November 10, 2025 by ammcculloch49

Autumnal tones on the Kent walks

Autumn in these parts is spectacular. I know people talk in hushed tones about the colours of New England, Canada and Italy’s Apennines in the fall, but really the effect is pretty similar wherever there are trees! Once again, don’t overlook what’s on one’s doorstep in favour of an expensive and laborious trip. The November views of the Weald from Wilmot’s or Mariner’s Hill, or across the Darent Valley and the beech woods of Lullingstone are undeniably amazing. The ever-changing wide skies of Kent are a big factor in teasing out colours and optimising certain tones with the lower sun offering saturated reds, yellows and pinks. And greys, let’s not gloss over.

What’s surprising to me looking at the photos below is how green the countryside is in the Penshurst photo compared with those from elsewhere, yet it was taken on 1 November one week before this weekend’s Hosey walk, and a week after the trip to Shoreham represented here. Strange… could be sunshine and time of day I suppose.

I have lots of great autumn photos from over the past nine years of operating this website. But a selection from the past two weeks (mostly – the Downe and Ide Hill photos are from previous years) is enough to make the point – autumn is a terrific time for a hike on any of the routes at KWNL.

Mariners Hill view across the Weald on the Hosey walk
Sunbeams and silhouettes looking west from Mariner’s Hill on the Hosey/Westerham walks
Tower Hill, near Westerham, on the Hosey/Westerham walks
A view across the Darent Valley looking east from between Eynsford and Shoreham.
Infant Darent River from the Hosey path
Near Penshurst on the Chiddingstone walk
Mariners Hill
Country lane near Romney Street
View from Shoreham station bridge
Mariners Hill view again
Wilmot’s Hill, One Tree Hill figure of 8 walk, at dusk
Downe walk
A deer in Downe, autumn
Fackenden Down view
Start of Ide Hill walk. Autumn
Classic autumnal Kent view from Emmett’s Garden looking across Bough Beach to Chiddingstone and the Weald
Ide Hill field, dusk, autumn
Wilmot’s Hill, late October 2025. One Tree Hill – Ightham walks

November 2, 2025 by ammcculloch49

The autumn rush and a Tudor epic

Despite recent heavyish bursts of rain the walks here are still relatively mud-free. With friends I wielded together two Kent Weald walks on Saturday, the Chiddingstone and Hever circulars, making a pleasing figure-of-8 route of about 11 miles throughout the heart of Tudor Boleyn country. We stopped at two pubs, the Leicester Arms in Penshurst, a really lovely place I hadn’t been to for ages, and the good ol’ Castle Inn in Chiddingstone. The original plan was to include the excellent Henry VIII too, at Hever, but we needed to make up time for a rendezvous in Penshurst. But we did manage to pop in to St Peters church for a look at the wonderful medieval effigy of Margaret Cheyne. Larkins beer was served at both pubs and we tucked into a superb chilli con carne at the Castle Inn. Autumn colours were exceptional and the paths still very solid, with a few decent puddles dotted around. Rain slashed down towards the end of the walk but there were still plenty of leaves still attached to branches to help keep us dry. There were a few buzzards and red kites around but we didn’t see any redwings which we had hoped had arrived from the near continent by now. And yes, I still can’t believe Penshurst Place hasn’t set up a footpath along its southern edge to meet the Eden Valley Path and so avoid hikers having to walk up/down that terrible road.

Things will get muddier fairly quickly once we get to the end of the month so it will be wellies before long, or stout waterproof hiking shoes.

Here is the GPX map of the Hever/Chiddingstone/Penshurst figure of 8 – I’ll give it its own page soon.

GPX maps

I’ve updated all the URLs of the OS GPX maps listed for the walks for easier access (somehow the OS had sort of rerouted them or altered the hyperlinks). They should all work much better now.

October 13, 2025 by ammcculloch49

A very summery type of autumn

High pressure is dominating the weather and the near-drought continues. There is no mud on any of the walks, which once would have been unheard of for mid-October. For the past week it’s felt as if summer’s lease has no intention of expiring anytime soon. Amid mild temperatures and cerulean skies we enjoy the spectacles of the season as the greens of September become more mottled and varied as they meld into the yellows, oranges and reds of November. Rosehips, elderberry and sloes decorate the hedgerows and fungi mystically appear in woodland and grassy fringes. I’m not one for foraging; I much prefer to look and leave well alone (apart from blackberries).

Birdlife still seems somnambulant: I’ve been hoping for migrations but in this still weather nothing much seems to stir. A week ago, in the wake of Storm Amy, hundreds of house martins passed overhead heading east with the wind, as a full moon rose in a purple sky. But this was in Lower Sydenham not on the Kent walks. My only notable sightings have been a kingfisher on River Eden on the Chiddingstone walk; red kites over Lullingstone and Downe; grey plover and lapwings on the ever-expanding shoreline at Bough Beech reservoir (I’ve never seen the water so low); and buzzards at Polhill.

