December 30, 2016 by ammcculloch49

Eynsford, Darent Valley, Downe winter photographs

Blowing my own trumpet rather (an odd expression for a saxophonist to use of course), I’m rather pleased with these two photos, particularly the top one, taken at about 3.45pm on the Eynsford walk (shoreham-to-eynsford and lullingstone). I was struck by the sky colours, the shapes of the trees and how the flint stones in the field stood out white, seeming almost luminescent. The second one was pointing further towards the recently set sun, hence the orange hues. Anyway, enough pretentious twaddle from me… hope you like them.

Eynsford Lullingstone flinty field, winter

Eynsford, Lullingstone, Kent. Flinty field.

Update, January 10, 2017: I did some major tweaking in Photoshop on the first of the pictures below to improve detail in the foreground. Cheating, some would call it. It was taken near Downe House at about 3.45pm in early January 2017, as were the pictures beneath it (even though they appear lighter, they were actually taken a few minutes later).

Downe near point 3 in winter

Frosty hillside fields, Downe

Field adjacent to Darwin’s house, Downe, January

November 12, 2016 by ammcculloch49

The joy of bad weather walks

The weekend has started abysmally, with heavy rain, low temperatures and general murk. Great for walking! Yes, there’s a real frisson in donning hat, gloves and coat and striding off on a ridge amid horizontal precipitation. Failure to remember hat or gloves, however, is detrimental to the cause. Some places take on a whole new atmosphere of wilderness when you walk in poor conditions. Knole Park suddenly seems like a Scottish glen, the Ashdown Forest becomes Dartmoor, Lullingstone the Cheviot hills (bit of a stretch that). Anyway, whatever, my point is that waiting for perfect conditions is just not good form if you want to enjoy the local countryside. I can see from my exalted position as webmaster that the number of views on this website fall dramatically as the clouds gather. So don’t delay, ignore the moisture, get out there. I’ll be watching.

fog-at-ide-hill-2017

Ide Hil walk, Ram Pump Pond

A great walk on a grey day is my latest offering here… Eynsford/Lullingstone (4 miles; 90 mins). It’s mostly mud-free, has two good pubs waiting for you, and up on the hill by Eagle Heights you’ll feel the elements alright. It’s also a great choice of walk if car-less; it starts from Eynsford station.

I won’t bother with a picture; grey, rainy days aren’t very photogenic. They’re all about feeling it.

A few hours later… went to Knole Park in awful conditions, but got an OK shot with the iphone
– had to brighten it a bit so a bit pixelly but still…

Stag at Knole, November 2016 (Point 1 on the Knole Walk)

January 18, 2016 by ammcculloch49

A frosty, clear, winter’s day at last

For only the second time this winter we’ve had a beautiful sharp day with the temperature struggling to get above zero. If there have been any others, they’ve been during the week, which doesn’t count! Saturday (16 Jan) was a superb walking day, particularly towards dusk, and there were loads of people walking around Eynsford and Shoreham. Sunday was cloudier and with patches of snow and ice. Looking at the state of some of the paths I recalled that someone who had recently done the walk between the two villages described it as ‘buggyable’. Well, that’s commendable, however state of the art and all-terrain their buggy is.

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December 20, 2015 by ammcculloch49

Winter walks and cosy pubs, Shoreham, Sevenoaks, Downe

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I’m updating this post (6.1.16) rather than write a new one, hence the discrepancy between the date and what I’m writing. Christmas has gone, sadly, and the temperature has plunged to normal January levels. There’s been plenty of rain (though nothing to moan about considering the horrendous situation in Cumbria, Yorkshire and parts of Lancashire) and some of the routes on this site are now a bit quagmirish – nothing to daunt those who are used to Glastonbury down the years though! The arrival of fresher conditions will add a bit of winter ambience to the walks and improve the light – it’s been so heavy and grey this past month – and make that open fire in the pub at the end even more welcome. So, get those boots on and start living up to your new year’s resolutions and walking off all that cheese, roast potatoes and booze-induced torpor…

Most of these walks are accessible from Peckham, Dulwich, Lewisham, Brockley within 45 minutes by train or car. The train from Blackfriars to Sevenoaks is very useful for several (click for Peckham Rye live departures, Nunhead, Beckenham Hill, Beckenham Junction (change at Swanley or Bromley South if leaving from Beckenham Junction). The Downe walk involves a bus from Bromley (146) or, from Orpington station, the R8 bus or 10-minute cab ride).

