The open spaces and long valley views of Lullingstone make for a very atmospheric walk at this time of year in clear conditions. The Shoreham-Eynsford stations walk takes in an area of the park, as does Walk 12 but its easy to devise your own stroll from the Visitor’s Centre or from Eynsford’s Roman Villa car park (not free) or train station. There is also parking in Eynsford village or in laybys along the road to the Villa. It’s a bit cloudy as I write but on Thursday the sky was fantastic, though there was no moon.
Merry Christmas to all – and enjoy a winter walk why don’t you
Hope all visitors to this site have a great break and get to enjoy a winter walk over the festive season to clear the head and get the blood circulating. Right now I can’t get enough of the Shoreham/Fackenden Down/Romney St walk. With its views and variety it’s perfect for a crisp clear day, though I love the Lullingstone/Eynsford walks at this time of year, too. On drizzly days, Polhill Bank and Knole come into their own with their super woods and lack the same quantity of mud as, say, One Tree Hill, Ide HIll and Hever. Closer to London, the Chislehurst station to Petts Wood station route is worth a punt on a bad weather day too; it doesn’t have much in the way of views but makes up for that with great trees and atmosphere. Pubs with roaring fires are one of the regional pleasures; check out the pubs page. How lucky to have access to such great places to roam around and enjoy a beverage, as the Big Lebowski’s Dude would say.
I wonder if we’ll get much snow this winter…
Fackenden Down
The austere beauty of the Kent Downs in winter
Winter has arrived but it remains mild; with more rainfall the mud has churned up on the most of the walks so it’s time for wellies. But take care: the chalky Darent Valley hillside paths can be a bit slippery at this time of year, particularly where the paths are worn and the chalk is close to the surface. But the austere beauty of the North Downs in winter is now evident, especially on the eastern side of the valley – walks 5, 14 and 19 – and on the Eynsford routes: walks 3 and 12. If the temperature drops a bit take a flask out with some hot chocolate and maybe a shot of something stronger – really works out here in an easterly wind!
Each of the walks on this site have their own character. There’s definitely a split between the southern routes, such as Chiddingstone, Ide Hill and at Hever, which are more wooded and somehow bucolic, and the more hilly, more grassy northern routes of the Darent Valley where the ridgelines are the highest points for an easterly winds for hundreds of miles. It’s all very atmospheric; when walking I often imagine what life was like for Saxons, Romans, Britons and Vikings who settled these parts and picture them on their long, painstaking journeys.
So, here’s a useful way of choosing a walk near SE London … enlarge the map, then just click on the labels and lines to find a walk that suits you. You’ll see there’s quite a spaghetti junction of walks around Shoreham, you can combine them all and stay out all week if you like! My tip this week is Walk 19: Fackenden Down. It’s on the eastern side of the Darent Valley – straight out of Shoreham train station and the views are terrific. The walks are also on the menu at the top. Enjoy…
My walks
• Download Walk 1: Downe circular (near Bromley, 2.6 miles) View on your phone/desktop
• Download Walk 2: Shoreham circular (3.5 miles) View
• Download Walk 3: Shoreham to Eynsford (4.2 miles) View
• Download Walk 4: Ide Hill circular (3 miles) View
• Download Walk 5: Otford circular via Romney St (5.5 miles) View
• Download Walk 6: One Tree Hill circular (near Sevenoaks, 5.5 miles) View
• Download Walk 7: One Tree Hill figure of eight (near Sevenoaks, 5 miles) View
• Download Walk 8: Shoreham/Otford circular (5 miles) View
• Download Walk 9: Hever circular (4.5 miles) View
• Download Walk 10: Chiddingstone/Penshurst circular (4 miles) View
• Download Walk 11: Knole Park’s Wild Side (3.5 miles) View
• Download Walk 12: Eynsford/Lullingstone circular (4 miles) View
• Download Walk 13: Chislehurst station to Petts Wood station (3.7 miles) View
• Download Walk 14: Shoreham’s mystery eastern valleys (5 miles) View
• Download Walk 15: Westerham/Chartwell (5.5 miles) View
• Download Walk 16: Shoreham circular mk2 (3.5 miles) View
• Download Walk 17: Bough Beech/Bore Place (2.5 miles) View
• Download Walk 18: Shoreham/Polhill Bank (4 miles) View
• Downland Walk 19: Fackenden Down (4 miles) View
• Download Walk 20: Downe circular mk2 (4 miles) View
An online version of the Ordnance Survey map 147 can be found here but strangely some public footpaths are not included. I’m gradually working on making GPX files for the walks so they can be followed ‘live’ on smartphone, but, ahem, slow progress is being made!
Shoreham, Kent – a perfect village for a stroll
Nine of the walks on this site involve the Shoreham neighbourhood, in the Darent Valley. This is good, because Shoreham is a decent little place with its four fine pubs, vineyard, Battle of Britain museum, river walk and houses from down the centuries. And it has a station, served by trains from London Blackfriars (sometimes Victoria too) via Peckham Rye and Bromley South, and Sevenoaks. Otford down the road is alright too. My walks use the valley rims, east and west; the valley floor along the river and the ‘dry’ valleys (geographical feature – not a reference to any shortage of pubs!) that flank the main one. The Darent river itself rises south of Westerham, on the shallow slope of the Greensand ridge and its early stretches can be seen on walks 15 and 21. Try not to drive through the village itself. On the east side of the village there’s a car park by the station and a huge layby almost opposite the station. On the west side there’s a free car park at Filston Lane. Best of all though, arrive by train if possible. There’s only one (tiny) shop in the place, so don’t expect to do your shopping there.
