Tunbridge Wells Circular Walk - Stage 1, Southborough to Pembury

Last autumn when I’d finally finished walking the North Downs Way long distance footpath, I began looking around for another hiking trail to attempt next. There were a number of possible options, the most obvious one being the Greensand Way, a trail that runs for 108 miles, from Haslemere in Surrey to Hamstreet in Kent. The Greensand ridge runs broadly parallel to the south of the chalk hills of the North Downs, and takes its name from the layers of sandstone, some of which contain the green coloured mineral glauconite.

Much of the route passes through quiet and almost remote areas, where opportunities for accommodation and refreshment are limited, and public transport links are not as plentiful as on the North and South Downs footpaths. For this reason, and the fact there is no official guidebook (Kent and Surrey County Councils do publish some excellent online material), I have put the Greensand Way on hold for the time being, and until I have fully evaluated the logistics of reaching the start and end points of each section, using public transport.

Instead, I have settled on a shorter footpath, that is much closer to home, and that is the Tunbridge Wells Circular Walk. This particular trail was formerly known as the High Weald Walk, and it explores the diverse and beautiful countryside around Tunbridge Wells which lies on the borders of Kent and East Sussex. The walk lies within the High Weald AONB and is 27.5-miles in length. It passes through a rolling landscape of ridges and valleys with a patchwork of small fields, hedges, and broad-leaved woodland. It takes in the sandstone outcrops of High Rocks, Eridge Rocks and Harrison's Rocks, all of which are popular with climbers, and also passes the stately piles of Groombridge Place, and Eridge Park.

Being a circular walk, it starts and finishes at whichever point you find most convenient, but I have been following the official Kent Ramblers Guide, which divides the trail into four convenient stages, which vary in length from 5 to 10 miles. I started with the Southborough to Pembury stage, which at 10.2 miles is the longest section of the walk, but as the route passes within a half mile of my home, I decided to split this section into two. Looking at the guide, I have already completed certain stages of this footpath in the past, mainly as part of other walks to places such as Groombridge, Frant, and Tudeley. Unsurprisingly, most of those walks were to pubs, and once again there will be opportunities for “pit stops” at suitably located pubs.

So, back in February, I made the short bus journey to Southborough Common, and started out on the trail. The weather was dull and overcast, but it was early in the year, and whilst it was quite muddy in places, I made good progress as far as Keeper’s Cottage, on the slopes of Castle Hill. On the way I passed beneath the massive brick arches of the viaduct which carries the Tonbridge to Hastings railway line across the valley, close to Forge Farm. Perhaps I was feeling too cocky, as I continued my descent, after missing the sharp right northerly turn the path takes, shortly after Forest Farm. I realised my wrong turn, when I once again encountered the railway, as I didn’t recall having to cross the line for a second time.

Had I looked at either my OS map, or the Guidebook, I wouldn’t have made such a schoolboy error, but I carried on, carefully traversing the railway at a permitted crossing place, before eventually reaching Vauxhall Lane. A bit further along, I was able to pick up a bus down into Tonbridge, which was handy as I had some errands to attend to in the town. Several weeks later, I completed the correct part of the trail, this time walking up from the Vauxhall roundabout towards Forest Farm. I found the spot where I’d made my wrong turn and yes, had I been paying attention to the marker posts, I wouldn’t have made that mistake.

I still had the second half of this section to complete, which was through the grounds of Somerhill House, and then onto Pembury, a distance of around 5.5 miles, but for the next couple of months the weather was against me, with one of the wettest March and Aprils I can recall. One only has to take a look back at this blog to read I was deploring this situation, on a regular basis! Finally, over halfway through May came the opportunity to finally complete this section, and with only a half mile from Bailey Towers to the entrance of the Somerhill Estate, I was off, and raring to go.

I have followed the path up towards the house, many a time, usually as part of a walk to the Dovecote Inn at Capel. Somerhill House itself, is a Grade 1 listed Jacobean mansion, with a rather mixed history, and after being bought and extended by the Goldsmid family in 1849, became the second largest stately pile in Kent, after Knole House in nearby Sevenoaks. Today, the property is home to a number of private schools, and this has entailed the construction of a new access road, leaving the original driveway, with its broad sweeping views down towards the ornamental lake, largely unspoiled.