Of the routes on this site, the least affected by mud are usually the Shoreham circular, Shoreham/Otford circular, Shoreham to Eynsford and Downe Circular. You’ll still need boots, but the woodland walks at One Tree Hill and Ide Hill are true squelchathons come December, although they remain great to do if you have the right footwear (and attitude!). Also excellent are Knole Park (Sevenoaks station nearest rail) and Lullingstone Country park (where you can do a variety of walks arriving at and leaving from Eynsford station, but can also explore on the Shoreham to Eynsford walk). The latter two are great for huge skies and spectacular late afternoon sunlight. Just take a look at winter sun shining on Knole House (pictured). Shoreham is lucky to have four excellent pubs, each of which is welcoming and serves decent food. None are snooty and formal. They are Ye Olde George and The Crown, the King’s Arms and the Two Brewers. I usually stop by the George (by the church), mainly because it’s closest to the station. For the Ide Hill walk on this site, the Cock Inn is splendidly positioned right at the end of the walk and is a really nice little pub. The best pubs for the One Tree Hill walks are the White Rock Inn (Underriver) and the Chasers Inn (Shipbourne). In Downe there are two pubs: the Queen’s Head and the George and Dragon; they are close to each other so poke your head in and see which one you like best.
• Pubs in Shoreham – West Kent Camra crawl
• Rainfall radar live

November 21, 2015 by ammcculloch49

Autumn becomes winter

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That seemed to happen very quickly. A dreamy, misty, surprisingly warm autumn has suddenly snapped into winter with a blast of Arctic air. Truth to tell, the past 10 days have become increasingly turbulent, with high winds stripping the trees of much of their leaves… all those beautiful greens, oranges and reds were too good to last. I know; this happens every year, but somehow it all seems somewhat abrupt each time, in the same way as you feel plunged into darkness when the clocks go back.

So … up for a winter walk? Of the routes on this site, the least affected by mud are usually the Shoreham circular, Shoreham/Otford circular, Shoreham to Eynsford and Downe Circular. You’ll still need boots, but the woodland walks at One Tree Hill and Ide Hill are truly squelchathons come December, although they remain great to do if you have the right footwear (and attitude!). Also excellent are Knole Park and Lullingstone Country park (where you can do a variety of walks arriving at and leaving from Eynsford station, but can also explore on the Shoreham to Eynsford walk). The latter two are great for huge skies and spectacular late afternoon sunlight. Just take a look at winter sun shining on Knole House (pictured).

I’ll soon be adding some more winter pictures on the site and maybe my routes around Knole and Lullingstone (nearly mud-free). So stick around.

February 22, 2015 by ammcculloch49

A weather lesson

The viaduct at Eynsford from the latter stages of walk 3, in awful weather

I went out this afternoon with my older son for a decent walk around Lullingstone/Eynsford. I hadn’t checked the weather, in fact I hadn’t glanced outside all day (football was on). I was dimly aware of it being windy but somehow had thought it would be mild. We considered going to see Whiplash at the cinema but decided some fresh air would do us good. Fresh?! Horizontal, freezing rain; a wind chill of -3C… well, it shows that even the North Downs have their wild side. The picture above just looks dull; doesn’t do justice to the sheer pain the elements inflicted on us today.

February 21, 2015 by ammcculloch49

Mud

Mud near the Roman villa (walk 3)

In February the mud league table needs publishing, especially with some quite big rainfalls this past week.

So, from the driest to the wettest and muddiest walk (I haven’t loaded all these walks yet)

1 Knole (where does the water go?)
2 Downe (nothing too serious but popular stretches of paths quite squelchy)
3 Lullingstone river path (nasty, but the river distracts you – and the danger of sliding in)
4 Shoreham (some bad spots, particularly by the river on the way to Eynsford)
5 Toys Hill (soul-sapping seas of mud)
6 One Tree Hill (detours into the brambles will leave your clothes in tatters and your arms bleeding!)
7 Lullingstone path by Roman villa (pictured; after the steps the path is a morass of vile goop with no escape; mercifully short)
8 Andrews Wood slope (you’ll be on your arse in no time at all)

February 18, 2015 by ammcculloch49

Knole Park tips

Knole, in Sevenoaks, is wonderful in all seasons and weathers, though hardly an undiscovered gem. And it’s the best option for a mud-free(ish) walk in winter. If you are driving there from south east London for a walk (rather than to visit the National Trust Tudor house), park the car in St Julian Road for free access and enter one of the many gates. The best gate, from the walk point of view and ease of plonking your motor somewhere, is at the junction of St Julian Rd and Fawke Wood Rd, by the little pond. Once in the park it’s about a mile and a bit to Knole House. I recommend going ‘off-piste’ on one of the smaller paths around the edge of the park (go in the gate and fork right, for example). You’ll always eventually come out somewhere where it’s open and you can get your bearings from a distant sight of Knole’s high chimneys. There’s a rarely visited conifer plantation close to this gate which is really rather atmospheric – if you like birds watch out for goldcrests at this point. If you are going by train, you can enter Knole from Sevenoaks High St, after a 15-minute walk from the station. Above is a picture taken just to the south of Knole House in the late afternoon of February 17.

February 14, 2015 by ammcculloch49

A bucolic welcome to you

Sometimes you just need to get out of the city. Even in good ol’ south east London, with its verdant parks and Victoriana, the urge to swan around in ancient landscapes, free of the roar of traffic, does sometimes come to us all of a weekend. The good news is that there are beautiful fields, woods and villages to walk in just 30 minutes out of town by car or train.

Whether you’ve moved to south east London for work purposes or whether you are from these parts and just haven’t felt the urge to shift your butt into the woods and fields, my aim with this site is, without wishing to be rude, to tell you where to go. I want to share with you the great places you can walk in without much planning and without dedicating too much time to it. Many of the routes are great to take children on, too.