It’s a great village to stroll around, explore the ancient church and paths that skirt the northern side, around the back of the vineyard. Full details can be found on each Shoreham walk page. The Darent Valley path itself, which the walks here take in stretches of, is 19 miles long, starts by Sevenoaks station and ends at Dartford, as the river enters the Thames. So that’ll take awhile.
The sublime nine Shoreham walks
- Shoreham circular 3.5 miles (western side of valley)
- Shoreham to Eynsford one way train walk 4 miles (valley floor mostly)
- Otford-Romney St-Shoreham-Otford 5.5 miles (eastern side and beyond)
- Shoreham-Otford circular 5 miles (western side and valley floor)
- Mysterious eastern valleys of Shoreham 5.5 miles (eastern side and beyond)
- Shoreham mk2, the eastern rim 3.5 miles (eastern and valley floor)
- Shoreham-Polhill Bank 4 miles (western side)
- Fackenden Down and Beyond 4 miles – as featured in The Guardian (eastern side)
- Polhill Bank and Pluto 4 miles – starts from Andrews Wood/Shacklands Rd car park
- Each walk has a PDF download option to print out and GPX map to follow
Shoreham station is most convenient for the eastern walks but it’s only a half-mile walk down Station Rd to connect with the western valley ones, too. Each of the walks can be adapted into something much longer by joining them together.
Walking at Fackenden Down and Magpie Bottom, Shoreham, Kent
The diversion to Fackenden Down is a great variation to the Shoreham circular walks. If you walk over the top of the hill and continue to Magpie Bottom you join the Romney Street walk, shortening it slightly. Fackenden Down and Magpie Bottom are both sites of special scientific interest and are examples of chalk upland being rewilded. Both have great biodiversity with rare plants, insects, birds and reptiles. See details (Walk 19). The other walk that can be altered to take in Fackenden Down is the ‘eastern valleys’ walk. Here are some pictures:
Here’s a map of the near-four-mile route; description here
One Tree Hill, Sevenoaks – good place to catch a winter sunset
The Greensand Way route between Ightham Mote, One Tree Hill and its Wilmot Hill derivatives are great for winter light after about 2.30pm at the moment. Picture below is from yesterday about 3.45pm. Love how the sheep reflect the light. It looks darker in the picture than it actually was… trying to get the exposure right for land and sky always a challenge.
Chartwell on Remembrance Day
A walk with added poignancy today. Mariner’s Hill (Walk 15) has great views over Winston Churchill’s house at Chartwell to the Weald. The autumn colours here are particularly vibrant although I don’t think the hot summer and ridiculously mild autumn has led to more vibrancy than normal – as was advertised by some sources.
Twilight Kent walks
The clocks have gone back. For me that means rushed late afternoon walks as dusk gathers. Today’s speedy stroll was at Ide Hill, ending in complete darkness. Was hoping for an owl, but didn’t even see a bat. Some beautiful autumnal scenes though, across the Low Weald of Kent.
Soggy Saturday: super cool Sunday
A dull damp Saturday, a stormy Sunday morning then a bright breezy, cold afternoon. Big contrasts. Two walks: Polhill Bank (an extension of Shoreham mk1) and Ide Hill. I love Meenfield woods high on Shoreham’s western ridge in wet weather, wisps of cloud scraping past the tree tops. Further south, at Ide Hill on Sunday, the sudden bright sunshine, after a morning of torrential rain, strangely failed to warm the air which carried with it hints of the Arctic. We saw a buzzard and a red kite. Chaffinches, a bullfinch pair and blue tits hopped busily in the undergrowth on Emmetts’ southern bank. My boy suggested the pub, then changed his mind: he wanted to see if Arsenal would lose to Everton. They didn’t, and we put the central heating on. There’s a non sequitur for you.
September, rainy day looking out from Polhill Bank near Shoreham.
The new clearing looking south 250 metres in to the Ide Hill walk. September, bright, cold afternoon
Best walks for autumn colour in north-west Kent
It has been said that the longish hot summer this year will lead to particularly vibrant colours from later this month and up until December. Could be hype I suppose, but let’s entertain the notion that it’s true. Even if it isn’t, every autumn is colourful and fascinating given the migrating birds, transforming hedgerows and trees. All the walks on this site are great for classic fall colours because there a lot of trees in Kent! And I can’t think of a walk here without a great view. But if push comes to shove I’d say the One Tree Hill walks (6 and 7), the Chiddingstone walk and the Westerham walk are the top three, closely followed by Ide Hill and Shoreham Mk2. Anyway, we’re not there yet… still warm enough to pretend it’s summer (well, it was if you were reading this on Friday – no longer!), even if the wind is gusting noisily as I write and talk of storms is darkening the bright smiles of the TV weatherforecasters.
Kent walks near London 