Mud

Muddy and miserable
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Muddy and miserable

A cursory glance at this website may suggest that the north-west Kent walks are permanently sunny. Or snowy. Or bright and breezy. My choice of photographs suggest the routes exist in a world rich in colour, and one must only stride out purposefully with map in hand and trainers on foot to have a great time. Alas, it is not so. Walkers are squelching through giant puddles, inching their way around horrific mud patches and sliding back down liquid hillsides. They are arriving back at home dishevelled, slightly disorientated and in need of a good soak. As I write in mid-February, during one of the cloudiest and wettest winters I can recall, the truth is that unless your need is great, it might be better to abandon the notion of walking in the countryside for the time being. One friend terminated his walk at Westerham after a few hundred yards last week, while another KWNL reader informs me that Polhill and Meenfield woods (west of Shoreham) are impassable. Polhill is simply too steep to bear most humans’ weight in these slippery conditions, while Meenfield woods’ tracks are seas of horrific mud made worse by bulldozers and diggers being used for forestry work there (thinning some of the trees).

Mud, frost and snow
Path turned to mud, amid snow and frost at One Tree Hill, February 2021. I’ve never seen anything like this scene before or after

Has anywhere survived the mud?

If you must walk, I suggest: Knole Park in Sevenoaks, where there are solid, firm stone and tarmac paths; Lullingstone, where the chalk downs spirit away a lot of the surface water into aquifers (but avoid the busy, ridiculously muddy path alongside the Darent river); and perhaps High Elms, but don’t blame me if that proves a morass too. Avoid the Greensand Way walks, such as One Tree Hill, Hosey Common, Ide Hill and Underriver. Even the trusty old Downe walk, which once was dependable in all conditions, is in an appalling state now, partly because the ‘new’, hemmed-in paths around the children’s farm compress the footfall.

Muddy matters
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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)

Polhill/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

Look to the light
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Look to the light

January walks are all about timing. Things can appear dreary, muddy, dank and generally unappealing but with the right weather conditions the quality of the light can make everything right. Clear, bright, frosty days are definitely the best for a Kent hike at this time of year and despite all the low cloud and rain this month, there have been quite a few such days falling at the weekend. Well, a couple anyway. We’ve tried to make the most of it and walks at Cudham, One Tree Hill, Ide Hill, Hosey, Downe (despite the new fences) and Petts Wood have come up trumps. With a hard frost, like the one we found at One Tree Hill last Sunday, a lot of the mud freezes, which helps considerably. Such days can be good for a spot of casual birdwatching too with small birds often so keen to feed that they care less for human presence – I’ve enjoyed up-close views of goldcrest, nuthatch, coal tit and brambling this winter. But it’s a mysterious affair; sometimes there are no birds at all.

  • Beech trees, winter
    Beech trees catch the late afternoon sun, Downe
  • cloudy day Kent
    Sunbeam at Mariners Hill over the low weald of Kent.
  • Winter sun on track
    Rooks Hill Lane on the One Tree Hill, Ightham Mote walk at Bitchet Green (iphone photo)
  • Downe walk in winter
    Sunshine on beech trees, Downe, January
  • Frosty path
    Hidden valley, Ightham Mote in deep frost. iPhone photo.
I’ve surrendered to the mud
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I’ve surrendered to the mud

The mud I’ve encountered out walking is worse this year than in any other I can remember (much worse than the picture I’ve used from Meenfield wood suggests). It has been much wetter than normal, with regular heavy rain over the past two months, but the number of people out and about is another major factor in churning it up. It’s going to take some paths a long time to recover I suspect.

The situation in parks is the same, though of course there are more hard surfaced paths to take; I cycled over to Beckenham Place Park earlier and there are patches of mud where there should be grass in many places. The number of people in the park was good to see; surely it’s better to see everyone in the fresh air trying to enjoy themselves and keep body and soul together than not. On the other hand social distancing was a problem and there were some large groups. Hardly anyone wore a mask, strangely. I know transmission of Covid is thought to be unlikely in the open air but, still, with so many people surely a mask might add a little extra security. We do it on railway platforms so why not in parks? The air was very still, too – something to consider? I’m not sure. Truly remarkable were two ice cream vans down by the car park. That’s not in the spirit of lockdown at all. And it felt about 1C. I still can’t believe it. A deadly plague, it’s 1C and we’re queueing for ice cream or coffee?

One Tree Hill… snow and a river of liquid mud instead of a path

Anyway, back to mud. If using Kent Walks near London for the first time I feel I should point out that the walks are, for 9 months of the year, much better than this squelchy experience! Even with wellies you have be careful not to slip over in it and stretches of up to 100 metres are fraught on some routes. Steep hills are out of the question. Maybe – and it goes against the grain with me to write this – it’s time to leave the countryside alone for a bit. Either join the hordes in the local park (but with a mask and careful distancing) or trudge the streets. Sorry.

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Exotic trees and crazy mud

Emmetts Garden (on the Ide Hill walk) is showing off its rare tree species at the moment, with orbs hanging off branches and baskets draped with national flags. Inside each basket is the name of the tree and its origin. Surprisingly good fun going from one to the other trying to work out what it is. I’d never heard of a castor oil tree (China) before but the Japanese cedar was my favourite.

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Meanwhile, mud is a sticking point on the walks, as you’d expect in February. One Tree Hill and around is awful, Hever too. But Ide Hill is not too bad – even the bit where you meet the Toys Hill red route is passable. Elsewhere, Lullingstone/Eynsford is generally OK, Shoreham circular too. Downe and Knole Park are bankers for lack of mud in huge quantities, but Petts Wood has plenty of squelchy areas. All are fine with decent boots – it’s just that you should be mentally prepared for a bit of slippin’ and slidin’, and going to the pub afterwards means taking boots off or bringing spare shoes.

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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.

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Mud

Mud near the Roman villa (walk 3)

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)