What a rude awakening! Autumn has arrived with a vengeance. Saturday looks to be as much of a washout as today although the morning will be dry. Temperatures have plunged and the light of summer finally faded away. I like it! It’s a great time for walking with wonderful colours on land and great drama in the skies (as long as not uniformly grey).
I took advantage of yesterday’s interlude to walk a nine-mile walk combining Shoreham’s eastern valleys route with the Otford circular, passing through Austin Lodge, Romney Street and that superb hallowed valley head, Magpie Bottom before descending via the North Downs Way over Otford Mount to Otford station. It was truly glorious but knackering! A couple of weeks ago, when it still appeared to be summer I once again joined up the Chiddingstone and Hever walks (by using the linking path at Hill Hoath) to create a nine-mile three pub crawl. Again, brilliant, but flatter than Shoreham’s hinterland so a bit less taxing.
A couple of things about the Mysterious Eastern Valleys walk: the path by the field fringe between points 2 and 3 is a real pain in the whatsit. Take secateurs, yes really. Chop those bramble strands down. There may be a better way to get to point 3 by staying in the woods, taking the left hand path at the fork then joining up with the path ascending to the top of the hill later on. The next thing: the building work as you enter Austin Lodge or Upper Austin (there are an absence of names in this part of the world) is now complete and where there was an empty dilapidated black barn there is now a handsome house or two. That’s it. The rest is the same.
Best autumn walks
I could be boring and say “they are all great in autumn”, because, yes, they are. But for best distant views of beautifully coloured trees I think the Greensand Ridge walks overlooking the Low Weald of Kent are best for autumnal moods, fungs, chimney smoke and all that. That means the “best” could well be:
For a fun rainy day walk I rather like the Knole’s wild side route and also Polhill. Lots of toadstools and fungii at Knole for some reasons, a good cafe to keep you warm.
