I’ve decided not to post Chiltern walks until the autumn to take advantage of their glorious colours. Are we looking forward to
autumn?
This high weald walk has plenty of interest and variety. After walking
through the suburbs of TW, you climb through woodland to a possible early lunch
stop in the elegant hill-top village of Frant although the
suggested lunch pub is in Eridge Green. The walk continues with an attractive stretch
through the landscaped parkland of the Nevill Estate's Eridge Old Park.
Highlights
of this walk are the Eridge Rocks, impressive sandstone outcrops and the
Broadwater Warren Nature Reserve.
Length: We
will do the shorter version of the walk omitting Groombridge: 19½ km (12.1 miles) This is Option a in the walk notes.
Effort: 6
out of 10
Travel: Take
the 9.48 from London Bridge (Orpington 10.10) arriving Tunbridge Wells at 10.40
Return
trains : Around 2 an hour – 16.08; 16.35; 17.04; 17.39 etc
Lunch: Suggested
pub is the Nevill
Crest and Gun ( 01892-864209 )
in Eridge Green , which has a large garden and serves good food all day from
noon. Please call ahead!
Tea or something
stronger – plenty of options in Royal Tunbridge Wells
#2026-08-08T09:48
L=swc.19
3 comments:
Given the late start, I will look for earlier trains to allow a more gentle pace in the still-persisting heat!
Austen
Joining the walk at lunch, catching 11:48am train from LB and bus 29 Regency Route - Stop T at Tunbridge Wells stn to Eridge Green, Church. The pub is 3 mins walk from the bus stop.
14 assembled at the station, one got an earlier train, and one cleverly arrived by bus just as we were getting to the lunch pub. So n=16 happy campers in total on this walk. The weather was w=mostly-sunny - is there any other kind?
It was once again hot enough for the shade to be welcome. The abundant greenery of the trees also made a nice contrast to the desert gold of the fields. Despite the drought there were some defiant patches of flowers, tapping into their own secret water sources. I recorded eight species of butterflies, which is not bad for this time of year.
We had two tables booked on the terrace of the pub. Seven of us ate there, with another having a coffee and two eating inside. On our table we caused chaos (and a loss of staff tips) by insisting on ordering at the bar. This seemed an easy request. We are here now: can’t we just tell you what we want? But the amount of screen tapping and head scratching it precipitated was a wonder to behold. Actually the other table also got served quite quickly, so maybe we made a fuss about nothing.
One and possibly two others took the bus home after lunch. Some sandwichers presumably went on ahead. That left seven of us to walk through Broadwater Warren (more welcome shade…) to the Birchden Vineyard. The walk author seems a bit tentative about whether refreshments can be had here, so it seemed rude not to do some research. The cafe is open Tuesdays to Sundays and they are preparing an all-weather facility for the winter. So I would say yes, definitely.
Tea, ice cream and wine were variously consumed as we huddled under the shade of an umbrella, and we then trekked on to High Rocks where we had a sit-down on shady benches. (Because of the heat, you understand, not because we are getting old...)
It was thus well past tea time by the time we got to the Pantilles. Two went for the train here: the other five of us initially despaired of getting a table at the very busy al fresco dining/drinking tables, but finally did. We had more wine, beer, humous and nuts and generally enjoyed a thoroughly European cafe terrace vibe. Then to the station for an 8.15pm train home.
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