January 3, 2024 by ammcculloch49

Watery winter walks

I should apologise. For the past couple of months I have been enticing people out into the local countryside with flattering photos of the atmospheric woods and hills of north-west Kent in winter. I have depicted frosty and snowy scenes, blue skies and wonderful sunsets. I have described hearty, bracing walks finished off at a village pub with a warming fire. Worse, I even encouraged people to go on strolls over the festive period. In mitigation I have mentioned the risk of mud patches and even suggested that rainy walks in murky conditions aren’t necessarily a bad thing, but there’s no getting round it: anyone following my advice of late has probably been soaked to the bone, slid over in puddles, muddied their entire wardrobe, and not received anything in the way of “bracing winter walk” vibes. On a drizzly stroll with friends in Richmond Park last week under prematurely darkening skies I actually fell headfirst into a ditch that houses a tributary of the Beverley Brook. Usually, hilarity would have ensured, but my comrades were too immersed in the perils of having to cross the stream themselves to laugh at my misfortune. Unlike me they took the flying leap option, whereas I had attempted to span the abyss with a long stride.

A lovely path on the Cudham walk nearing point 3 is not so lovely after weeks of rain

Anyway, conditions are terrible out there. Mild temperatures and high rainfall totals have created a dreadfully slippery environment. Playing golf at High Elms on New Year’s Day (the morning and early afternoon offered respite from the rain) we found it hard to hit the ball properly on the muddy fairways. We saw walkers, inevitably brandishing sticks with which they tried to scrape vast clods of clay mud weighing down their boots.

More heavy rain is forecast for Thursday and Friday of this week. The weekend should be drier but cloudy with lower temperatures of about 4C. Time to get going on those Christmas books I reckon …

December 26, 2023 by ammcculloch49

A Christmas trudge – then some fudge

We chose Lullingstone for our Christmas morning walk. Well, I didn’t actually. It was the family choice, and a surprise one because I was, for once in my life, all for staying in and wrongly assumed my partner would be. I’m glad we did though: staying in all day and not walking anywhere is hardly ever the right choice, even with a turkey to roast and fudge to finish.

There’s no denying that in the mild, grey, mizzly, boring weather the Darent Valley landscape seemed to have lost a bit of its lustre. It felt as if we’d taken it by surprise – it’s usually ready for us and induces an inward gasp of delight as we get our first view of it. On Christmas Day it looked a bit bleak, a bit ‘meh’. It seemed to be saying, “oh it’s just them again – I can’t be bothered frankly.”

Fieldfare profusion

But on closer examination there was a lot to enjoy: huge groups of fieldfare (a winter thrush visitor from north-east Europe); a few chaffinch (relatively scarce nowadays in these parts) in brilliant winter plumage; loads of berries – haws, rosehips, elderberry in the main – and long-tailed tits flitting through open woodland. The profusion of berries was the attraction for the fieldfares. My regular Lullingstone kestrel did not appear, nor did the almost tame goldcrest I’ve encountered previously in Upper Beechen Wood. (Fieldfare photo: hedera.baltica/Wikimedia Commons)

Oh, that tree!

I’m often astonished at myself for not noticing things – I’ve been known to sit on sofas at home without realising they are brand new, turn on TVs that someone has just delivered and installed, and fail to remark on a room‘s entire renovation. I exaggerate, but it amazes me that I’ve walked past the extraordinary old oak at Lullingstone pictured below at least 200 times without really clocking it; a memory of it must have been lodged in my brain somewhere since childhood, but in the subliminal part. In a similar vein there’s an elegant art deco building opposite Brixton station that’s very familiar to me but it was only last week, on returning from the Ritzy, that I actually looked at it and saw it for what it was. I’ll never ignore it again, and the same goes for this incredible oak.

To be fair, there are several of these oaks at Lullingstone, mostly up towards the golf clubhouse in the west of the park (unlike this one). With some I’m not quite sure if they’re dead or alive. There’s one that you could actually hide inside. This one, which is maybe 300 years old, has a kind of elephant’s face embedded, is indicated on the map below. I’m going to try to keep eyes and brain a bit more joined up from now on. Probably means less daydreaming – let’s see!

Click on the link for a ‘live’, gpx version of this 4-mile Lullingstone route at OS Maps.

December 24, 2023 by ammcculloch49

Festive walks in Kent

The true purpose of this website is to inform newcomers to south-east London from other parts of the UK, or from abroad, that great walks are to be had by just taking a train or driving for half an hour or so into Kent, where there are loads of paths to explore. So to all those who think “why’s he going on about Knole/Darent Valley/One Tree Hill/Hosey Common again – can’t he just go to Namibia or Baja California or somewhere interesting” – shut it!

