A number of walks along the greensand hills go through orchards
While the North Downs wall is accompanied for much of its length by major roads, the ridge of greensand has been spared such company, and rewards with some of the finest, and most extensive uncluttered views, not only in Kent, but in all of southern England. With so many great vantage points to exploit, walks along the greensand hills count among the best of all. Westerham, Crockham Hill, Toys Hill, Ide Hill, Sevenoaks Weald, Shipbourne; all these give memorable days out. But so do Yalding and Linton, where the south-facing slopes are hung with orchards; and Ulcombe and Pluckley from whose footpaths you gaze across great open spaces. For the long-distance walker the Greensand Way traces a route along the ridge for 110 miles/177km between Haslemere in Surrey and Hamstreet, south of Ashford, and is a very fine route indeed. Recognising this, a few sections of that long trail are adopted by circular walks described in this book.
The Weald
In common with the North Downs and greensand hills, the Weald is not confined to Kent, but spreads beyond the county’s boundary into Surrey and Sussex. This vast region is contained by the North and South Downs and consists of a complex series of fertile hills and vales, among which are to be found the fields of soft fruit, the platts of cobnuts, the orchards, vineyards and hop farms that gave Kent the epithet the ‘Garden of England’. But there are also large areas of meadowland and extensive woods; and in Wealden hollows hammer ponds, now a haven of peace and tranquillity, recall a time when they were at the heart of England’s ‘black country’ as local iron ore was smelted then hammered into cannon. Centuries later heron stalk the margins of these ponds, whose outlet streams flow between banks bright with wildflowers. Fine houses built by the iron masters remain largely tucked away, but some are seen from walks included here. Elsewhere, several of Kent’s loveliest villages punctuate the Wealden landscape, their sturdy churches beckoning across the acres, their streets lined with black-and-white half-timbered houses and pubs.
Kent has more than 20,000 historic buildings
The Wealdway makes a roughly north–south crossing of 82 miles/131km from Gravesend on the Thames to Beachy Head and Eastbourne in Sussex; and the High Weald Walk follows nearly 28 miles/45km of footpaths on a circuit near Tunbridge Wells. However, within this collection of walks, those that begin in the far west of the county at Four Elms, Marsh Green, Cowden, Chiddingstone, Penshurst and Groombridge are full of variety, while routes that explore the Weald’s rolling hills around Brenchley and Tenterden are no less rewarding.
Coastline
Kent’s long coastline is forever changing. While the tides chew away at the coastal fringe in some places, in others land is reclaimed from the sea. Nothing illustrates this changing shape of the county more vividly than a walk along the Saxon Shore Way, from Gravesend to Hastings in Sussex. When the Romans arrived here they found a very different coastline from that which we would recognise today, for although some of it has disappeared beneath the waves, elsewhere we now walk on one-time sea-cliffs several miles inland!
St Margaret’s Bay, seen from the path leading back to Langdon Cliffs (Walk 40)
Separating the Isle of Sheppey from mainland Kent, the Swale is edged on both shores with mudflat and marshland loud with wildfowl, while the River Wantsum (which until the Middle Ages was as wide as the Swale and, linked with the Stour, helped make Thanet an island) is now a minor stream, beside which ploughs turn the soil where ships once sailed. The White Cliffs of Dover remain white because they’re crumbling; were they not they’d be green like the band of grassed-over cliffs at Stone-in-Oxney. Stone, of course, is now marooned from the sea by the expanse of Romney Marsh, but look at the map and allow imagination to roll back the centuries, and you’ll see how things once were. Some of the walks in this book can bring history alive if you understand the clues, and those that follow the coastline as it is now – near Leysdown on Sheppey, for example, or routes near Newington, Faversham, Sandwich and Dover – illustrate the diverse nature of coastal scenery. The walk on Chislet Marshes from St Nicholas at Wade, and that which includes Appledore and Stone-in-Oxney, take footpaths where a few centuries ago it would have been necessary to travel by boat.
Rivers
In summer, river craft are a feature of any walk beside the Medway (Walk 19)
Of Kent’s rivers, the Medway is perhaps the best known. Dividing the county in two, it was once renowned for separating Kentish Men from the Men of Kent – the former were born west of the river, with Men of Kent to the east – but few bother with that distinction today. Rising among the hills of Sussex, the Medway draws from many sources, and by the time it reaches Tonbridge is substantial enough to be navigable by barge. Plans to extend the navigation as far as Penshurst failed, yet today there are no less than 10 navigational locks and flood control sluices between Leigh and Allington. A towpath accompanies the river from Tonbridge to Maidstone, giving a delightful 16-mile/25km walk. A continuation as far as Rochester (not towpath but on paths that are either on the riverbank or not far from it) adds another 12 miles/19km to what is known as the Medway Valley Walk. In this present collection of walks, that which starts from Teston Bridge enjoys one of the best sections along the Medway’s valley.
While the Medway divides the county into west and east, that other long river, the Stour, makes a writhing journey from its source near Lenham to the sea at Pegwell Bay, via Ashford, Canterbury and Sandwich. This too is a delightful river, but its character is quite different from that of the Medway’s. Meandering through downland, woodland, orchards and hop gardens, it almost loses its identity on entering Canterbury. But that identity is regained outside the city walls, and just beyond Fordwich (which lays claim to being Britain’s smallest town) it snakes among lakes, dykes, and a magical marshland nature reserve. One walk suggested from Stodmarsh unravels some of the mystery of this utterly charming district, while the Stour Valley Walk journeys for a little over 51 miles/82km from source to sea. The Stour and the Medway are both rivers of character, but the little Nail Bourne stream is sometimes dry for months – or even years – at a time. However, the valley it drains is a delight of small villages linked by the 22½ miles/36km of the Elham Valley Way, sampled here on walks from Bridge and Elham itself.
When to go
Walking is a year-round activity, and need not be confined to the dry summer months, for there is as much beauty to be found in the countryside in the leafless months of winter as in vibrant spring and the golden days of autumn. As long as you’re properly attired, the weather is rarely so extreme as to keep the true country lover indoors, and some of our most enjoyable days spent researching the walks for this book took place in frost, wind and rain.
In springtime Mariners Hill is a carpet of bluebells (Walk 4)
What to take
Choose clothing and footwear suitable for the season, bearing in mind the changeable nature of Britain’s weather. No specialised equipment will be required for tackling these walks, but comfortable