My walk at Fackenden Down today (pictured) was serene, colourful and wonderfully warm. But this isn’t autumn, surely. Lovely though it was, I would quite like to feel a fresher breeze, walk with the threat of a squall, squish through a puddle and ponder whether to wear wellies or trainers. That time will come I guess, I’ll enjoy summer’s lease while it lasts.

August 17, 2025 by ammcculloch49

Quiet North Downs, busy South Downs; all good

A walk around Birling Gap in East Sussex amid the famous Seven Sisters chalk cliffs was just the tonic for a dreamy August last afternoon. It’s a brilliant trip that we do fairly regularly. We started on the beach at Eastbourne with a picnic while enjoying the August airshow, before hitting Beachy Head and the Gap. After a pint at the superb Tiger Inn in ancient East Dean, we topped off the adventure with a 45-minute sunset stroll along the lower Cuckmere river from the Seven Sisters visitor centre to the sea. It was blissful but busy with tourists and folk down from London … which is just fine with me; it’s great to see everyone out enjoying the beautiful countryside, and the joy people were feeling in the sea air was kind of infectious. It felt a bit like going to the cinema – the pleasure of a shared experience of wonderful scenes is a great thing. Sussex by the Sea is a special place.

Comma butterfly, Chevening
View from scarp above Chevening
Looking up at the Seven Sisters
Birling Gap
Visitors at Birling Gap
River Cuckmere, sunset
Gleaming chalk cliffs, Birling Gap
Queue for the bus, Birling Gap
The chalk cliffs were fascinating close up
Near Chevening House
View of the Vale of Holmesdale near Chevening
View from the top of the scarp, near Knockholt
An egret at dusk in the Cuckmere river

The following day it was back to the North Downs for the Knockholt / Chevening route; the first time this year I reckon. As mentioned in my previous post I was tipped off by a helpful KWNL’er that there was a useful diversion at the Point 5 which means you don’t have to walk on Sundridge Road anymore. And so there was. It was great. Very sleepy, dry, Augusty, quiet. And so few people! I missed the crowds at Birling Gap. Well, I didn’t reeeeeally; I love solitude too. Without the waves, gleaming chalk, and sea breeze, the western North Downs don’t have quite the easy allure of their southern counterparts; but for quiet, great views, glimpses of the medieval past and atmosphere they are wonderful. But so few south-east Londoners seem to quite know what’s on the doorstep – which is the point of this website I suppose.

August 4, 2025 by ammcculloch49

Secret valleys on these NW Kent walks

Kent Walks Near London can offer several lovely, lonely little valleys with their own microclimates, special flora, shelter and that precious sense of seclusion. Here are four of the best on the walks here.

1 The Darent… but not as you know it

*Tower Hill, Westerham viewed from the ‘secret‘ valley of the infant Darent stream*

On the Hosey and Westerham walks I love the little south-north valley that winds its way from the sandstone ridge at Mariner’s Hill down to Westerham. It’s actually the valley of the River Darent just after it rises from a spring just behind the Greensand Ridge. I was delighted to realise this was where the Darent started, the stream is more associated with the chalk of the proper Darent Valley of Samuel Palmer fame – Shoreham, Otford and so on – not this obscure place near Chartwell.

*Harebells in the shadow of Tower Hill, Hosey walk*

The river is bounded by beech and conifer (with Tower Hill a dark bump just to the east) and initially runs through a delightful meadow of wild grasses, unseen from the path. It suddenly broadens into large shallow pools as it heads to Westerham before turning east and making its way to its ‘proper’ valley. Autumn colours here are wonderful.

2 Magpie Bottom – great name, great valley

*Magpie Bottom viewed from Austin Spring on the Fackenden walk*

This stunning little rift in the landscape features on the Fackenden Down, Otford/Romney Street/Shoreham and the Eastern Valleys walk in different guises. It is so secluded that only walkers know of it. And the few residents of the curious hamlet I think called Upper Austin Lodge on the OS map.

Magpie Bottom is a classic steep-sided chalk dry valley (similar to but more dramatic than the ones on the Downe, Polhill and Cudham walks) running north to south from behind the escarpment. These are caused by glacial meltwater long departed. The valley’s head at Great Wood and Eastdown just behind the chalk escarpment of the North Downs to Rose Cottage farm is a series of wonderful spots unreachable by car, but really it’s gorgeous all the way down past Romney Street, Round Hill, Upper Austin Lodge and Eynsford where it meets the Darent Valley. Possibly my favourite place on all the walks, and all the better for no longer having a golf course in it!