Christmas and New Years’ strolls

The relatives have come around. After a couple of days milling about in the house you all fancy going for a decent walk and getting some fresh air. No one has proper hiking footwear. The answer: Knole (Sevenoaks) Why? Because many of the paths have hard surfaces and you can walk for 4 miles without leaving this wonderful park if you pick your route carefully. There are secluded dry valleys to explore, an igloo-like 18th century ice house to find, some lovely woodland and a massive medieval/Tudor house – the largest in the UK in fact. You can’t take dogs because huge deer herds roam around the place. But you can take buggies, even wheelchairs. On a winter’s afternoon, with the last rays of the sun setting the house aflame it’s a magical place. And if there’s any snow it’s ludicrously brilliant. Among the photos below are reminders of some of the coldest walks I’ve ever experienced!

Winter dusk, knole
Knole
Cold and cobalt … a freezing Knole dusk sky
Knole
Pond at Knole in snow; March 2018
Knole
Knole facade, showery day
Pine glow, Knole
Knole woods point 1
Knole in March snow, 2018

My 3.5-mile route leaves the hard path (the Chestnut Walk) immediately to take in the south-eastern open woods, part of Fawke Common, comprising fantastic oaks and beeches (you don’t have to park in the NT pay car park; you can leave the car in St Julian’s Rd and enter free, to the south of Knole, but this road can get a bit busy). Things then get a little darker as a fir plantation takes over and you dip down amid the high pitched calls of goldcrests to cross a little stream then emerge into the open by an ancient pond. Follow the route as it twists high and low before rejoining the hard path (the Duchess Walk) and heading to the house and around it before turning east back towards your arrival point. Know that you have been walking on acid grassland; a rare terrain type distinct from any of the other walks on this site. Fungi and lichen thrive here, not least because of the rotting wood from the arboreal victims of the 1987 ‘hurricane’. Birdwatching isn’t too bad either with buzzards, kites, sparrowhawks and tawny owls in attendance among the more common long-tailed tits, goldcrests, goldfinches, song thrush, wrens, robins and redwings. You don’t have to do my route – you can still do a fine walk by sticking to the hard paths (Chestnut, Broad and Duchess Walks), or you can extend my route by taking in the long south-west valley. Best just to wander and get a bit lost.

*Lullingstone and the southern end of the Darent Valley around Shoreham in winter*

Also recommended for a winter stroll – and closer to SE London than Knole – is the Shoreham circular, which may offer the added attraction of the smell of woodsmoke and a welcoming pub. Lullingstone is also highly atmospheric: I particularly recommend walking from the public golf club entrance, not the country park entrance – it’ll be less busy for one thing (note that the car park at the golf entrance is closed on New Year’s Day usually but you can usually park in the approach road). Closer to SE London, Beckenham Place Park and Petts Wood offer a couple of hours escape into the ‘Kent’ (London) wilderness. I haven’t checked the trains to Shoreham or Sevenoaks for these walks over this holiday period, so do find out whether they’re running – I don’t wish to encourage you all out only to have you waiting interminably for a replacement rail bus service, might still be fun though!

December 19, 2023 by ammcculloch49

Most memorable walks of the year 2023

This time last year there was snow in the North Downs; not a lot but certainly enough for bleak midwinter atmosphere, providing one of 2022’s most memorable walks: a saunter around the whole of Lullingstone (pictured below).

By contrast, this year’s winter walks have so far been muddy wet trudges in the gathering gloom. I did really enjoy Hosey Common the other week (see previous blog post) in atrocious conditions, because it reminded me of Scotland, I was with an old friend and family, and quite frankly I needed to get out – so it was great. Walking in uninspiring weather and finding pleasure is a challenge, a task that one must learn to relish, especially if one runs a walks website, which one does.

So looking back over the year none of my most recent strolls will make it into my most memorable top three and I’m gambling that my Christmas walks won’t top those this selection. An “out of town“ sortie to Hastings country park was among the best but was disqualified on obvious grounds.

