I love to walk the Hosey and Westerham routes in late autumn because of the views of the Low Weald woods from Mariner’s Hill and the hues of the trees on the lower slopes of Tower Hill along the infant River Darent. I missed out on those treats this year but last Sunday we took the Hosey route despite persistent rain and cloud so low it scudded into the hollows of the Greensand Ridge and draped itself over NT attractions such as Chartwell and nearby Emmett’s Garden. We did the walk in reverse, which made life a little less predictable but also disoriented us on a couple of occasions. Even the familiar can confuse when approached from a different direction (wise words indeed ha ha). Despite the rain and mud it was a lovely atmospheric stroll and further proof that, as the great walker Alfred Wainwright said, “there is no such thing as bad weather only the wrong clothing”. I can’t say I had the right clothing, given the fact that my jeans were covered in mud by halfway through and the skin on my bare hands had shrivelled, but these minor discomforts were dwarfed by the pleasure of being out in the countryside. Small birds, including three bullfinch – a rare sight – flittered in many of the hedgerows, a sign that recent frosts have softened and sweetened the berries enough to be gulped down. (Pictured below: Mariner’s Hill views in cloud and rain; water meadow of infant River Darent – a good spot for bullfinch. Above: Chartwell)