3 A verdant vale on the way to Ightham Mote

Hidden valley behind Wilmots Hill, Ightam Mote — *Broadhoath woods in the hidden valley behind Wilmots Hill, near Ightham Mote*

My final Kent canyon (it’s not a canyon) features on the longer version of the Oldbury/Ightham Moat route and is mentioned as a route alternative on the One Tree Hill figure of eight walk (see the blue line on the Google map at the KWNL page). So on the One Tree Hill routes it’s a diversion, a short cut that you’ll have to check your maps to include. But on the longer Oldbury walk it’s part of the deal. What shall we call it? It’s round the back of Ightham Mote and passes through a wood called Broadhoath behind Wilmot Hill (which has some of the greatest views in Kent). It has a lively little stream that rises just behind the Greensand Ridge, a terrific pond with viewing platform and interesting flora as it descends west to east to Ightham Mote itself, passing a shed built to house early 20th century hop pickers (you’d think hop pickers were in fact horses judging by the design of the housing – the landowners obviously weren’t too bothered by other people’s comfort levels). Like the other little valleys it’s good for birds: marsh tit and bullfinch have been seen here. It’s another totally secret dip, accessible only to walkers, that’s like an entry to another realm; a world away, but its paths are only 55 minutes from Sydenham.

July 19, 2025 by ammcculloch49

A welcome rainy interlude

A torrentially rainy day is great for a reset. In my case this means playing music and doing indoor things that I’ve managed to avoid usually by going on Kent walks. It’s been a run of busy weekends: I’ve played gigs in the Cotswolds, Oxfordshire, Leicestershire in addition to the usual local big bands; been to the north Norfolk coast for a reacquaintance with one of my favourite bits of coast (oh the bliss of the marshes of Holkham, Cley and Blakeney); spent time in East Sussex with family and at the Love Supreme festival (Jacob Collier, Chucho Valdes, Branford Marsalis and Stanley Clarke the main attractions for me). I also saw John Scofield’s great new quartet in London (this is all jazzy by the way, apols if it means zilch to you, dear reader). The sum result of all this, in addition to the 9 to 5, has been a dearth of Kent walks, Kent cycles, Kent photography. I’ve only managed three long cycles out to Knockholt and the Pilgrim’s Way since May – imagine!

Best rainy day walks at KWNL

The rain this weekend is of course a real blessing for the fauna and flora on the walks (the butterflies may feel a bit put out by me writing this of course), and will green things up for the next few weeks. NW Kent was looking a bit scratchy, dusty and arid after all. I usually associate that look with later in August when that ‘done with summer’ mood is afoot, not early July when people haven’t even gone on holiday (or booked holiday!). As it happens, I’m partial to a rainy walk as long as not too extreme, but I draw the line at lots of lightning close by! My rainy walk tip? I’d say woods are lovely in the rain and obviously provide cover – so Petts Wood and Oldbury iron age fort would be my choices today. Knole, while not particularly woody, has a damp appeal too – it’s an atmosphere thing possibly.

Rainy July day. Point 5, Chevening walk
Kettleshill Farm oast houses in the rain, Underriver
Rainy July day. Looking up at the scarp, Chevening walk
Top path in Meenfield wood in drizzle, Shoreham, Kent, August
Nr Romney Street, Round Hill, Austin Spring
September, rainy day looking out from Polhill Bank near Shoreham.
A squall approaches Kemsing from the Brasted direction

Still, so far this year I’ve covered all the routes with the exception of Heaverham to Otford and the Heaverham circular (no particular reason why). I’ve walked the ‘go-tos’ several times each: Polhill, Downe, Fackenden, Bough Beech and Hosey Hill; and done all of the ‘occasionals’ such as Oldbury, Hever, Chiddingstone. I do feel the need to add extra walks… I know I need to add Meopham, Cliffe, Bexley, and perhaps Goathurst Common. There’s also a lovely walk from Tunbridge Wells that I should add involving the High Rocks. I reckon train access is particularly important; I’m uncomfortable with the assumption that everyone has a car (I can barely afford my own!). I think I’ve done well to get to 30 walks on the site; after all they are really springboards for your own adventures and can be modified, extended, shortened as you see fit. Let’s see if I can add a couple more by early 2026.

June 29, 2025 by ammcculloch49

Take secateurs on your Kent walk!