This leaves my favourite walks in 2023 as:

Chiddingstone, 15 September: scorching late summer sunshine heavy with humidity; dragonflies and damsels over the River Eden; soaring buzzards, long grasses shimmering, a great pint in the Castle Inn with family. Blissful.
Fackenden Down, 26 August: old friends visiting from abroad joined us. They were more used to the chaparral of southern climes than the moist beech woods, scabious meadows and brambly hedgerows of the North Downs. They had read my piece in the Guardian about this walk and fancied a good old saunter. Iffy weather but delightful company and a lovely sesh at the Mount Vineyard and Samuel Palmer pub afterwards.
Ide Hill, 3 February: an incredible multicoloured winter evening sky and rare close-up sightings of treecreepers in mysterious Scord Wood really made it. The ram pump pond was perfectly still and there were timeless frozen views over the wintry weald to enjoy. Again, great company – an old friend joined me. We finished in darkness with a bright moon picking out the gathering mist.

Tudor houses, Chiddingstone
Southernmost end of Magpie Bottom

December 7, 2023 by ammcculloch49

Dull, damp and delightful

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)

December 2, 2023 by ammcculloch49

Frisson in the North Downs freeze

There’s a real pleasure to walking in very cold conditions and not only because you’ve bought some hot chocolate with you with a shot of rum in it. The light, the clouds, the wonder of winter and the sudden dusk all bring an edge of adventure. It’s a great time for a walk. Often the mud is hardened by frost too so you can stride without getting bogged down. We don’t often get snow in these parts but remember that if there’s a hint of the white stuff in south east London there’s a good chance there’s a lot more of it on the North Downs. So if you have children pining for snow larks, there’s always a chance that by heading to say Fackenden Down, Polhill or Knockholt you might have a bit of luck. It’s worked for me over the years. I particularly love the atmosphere of Knole in winter – the frosty hollows and rich (ish) bird life coupled with that huge medieval home that is lit so beautifully by the setting sun and from within as twilight comes on, are an essential part of my mid-winter wanders. This little cold snap will be over by tomorrow evening but there’ll be more to come.

Frosted trees nearing Warren Farm
Frosty hillside fields, Downe
Line of trees after sunset Austin Spring
Squerrys path, Westerham

November 12, 2023 by ammcculloch49

Muddy matters

In my most recent newsletter there was a glaring omission. I listed the best walks on this site for mud avoidance but forgot to mention Knole. This was particularly remiss of me because not only does it deserve a place in any list of non-muddy winter walks it should actually be top of the list.

A walk there last week revealed only one properly muddy bit, in the conifer woods in the south east of the park near the beginning of the route as you cross the little stream. The park is brilliant at all times of year but I particularly love it in late autumn as small flocks of migratory birds hide in hawthorn shrubs, buzzards float high above and the deer develop enormous antlers. Fungi is also better here than on any other of the walks I think. I’m no expert, but the amethyst deceiver is among the most colourful, and there are other great species here such as saffrondrop bonnets and fairy fingers. We saw devil’s fingers on our most recent walk, very weird looking stuff.

Knole in autumn, honey fungii, parasol, puffball, devils finger

Knole (click here for National Trust description) is quite a rare terrain: it sits just behind the Greensand Ridge and is mainly composed of acid grassland (click for Kent Wildlife Trust in-depth). In fact it contains about 35% of all the acid grassland in Kent, a terrain that provides habitat for lots of wildflowers and rare fauna including lizards and adders, and invertebrates such as deadwood beetles. The little hillocks in the grass are the nests of yellow meadow ants, and in turn their presence helps support a good green woodpecker population.

Knole House

Back to mud: I’d say the best routes for mud avoidance are:

1 Knole

2 Lullingstone – from the golf course entrance or from Eynsford station

3 Fackenden Down

4 Polhill and Shoreham

5 Ide Hill (now that the paths have been relaid – but can still get bad at points)

By and large the walks on the North Downs chalk are better for avoiding mud as water seeps through the thin soil into the porous walk quicker. Yet, to contradict this, Knole is sandstone and the worst spot for mud at KWNL is on the chalk Andrew’s Wood hillside on the way to Meenfield woods and Polhill/Pluto.

Mud, frost and snow at One Tree Hill, February 2021

Mostly, a pair of wellies and overtrousers will sort you out where things get really squelchy but I’ll be mostly avoiding Underriver (Ramshed Farm in particular), and the Low Weald walks at Hever and Chiddingstone for now. Where paths are hemmed in a bit and popular with walkers things also get very squelchy (like the path up into Lullingstone from the Roman Villa pictured in the leading image, for example). So ‘natural causes’ are not always responsible for mud, though I suspect the water table and a layer of clay might be responsible for Andrews Wood hillside. One Tree Hill is surprising to me – it’s not a place you’d think would get so bad. It could be footfall, or perhaps some water table-related reason is the reason. Another morass is on the popular Downe walk just before you re-emerge into the village right at the end. The popular Shoreham Circular is OK, though footfall on the path through the golf course can lead to horrendously swampy conditions!

