Length: 15.1km (9.4 miles) or 17.4km (10.8 miles) via Shipbourne
Toughness: 4
out of 10
Travel:
09.55 train from Victoria, calling at Bromley Sth (10.12) St
Mary Cray (10.18) Swanley (10.23) arriving Borough Green at 10.41
Frequent
return trains from Seven Oaks.
Ticket: Buy
a day return to Borough Green, which usually seems to be accepted for return from
Sevenoaks. (If not, buy a single from
Sevenoaks to Otford.)
For walk
directions click here, for GPX click here, for a map of the
route click here.
As this is
not a long walk, a leisurely pace is
recommended to experience the fresh green woods, apple orchards, fields with
sheep and lambs (and hopefully buttercups) and the quiet village of Plaxtol. This could possibly be the best time of year
to enjoy this walk.
Lunch: The lunch pub is the lovely Chaser
Inn, with a large garden slightly off the route. Tea or light lunches are available at Igtham
Mote, a national trust property. The
café is accessible without paying an entrance charge.
You
eventually end up in Knole Park, with it’s sweet chestnut, oak and beech
trees (and deer). There is a National
Trust tea room which is open till 5pm. Other tea options in Sevenoaks including Gails
which is open till 6.30pm.
L=1.36
1 comment:
Alas, how could we abide it, we Left Behinds, cruel exiles from the excitements of the Scottish trip? N=15 of us (one on a later train, who caught up with us at lunch) tried to console ourselves as best we could, tackling the long climb to the airy heights of Plaxtol, descending across the trackless slopes of the Fairlawne Estate, and sheltering behind shrubs in the garden of the Chaser Inn to eat our meagre (actually not at all meagre…) lunch of fish and vegan chicken and salad and too many chips.
Throughout this we saw no bogs, no crags, no jagged arêtes, but the countryside was pleasingly decked in flowers, and sheep and lambs snoozed in the shade. Actually the latter precaution was not needed as it was w=fairly-cloudy - some sun in the morning, a bit of light rain towards the end, though nothing serious.
Nine lunched in the not at all busy pub (what has happened? This place used to be really packed), all but one sitting outside. Two had drinks. One stopped in Shipbourne to see a friend. By my calculation that leaves three who did something else, whatever that was.
One of the pub lunchers hurried on to get to a social event. The rest bypassed Ightham Mote to focus on getting to Knole House. Since it was raining slightly when we got there at 3pm, we sat inside. The appetite for cakes was somewhat dented by the surfeit of chips at lunchtime.
Approaching Sevenoaks there was a glorious cacophony of birdsong, which I stopped to listen to. I then joined four others at the Chequers Inn. I think we got a train - very crowded for some reason - about 5.30pm. It is worth noting that our Borough Green tickets did not go through the barriers, but they were accepted by gateline staff without demur.
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