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.
