Borough Green to Sevenoaks (Book 1, walk 36) Length: 15km (9.3 miles)
Toughness: 4 out of 10
9.52 train from
Victoria (10.09
Bromley South) to Borough Green, arriving 10.37.
Buy a
day return to Borough Green (which for reasons that escape me does work for return from Sevenoaks, even though the latter is on a totally different line).
For
walk directions click
here.
Apologies if my choice seems a bit unoriginal this week, but RMT strike action on Southern puts many springlike walks out of reach today.
Not to worry, though, because there are some old favourites one never tires of and this is one of them. It is a lovely walk at any time of the year but achingly pretty in April, when nature lovers will not be disappointed. There
may be apple blossom or it may be too early. There
may be some bluebells, since they seem to be coming out early this year. Blackthorn blossom
should be turning the hedgerows white. But even if none of these happen, you will still have a walk full of flowers, fresh green leaves and (probably) bleating lambs.
There is also historic
Ightham Mote, a moated house now run by the National Trust, and with long days you have ample time to visit it and still finish the walk. Its tea room is a possible lunch stop.
Two recommended variations to the walk are:
-
Detour to lunch at the Chaser Inn in Shipbourne. This way also includes a small bluebell wood. Details of how to do this are in the main walk directions.
-
After Ightham Mote stay on the Greensand Way to Knole House, a gorgeous walk along an escarment edge with fine views: see paragraph 77 onwards on page 7 of
this document for walk directions. Near the end this option has some bluebell woods which may be starting to flower.
If planning to eat at the
Padwell Arms, it might be a good idea to ring them and see if they are in a receptive mood. Sometimes they are scratchy about walking groups turning up unnannounced.
Tea is at Knole House's newly refurbished tea room.
Trains back from Sevenoaks are very frequent - every ten to fifteen minutes or so.
T=1.36