Knockholt Circular walk

Main walk: 18.5km (11.5 miles). 5 hours 30 minutes walking time. For the whole excursion including meals and trains, allow at least 8 hours 30 minutes.

OS Landranger Map 187 and 188 Explorer Map 147

5 out of 10

Despite its starting point being within London Travelcard Zone 6, this is a completely rural walk, passing through a succession of lovely open fields full of wildflowers in spring, and through a number of bluebell woods. The walk passes several churches, but most are locked.

Lunch is in Downe with a choice of 2 pubs. Just after the village, the walk passes Down House (English Heritage, £16), the home of Charles Darwin, the naturalist.

Note: there are quite a few stiles on this walk

Bluebell Woods: In bluebell time (late April to early May) a GPS-only shortcut is available in the afternoon which takes you through some fabulous bluebell woods. Saves about 1km.

Trains go from London Charing Cross to Knockholt, journey time 40 minutes. Knockholt is within London Transport Zone 6, so a one-day travelcard is an option.

Suggested train: Take the train nearest to 10:10am from London Charing Cross.

Drivers can park by the station for free, or by Halstead Church (TN14 7HQ) about 1km from the start, missing out the closed golf club section.

In Downe

• The Queens Head High Street, Downe, BR6 7US (01689 852145). Food served all day every day. Located 7.7 km from the start of the walk, this is the suggested lunch stop.<
• The George & Dragon High Street, Downe, BR6 7UT (01689 889030). Food served noon - 2.30pm Mon-Tue, noon-8.30pm Wed-Sat and noon-6.00pm Sun. Located 7.7 km from the start of the walk.
• Picnic: In Downe, there is a cemetery just before the village, and in the centre, a bench in the grassy churchyard, and a circular bench around a tree in the middle of the (quiet) road!

In Cudham

• The Blacksmiths Arms. 10km from the start - nearer the half way point. Large beer garden. Food noon - 3pm (5pm Sat, 4pm Sun). 200m off route. Turn right (not straight on) after passing alongside Cudham church

In Rushmore Hill (2.6km from the end of the walk)

• Arthur's Coffee Shop & Restaurant Inside Coolings Nurseries, Rushmore Hill, TN14 7NN (01959 532269 ). Large, with outside seating. Open 9.00am - 4.30pm daily.

In Halstead (2km from the end of the walk)

• The Cock Inn Shoreham Lane, Halstead, TN14 7DD (01959 533171). Food served Wed-Sat 6.00-9.00pm. Possible tea stop, 600 metres off route.

• The Rose and Crown Otford Lane, Halstead, TN14 7EA (01959 533120) Possible tea stop - 600 metres off route

The Broke Hill Golf Club (near the start) closed 10 years ago, and the land has been bought by a developer who wants to build a "garden village" of 850 homes on the site, which is Green Belt land. So far his 2017 application for planning permission has been rejected by Sevenoaks District Council, supported by Bromley Council, the neighbouring authority. In 2022, an appeal was also refused, but the developer may re-apply, given the national need for new housing. In the meantime he's fenced off the public footpath from the rest of the land, forming a fenced-in corridor that will eventually run through the middle of the new suburb. Here are some accounts of the controversial proposal in the local press:

A property developer has defended plans to build several hundred homes on the Broke Hill Golf Club site in Sevenoaks

Controversial developer Mark Quinn says Broke Hill will 'never reopen' for golf

Bromley council to oppose 850-home "new town" development

April 2022