Book 1, Walk 19 - Hever to Leigh

Length: 14.2 km (8.8 miles)
Toughness: 2 out of 10

London Bridge: 10-07 hrs Uckfield service. East Croydon: 10-22 hrs
Arrive Hever: 10-49 hrs

Return
Leigh to London Bridge (changing trains at Tonbridge): 26 and 56 mins past the hour

Rail ticket: buy a day return to Leigh (Kent)


You should be back at London Bridge in good time to don the glad rags and hit the SWC Xmas party with a swagger

The introduction to this walk in the TO Book claims this walk is both fascinating and very beautiful through the Garden of England: I agree - but you can judge for yourself by coming along !

The walk may be short in length but you are spoilt for choice for sights along the way: two castles, a stately home, a proper water feature !, woods, farmland and undulating hills. I leave it to you to read the comprehensive notes in the Directions which contain opening times of the castles. Ditto, information on your lunch and tea options.
Recommended !
T=1.19
Your walk directions are here L=1.19

Length: 14.2km (8.8 miles)
Toughness: None (all right, 2 out of 10)

10.07 train from London Bridge (10.22 East Croydon) to Hever, arriving 10.49

Buy a day return to Leigh ("Lie"), Kent. Our train ticket boffins tell us that this is valid to Edenbridge Town, the stop before Hever, because Edenbridge station (nearby but on a different line) is a possible route to Leigh and tickets to Edenbridge are valid to either Edenbridge station. Hever is one stop beyond Edenbridge Town, but Leigh is several stops beyond Edenbridge, so going one extra stop to Hever should be OK.....Alternatively, you might reverse this logic and buy a day return to Hever: this by definition is valid via Edenbridge Town, and so also via Edenbridge station. A valid route from Edenbridge station to London is via Leigh and Tonbridge, so a Hever return should one theory work on that route too. (Good luck explaining any of this to a bolshie train manager, however...)

For directions click here. For GPX click here.

Oh, how fashions change!! Once this walk was posted so often we could have changed our names to "The Hever to Leigh Walking Club". Its popularity was undoubted and unassailable. But now like a child that becomes a teenager, the SWC has moved on to longer, more adventurous walks. Would you believe that dear old "H2L" has not had a Saturday posting for two and a half years, nor a spring or summer one for four?

My other reason for picking it is that I hear the mutterings from the "Left Behinds", from the ones who do the short option, take the bus from the lunch pub, watch sadly as the group races off into the distance. "Why do we never have any walks under ten miles anymore?" they cry. So here is my response.

Also not incidentally, today is the longest Saturday of the year. No doubt other posters will wish to celebrate that fact by posting long expeditions to far-flung places. Well, this is a short expedition to a near-flung place and one well worth dawdling over. You might decide to visit Hever Castle or Penshurst Place (not, alas, Chiddingstone Castle, which perversely does not open on Saturdays) You might want to linger over tea in the Fir House Tearoom (if it still exists or deigns to open) or stop in one of the four pubs en route for a summery drink. This is a walk to savour, not to gulp. It is light till 10pm: take your time.

Trains back from Leigh are at 26 past (until 22.26, if you want to make the most of the daylight...) changing at Tonbridge for a train back to London Bridge or Charing Cross. T=1.19

Book 1, Walk 19: Hever to Leigh

Length: 14.2 km (8.8 miles)
Toughness: 2 out of 10

London Bridge: 10-08 hrs Uckfield service. East Croydon 10-23 hrs
Arrive Hever: 10-49 hrs

Leigh (Kent) to London Victoria: direct - 16-23, 16-44 and 17-25 hrs. Changing at Redhill - 17-53 and 18-27 hrs.
Leigh to Charing Cross: 16-35 and 17-28 hrs changing at Tonbridge

Rail ticket: suggest a day return to Leigh (Kent). This is usually accepted on your outward journey although tehnically you might have to pay a small supplement from Edenbridge Town.

This lovely walk through Kent's Garden of England packs a punch way above its weight for a short(ish) walk, as it fits in lots of places to visit along the route whilst you progress through Kent's lovely countryside. Depending on how much time you wish to set aside for sightseeing, you are spoilt for choice: in order along the route, you have Hever Castle, St Peter's Church, Chiddingstone Castle, St Mary's Church, Penshurst Place and John the Baptist Church. Add in the Medway River as your water feature for the day, and you have the ingredients for more than a half decent walk.

Your lunch stop depends on whether you wish to stop in Chiddingstone or press on to Penshurst. Your only option today in Chiddingstone (as the Castle Inn has yet to re-open) is the Tulip Tree Tea Rooms - perfectly pleasant for light fare. If you think you can make Penshurst by 2-30 pm, then your option here is the Leicester Arms , an atmospheric hotel-pub-restaurant, serving good food. This pub also acts as a tea stop if you luncheoned in Chiddingstone. Your alternative tea stop in Penshurst is the cafe within Penshurst Place - the Porcupine Pantry. On arriving in Leigh you will find the Fleur-de-Lis pub closed for the afternoon, not re-opening until 6 pm. Just up the road is the Village Stores, which sells cold drinks, cakes and provisions.
If the weather is nice today you should enjoy this walk, with Spring flowers in abundance along the way, new-born lambs in the fields early on in the walk and in Penshurst Place, plus all the sights and places to visit.
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Newly updated Walk Directions here: L=1.19

This is a beautiful walk through the Garden of England. It includes two castles, a stately home, rivers, ponds, woods, undulating hills and three lovely villages: the National Trust village of Chiddingstone; Penshurst, with its half-timbered houses; and Leigh , with its large cricket green, dominated by the Church of St Mary. The Medway Valley is prone to flooding, and it is possible that parts of this walk may not be passable in extreme conditions, but hopefully that won't be a problem this weekend. If you want to visit Penshurst Place, last admission is 4pm, closing at 5pm