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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.

Sunday 22 December 2019

Sunday Walk: Eden Valley and the Weald

Sunday walk: Leigh to Penshurst
Length: 13.5km (8.4 miles) Toughness: 3/10

09:43 Dover Priory train from Victoria (Bromley South 10:00), changing at Tonbridge (arr. 10:25, dep. 10:29), arriving at Leigh at 10:33.

Return trains from Penshurst to Victoria are at xx:37, changing at Redhill, with trains calling at East Croydon and Clapham Junction (journey time 70 minutes), or to Charing Cross at xx:29, changing at Tonbridge (journey time 79 minutes).

This walk in the Eden Valley is a variation on several other walks in this area, but includes sections that cover less familiar Wealden territory. The route passes two historic houses, Penshurst Place and Chiddingstone Castle, though both are closed for the winter at present. Parts of the walk are likely to be muddy, due to the poor draining qualities of Wealden soil. Various options for shorter or longer versions of the walk are described on the walk’s introduction page.

The recommended lunch pub is the Rock Inn (01892 870296) in the hamlet of Hoath Corner, 7.5km from the start. It received good reports on our last visit there. Do phone ahead to reserve a table before setting out from Leigh.

You will need to download a PDF of the walk directions, or print them from the walk’s introduction page, clicking on ‘Main Walk’ to suppress the sections you won’t need.

T=swc.92

5 comments:

Sean said...

It's worth noting that you can also travel out to Leigh via Redhill, since the 10:07 from this station arrives at exactly the same time as the 10:29 from Tonbridge, travelling in the opposite direction. There are Thameslink trains from London Bridge at 09:19 and 09:27, calling at a different set of stations and arriving Redhill at 09:53 and 09:56 respectively. The total journey time is slightly longer but you get a more relaxed connection time than the four minutes at Tonbridge, where you might have to sprint across the footbridge to the far end of the opposite platform.

Anonymous said...

If bound to be muddy, then schedule a different walk? See the very recent 'mudsnorkelling' report on a Penshurst walk. Thank you.

Walker said...

“Mud snorkelling” was a JOKE!!! Just my feeble attempt to lighten the winter gloom by bringing a wan smile to your lips. Bottom line is: winter walks in this part of the world are muddy: get used to it! Sometimes weather and chalky/sandy soils or gravel paths combine to make a walk less muddy, but you have to give us walk posters a break: we can’t always pull those rabbits out of the hat. There are other constraints on winter walks - day length, what has already been posted, the need to present a balanced offering, train strikes etc etc. It is a tough time of year to pick walks! (In contrast to spring and summer, when suddenly everyone has ideas for walks that absolutely MUST be posted this weekend or their lives will be ruined...). My suggestion is: buy some good boots, wear old trousers you don’t mind getting dirty and enjoy! I also recommend waterproof socks. I got mine at Cotswold (other stores are available). They are a bit pricier than ordinary ones, but they do work.

Anonymous said...

I understand, Walker. Thank you to you and all the schedulers. Festive Regards.

Anonymous said...

En route to Leigh I found out that trains had been cancelled on the Tonbridge to Redhill line as a landslide had been discovered near Godstone. I reversed direction at Redhill and did another walk.
I don't know if others had the same experience at Tonbridge.