Things have got a bit overgrown on some of the more neglected paths. Despite the lack of rain, brambles have been getting busy and are giving their full attention to any bare legs they come across. Nettles too. The brilliant Eastern Valleys of Shoreham walk is the worse offender here… along the field edge coming up to point 3 in particular. That path is little used and things have got a little wild (there could well be an alternative route on a path within the woods, not along the field but I’m a little hazy on the details, it’s hot and I’ve been watching Glasto). I say secateurs, but a sickle or shears wouldn’t go amiss – whatever your implement, it’ll help keep things civilised. Obvs, don’t go crazy, just a little snip here and there to clear your path, we don’t want anything apart from brambles, the odd nettle and dogwood being snipped. Even on my brief Bough Beech stroll today I was assailed by prickles while on the pavement walking back towards the nature reserve (the kingfisher was showing well if you must know). Still, I survived; I always seem to, whatever terrible hazards the Kent walks near London throw at me.

May 10, 2025 by ammcculloch49

Bluebells 2025 – the winner!

The season is now over. It was as beautiful as ever at its peak, but this year the dry weather and maybe the cold wind, were not conducive to the bloom’s longevity. Last weekend at Ide Hill and Emmetts Garden the bluebells were gorgeous but already well on the wane. In fact at Ide Hill, brambles have taken over some of the areas where once bluebells thrived. Some of my favourites this year were at the top of Wilmot’s Hill near Ightham Mote; but what has struck me in recent weeks is how pretty bluebells are when mingled with other flowers – notably cuckoo flowers, red campion and stitchwort – at the foot of hedgerows. The Bough Beech walk has some of my favourite examples, Underriver too. Oh yes, and below Polhill Bank on the path to Sepham Farm, where you are likely to be serenaded by yellowhammers (that’s a bird by the way, not a construction tool).

New Year’s Wood, Cudham
New Year’s Wood, Cudham
Emmett Gardens
Wild garlic and bluebells, Emmett
Emmett Gardens
Scord Wood, near Ide Hill
Ide Hill 2025
Wilmott Hill bluebells
Cuckoo flowers and bluebells near Bore Place, Bough Beech
Wood anemones and early bluebells, Andrew’s Wood, near Shoreham
Lullingstone

So, to the winner and runners-up of the annual Kent Walks Near London bluebell competition:

New Year’s Wood, Cudham chalk paths walk
Hedgerow bluebells, Bough Beech walk
Top of Wilmot’s Hill, One Tree Hill figure of eight walk

Last year’s winner, the Blueberry Lane meadow, at Knockholt was obviously utterly stunning but the rules state that the same location can’t win the following year. I actually visited New Year’s Wood very early in the bluebell season, before they’d quite found their colour, but the seas of young flowers in the late afternoon sunlight were truly beguiling in that quiet, mysterious wood.

Please contact me with any omissions in my not particularly extensive bluebell research. The season only lasts a couple of weeks so it’s not always possible to get around all the walks to view them – I didn’t go to High Elms, Oldbury, Petts Wood, Meenfield Wood (recently scarred by timber work) or Lullingstone over the past month so no idea how good they were.

April 5, 2025 by ammcculloch49

Greening time and an early grass snake

To the accompanying sounds of chiffchaffs, blackcaps, wrens, tits, dunnocks and robins, I trekked the Polhill/Pluto route from Andrews Wood car park on Shackland Road. Suddenly there’s a sheen of green in the tree canopies; in fact there are canopies – not just stark branches – the colour scheme has seamlessly moved on from the gentle grey/browns of winter. Below the greening trees wood anemones and early bluebells are mixing with celandine, early cowslips, primroses and the odd cuckoo flower to add pixels of vibrant hues. I was delighted to spot a long, thin and beautifully patterned grass snake after hearing leaves rustling under a bush, but I couldn’t bring the camera to bear in time: damn autofocus! Slow worms were plentiful though, but you have to know where to look and avoid disturbing them. Buzzards took delight in the clear sky and subtle breezes. A fantastic walk.

View across the mouth of the Darent Valley from Polhill in early April
The greening of Meenfield Wood
Wood anemones and bluebells, Andrew’s Wood
Just blue sky and fresh foliage, Meenfield Wood
Gorse and early foliage across the valley from Meenfield Wood to Andrew’s Wood

April 1, 2025 by ammcculloch49

Circular walk sign confusion alert

It’s great to bump into walkers using my instructions; I can usually spot the pdfs a mile off! But it’s not so great when those walkers are lost … while cycling on Sunday I bumped into two intrepid hikers on Sunday in Downe. Unfortunately, they were trying to follow the Cudham Chalk Paths walk but had gone rather off piste. They had thought that the green and yellow signs for the much longer Cudham Circular walk, as advertised by Bromley Council and Long Distance Walks Association, were route markers for the more modest walk at KWNL. I was able to explain the error and direct them (hopefully) back towards Cudham but the thought that people were using existing signs to follow my walks was terrifying. Please don’t do that! There are no KWNL walks that have specific signposts; the routes are only here on this website.