 past the hour (until 22.26) via Ashford, changing to the High Speed and taking 1 hour 28 minutes. Or at 18 and 50 minutes past the hour to Charing Cross until 18.50 and then 19.50, 20.50 and 21.50 (1 hour 44 minutes).

Kingham to Charlbury

Length: 17.6 km (11 miles)
Toughness: 2 out of 10

Catch the 09:22 train from London Paddington to Kingham, arrives 10:49. Buy a day return to Kingham. Return trains: 16:07, 17:04, 18:04, 19:07, 20:07, 21:08, 22:16

A relaxing walk along the Oxfordshire Way, passing through charming Cotswold villages.

Lunch at Wychwood Inn in Shipton under Wychwood after 4 miles or The Swan pub at Ascott under Wychwood after 5½ miles.

Longer 35km map walk option.

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Opera Holland Park - Un Ballo in Maschera by Verdi

Opera Holland Park is now an annual outing for us.  This year, we are going to see Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera which is one of his most sophisticated and subtle, marrying the opulence of French grand opera with innovative developments in Italian opera. 

Giuseppe Verdi set aside his project of adapting King Lear – never to be completed – to create the opera that would eventually become Un ballo in maschera. He selected a pre-existing libretto by Eugène Scribe on the story of the reformist Swedish king Gustav III, who was assassinated at a masked ball in 1792. The opera was first performed on 17 February 1859 and was an immediate success.

To book the ticket, please click here.  Pre-opera picnic in Holland Park will be posted near the time. 
For those who have never been to HPO or are aged over 65 or below 18, there is an Inspire Scheme which offers limited tickets at £20 or free. The booking for this scheme starts on March 13. 

Evening Walk - Trent Country Park and Enfield Chase

Length: 7.9 km/4.9 mi

Meet 19.00 hours prompt outside Cockfosters Station (Northern Terminus of the Piccadilly Line in Zone 5), travel time from King’s Cross 31 minutes, from Finsbury Park (Victoria Line) 23 minutes.

Parkland at the end of the line in leafy Northern London. Trent Park is a former part of Enfield Chase, a royal hunting ground. The Gates will be closed starting at 21.30 hours.

Refreshments: The Cock Inn, Cockfosters.

For a detailed route map, gpx/kml file  and some directions click here. T=short.10

Wednesday Walk Guildford to Horsley

Guildford to Horsley (shortcut through the woods) T=swc.131

Length: 20.4km (12.7 miles) with option c shortcut through the woods.

4 out of 10 – a couple of extended hill climbs

"There are numerous fine viewpoints looking southwards from the North Downs escarpment, but less well known are the views to the north, where London can be seen in the far distance. This walk takes in both, starting with a climb over Chantries Hill and then carrying on to St Martha’s Church, perched high on the downs, You then descend to the village of Albury for lunch.

From Albury, there is a steady climb up to Newland’s Corner, another popular viewpoint, before a wooded stretch along the North Downs Way. To finish, the walk descends through beautiful upland country to the north of the ridge, with views right to the distant City of London on clear days."

Trains: Get the 1000 Portsmouth Harbour from Waterloo (Woking 1024) train arriving 1033. Buy return to Guildford. Frequent return trains from Horsley.

Lunch: The efficient Drummond at Albury (01483 202 039) 9.1km (5.6 miles) into the walk. For a picnic, carry on past the pub, taking in a building with dramatic chimneys, to a small recreation area on the left side of the road.

Tea: The only pub stop near the end of the walk is The Barley Mow pub in West Horsley, 1.6km (1 mile) before Horsley station. It has a garden and does tea in pots and coffee. Quaich (01483 285181) "is a pleasant coffee shop in Station Parade near Horsley station, which has sofas, a nice range of cakes"

Sunday Walk – Chagall's windows and Hadlow's folly

Extra Walk 220 – Tonbridge to Hadlow (or back to Tonbridge)
Length: 17 km (10.6 miles) to Hadlow, or 24¼ km (15.1 miles) back to Tonbridge. Toughness: 2 or 3/10

09:55 Hastings train from Charing Cross (Waterloo East 09:58, London Bridge 10:04, Orpington 10:20), arriving Tonbridge at 10:40. Buy a return to Tonbridge.

If you finish the walk in Hadlow you'll need to catch the no.7 bus for the 20-minute journey back to Tonbridge. This runs half-hourly at xx:26 & xx:56 until 17:26. There are four fast trains an hour from Tonbridge to London Bridge and Charing Cross, at xx:07, xx:21, xx:37 & xx:49 (three an hour after 8pm).

This is an undemanding walk in the Medway valley east of Tonbridge, with some unusual features: a church with world-famous windows to visit in the morning, a striking folly dominating the landscape and some (free) landscaped gardens at the end of the walk.

If you don't want a pub lunch at the Dovecote Inn you could have a picnic in Capel churchyard and then take the shortcut described in the text, saving 2¼ km. That would ensure you get to Hadlow in good time for the tearoom at Broadview Gardens, which closes at 4pm on Sundays. Alternatively, you could just get the first available bus and look for somewhere in Tonbridge.

You'll need to bring the directions from the Tonbridge to Hadlow walk page. If you won't be completing a Circular Walk back to Tonbridge you can click the word 'Main' on the Walk Options heading to save a sheet or two of paper. T=swc.220

Sunday Walk - Rolling Hills of Hertfordshire: Watton-At-Stone Circular

Length: 21.5 km (13.4 mi)

Ascent/Descent: 300m

Net Walking Time: 5 hours

Toughness: 5 out of 10

Take the 10.13 Stevenage train from Moorgate (Old Street 10.15, Essex Road 10.18, Highbury & Islington 10.21, Finsbury Park 10.27 etc.), arrives Watton-at-Stone 11.12.

Return trains: xx.05 and xx.35.

Still “…possibly one of the most underrated walks on the website…”

This walk is in the gentle rolling hills and little wooded areas of rural Hertfordshire, with a particularly attractive stretch alongside the River Beane near the end and some shady green lanes, quiet country lanes, some rivers, occasional far views, a brutalist water tower at Tonwell and several attractive houses, with the last and largest of them on the Woodhall Estate near Watton, the most impressive, along the way and a couple of cozy pubs at the end.

Lunch: The Boot Inn in Dane End, Ware (8.0 km/5.0 mi, food 13.00-16.00) or at The Whitehill Golf Course near Dane End (9.5 km/5.9 mi, food to 15.00).

Tea: The Bull or The George & Dragon, both on the High Street in Watton.

For walk directions, map, height profile, some photos and gpx/kml files click here. t=swc.94