Once at the summit, the TWCW follows a sunken lane to the north of the house, which is lined with large stones. The idea of this construction was either to prevent farm animals encroaching too near the property, or as a means whereby the estate workers could go about their daily duties, without spoiling the view for the posh folk in the big house. I suspect that both of these reasons are true, but the path leads into woodlands, before eventually opening up into arable land.

After following the B2017 for a short distance on the edge of Tudeley, the path branches off uphill in a largely southerly direction, before circling a property known as Knowles Bank – home to a large number of horses, including some impressive looking fillies and stallions that I saw being exercised. There were several spots where the ground had been quite trampled by dozens of equine feet, which made for difficult walking in places. Upon reaching the strangely named Dislingbury Road, the path then veers off and clips the grounds of Kent College, another exclusive seat of learning, this time for privileged young ladies.

The path then leads into and through the churchyard of St Peter’s, Pembury. Known as the Old Church, St Peter’s was the original place of worship for the settlement of Pippenbury, before the village was re-named and re-sited to the ridge, some way to the south, and becoming in the process, modern-day Pembury. The latter is a rather large and sprawling village, that extends a long way to the north, as I was to discover later. A bench, in the tranquil setting of the old churchyard, formed the perfect place for me to sit and enjoy my packed lunch, before heading off, past the waterworks, to the A228, which forms the northern Pembury bypass.

The latter is crossed by a concrete footbridge, although I soon realised, I should have taken another bridge, a little was to the north. Fortunately, a rather spritely local resident, directed me to a path between some hedges, which brought me back to the official route, close to Downingbury Farm Shop. Not long to go now, thought I, but little did I know that Snipe Wood, to the south of Pippin’s Farm, was the ideal place to get lost and completely throw me off course. The strange thing was, looking at the map afterwards, this densely packed wood, consisting of coppiced chestnut trees, was the right way to go and there were way-marks to guide me, and it was only after emerging from the wood that I took a wrong turn.

I blame the sat-nav on my smartphone for this, as after using it to determine my exact location, I typed in my penultimate destination – the King William IV pub, on the old Hastings Road leading out of Pembury. Deciding to follow my phone, rather than my map and guidebook, I tuned right at a T-junction, rather than left. It still took another 25 minutes to reach the pub, although the official TWCW would have taken longer. A simple signpost at the end of Woodlands Road would have prevented this elementary error, although at the same time it was worth getting to the pub ahead of schedule, as I was gagging for a pint.

My walk ended then, as do all good walks, at a decent pub and the King William IV, or the King Will, as it is known locally, is rather a good one. When I first moved to West Kent, the King Will was a rather non-descript, two-bar, brick built roadhouse belonging to Allied Breweries - remember them? It later passed to Greene King, and remained with the Suffolk firm, before finally becoming a free-house in October 2018. Today, all traces of its original two bars have been removed, and the whole interior opened up to create a bight, airy and vibrant drinking area.

It had been some years since I last set foot in the King Will, but there was a respectably sized crowd in the bar when I stepped inside at ten to three. There was also a reasonable selection of cask ales on sale, including Taylor's Landlord, Fuller's London Pride, St Austell Proper Job, Greene King IPA, plus a honey beer from Bowland Brewery.(north-west Lancashire). I was straight in on the Proper Job, and have to say it was brilliant. Cool, refreshing, well-conditioned, and with a biting hop bitterness, it really hit the spot, so my choice of Landlord as pint No. 2 was always going to disappoint.

They seemed a good-natured and friendly crowd in the pub, but I had a bus to catch, back to Tonbridge. Unfortunately, due to a gap in services because of the school run, I had to walk along to Pembury Hospital in order to catch me bus. More walking, was the last thing I wanted, but on the plus side I didn't have long to wait before a Tonbridge bound bus came along. So apart from that very short section, where I took a wrong turn coming out of the woods, that's the Southborough to Pembury stage of the Tunbridge Wells Circular Walk completed.