So, worst for mud are:

One Tree Hill (at the top of the hill near the car park is horrendous if wet)

Underriver (aforementioned farm and waterlogged low weald fields)

P olhill/Pluto – Andrews Wood hillside and Polhill slope itself (too slippery in winter)

Hever – hemmed in paths create WW1-type conditions

Chiddingstone – waterlogged fields by River Eden

But you may disagree! Let me know your favourite and least favourite muddy zones at KWNL, email ammcculloch49@gmail.com

October 31, 2023 by ammcculloch49

New route: Heaverham/Kemsing circular

This route, no 28, is similar to walk 27, but is better for people walking on Sundays, when there is no train service. You can start it from the lovely Chequers Inn, Heaverham (if you buy a drink/meal); Kemsing village car park; or Mon-Sat from Kemsing station. Rather like the Chevening/Knockholt walk it’s another chalk escarpment route that drops down into the Vale of Holmesdale, and uses short stretches of the North Downs Way. The link below includes the usual Google map and the more useful OS map, plus written directions. PDF to download will follow in a few days!

Click here for full description and maps

October 15, 2023 by ammcculloch49

The woody wonder of ancient Oldbury: a shorter route

Click here for full directions for Walk 29 at KWNL.

This is a shorter version of a really great woodland autumnal route. The Oldbury walk comes in at around seven miles once you wander around a bit. That may be a bit offputting for some, who prefer a 90-minute-2-hour stroll, no more, no less. So click here for a clipped version (Ordnance Survey GPX map). On this shorter 4.2-mile version you miss out on Ightham Mote and its secret valley but other walks on this site include these superb spots, such as the two One Tree HIll walks (walk 6 and 7). So, starting in the Styants Bottom Rd car park the new walk sets off east and around the Iron Age Fort of Oldbury Hill. On the fort’s northern side there are great views to Kemsing Down and the St Clere estate at Heaverham if you walk along the field edge. Then it’s back into the woods, crossing the A25 at Crown Point and walking up towards St Lawrence church above Stone Street. Just before reaching the church turn sharp left and follow the path along a cliff edge set back from the main greensand ridge before turning left down giant steps and following the sand path north through mysterious Fishpond Wood back to the A25 then on to the car park.

Holloway on north west slope of Oldbury Hill Fort
A log looking like the remains of a prehistoric creature (eye and mouth front right)
Fallen tree by one of the fish ponds, almost dry in early September
Sand path through Fishpond Woods, Oldbury
Church, Stone Street, on Oldbury walk, July

I’ve added some waypoints to the GPX map mentioned above to help you navigate. Some have labels (church, for example) others have Ordnance Survey grid references (TQ 5764 5613 etc) to help you pinpoint location on your smarphone (if you have one). I recommend using the GPX map because being mostly in woods it’s hard, otherwise, to know what path you’re on; however, walking around a bloody great lump in the form of south-east England’s largest iron age fort should help! Here’s the NT page, and here’s more about the history of the place here.

There’s also a Google map of the route here, but this isn’t GPX so not as useful.

One more thing about this walk: it’s a bit spooky. The woods, the ancient fort, the hidden cliff, the mysterious ponds in the woods. It’s … atmospheric let’s say.

October 12, 2023 by ammcculloch49

Green October

The Underriver walk was a picture last weekend, two unseasonably warm days that probably represented the last knockings of summer. It felt like summer and looked like summer with foliage mostly green and few birds flocking apart from some buzzards and jackdaws in a high altitude spiral. It’s another walk I now do in reverse to the sequence described on this site. One of the reasons for this is to avoid the sharp uphill section in the holloway by the “dancing beeches” just past the oasthouses at point 3. Coming downhill here then enjoying the route past Romshed farm seems a bit more civilised now I’ve done it a few times. At One Tree Hill the National Trust has trimmed the hedgerows and blackthorn clumps back to enlarge the panoramic view – and very effectively so. I’ve walked past that spot since childhood, though much more often these days, and that timeless view across the Low Weald to the Ashdown Forest and as far as the Surrey Hills in the west still grabs my attention. It’s a popular spot, as you can see in the picture below.

Walks this weekend will have a different flavour. The ground will be wetter with plenty of freshly fallen leaves. The temperature will be a lot crisper than last week, perhaps by nearly 10C, but with blue skies forecast it should be a beautiful couple of days for a stroll. And a first proper taste of autumn.