I guess many were put off today by the weather forecast, so it would be nice to be able to report that soon after the start of the walk the rain stopped and the sun came out. Actually that is exactly what did happen. But soon after lunch it started to rain again - fairly lightly but relentlessly and for the rest of the walk. So a bit of sun but mostly wet . There were six of us on the train, but one decamped at Swanley, pleading a pulled muscle (we believe you…). So five got off at Meopham, where we were met by a car driver. One other, having at first had cold feet but later repenting, got the 10.10 train and caught up with us at lunch. So 7 in all. The map of the morning route for this walk looks like the random scribbling of a child, but we religiously followed its meanderings, even when it made us walk round a hill to climb up it from behind. (Why?). Our reward in the community nature area (amid discussions of if there was such a thing as community…) was vast acreages of white oxeye daisy and yellow rough hawksbeard, punctuated by pockets of purple vetch. Since this coincided with the sunshine, it was all very nice. In Cobham two had sandwiches in the churchyard. They came into the pub say hi and bye afterwards and then disappeared from this history. The remaining five of us went to the Leather Bottle, which was deceptively empty when we arrived but soon filled with screaming kiddies. I thought the food was deeply unexceptional, but it filled a hole. Worse things happen at sea… In the afternoon there were noises about shortcutting a whole chunk of the route. Troops had to be dispatched to quash this rebellion. Shortly after this the rain restarted, however, and that put paid to any thoughts of doing extensions, let alone walking across motorway bridges into Rochester. Instead we stuck to the main route as the rain lashed down. I have never been on the Scotland trip but I imagine this is what it must be like. It was a pity, as florally the afternoon matched the morning, at least once we got out of the woods. The downs were covered in oxeye daisies and all sorts, there was the most intense meadow of rough hawksbeard I have ever seen, and every row of the vast Luddesdown vineyard was awash with poppies. At Henley Street we skipped both the pub and the walk into Meopham, heading straight for Sole Street across a vast field of wheat that was looking much happier than it would have done a week ago. Booming party noises emanated from the direction of the Railway Inn, but they turned out to be not from the pub but from some kind of motorcycle event next door. We had half an hour for drinks/tea and partial drying out before catching the 16.32.

4 regulars off the train at Sole Street. We imagined 30 setting off from Riddlesdown, but apparently not. Cloudy with some sun from lunchtime onwards. Horses: lots in the fields around Cranbourne Equestrian. Rewilding: Jeskyns Country Park includes a community woodland, much of it planted I think but maybe some rewilding. Lots of discussion about what is wild – the Downs? Fields of pretty wild flowers? Scrub and forest? And what role modern humans, iron age humans and large herbivores play in this. Some impressive tall sculptures made of single tree trunks. (But we failed to spot Essex in the distance.) History: we couldn’t see the tumulus or barrow in Ashenbank Wood but an information board explained about the war time use of the area – Gravesend Airport (open 1932 – 56) became an RAF airfield, and there were accommodation huts (all disappeared) and the brick entrances to two air raid shelters still visible. Church: we were strongly encouraged by one walker to look inside the mostly 14th century Cobham Church and rightly so. The extravagant 1561 tomb of Lord Cobham and Anne, his wife, (surrounded by little figures of their mourning sons and daughters dominates the chancel and numerous bronzes from the 14th and 15th century are set into the floor. Trees: Huge, old, sweet chestnuts in Ashenbank Wood, some missing boughs that had splintered and fallen, but plus new growth from the sides; lots of newer, lighter silver birches in Birch Wood, past the Cobham Mausoleum, and more huge misshapen and old trees in Nor Wood – this time beeches. And in all the woods there were trees that had fallen on their sides years ago and the side branches have grown up as high as the surrounding woods. Pubs: 2 lunched at the Leather Bottle (vegan burgers with cheese, apparently satisfactory), the 2 sandwichers had coffee/tea inside but weren’t allowed to sit near the lunchers as those tables were reserved. Later we had a quick drink in the Cock Inn – warm and interesting but no cider as the pump was frozen – I guess it’s a pub term. 3 on the train home at 16:32, one had left us at Cobham to visit a niece. Great walk and lovely day out.

3 on this walk I'm told, and weather was dry and clear .

Just8 today as possibly others were away for Easter, or preparing to go. It was another sunny day with a cold breeze . First time on this walk for me, very nice with the woodland after lunch particularly fine at this time of year and a good display of bluebells late on in Cobhambury Wood. One ate very good value fish and chips at the Ship Inn, others saved themselves for a well-earned pint at the Railway Inn where they were getting ready to cater for a funeral party. Thanks for posting it!

Oh no! The 1004 has been cancelled

The SWC Walks Inspector had been dithering about checking a walk but the morning sunshine tempted him to drive to Cobham and intercept the group in Jeskyns. Unaware of the cancelled train, he nevertheless managed to find four who'd got to Victoria in time to catch an earlier (delayed) train to Meopham. Later two more joined us in the Ship Inn; their train was an hour later than the one posted but they sensibly started from Sole Street so weren't too far behind. The food at the Ship was good value, especially so in my case when I inadvertently ordered one of their lunch specials and was awarded a free pint to go with it. After a few recent mudfests this walk was declared quite acceptable; just a few squelchy stretches in the woods which were easily skirted. However, it would be a shame if it got lumbered with the tag of "a good winter walk" as there are things to enjoy in other seasons: bluebell woods in spring, wildflower meadows in summer and apple-picking from the community orchard in autumn. If we generously include the walks inspector (who did most of the afternoon leg) there were 7 on a partly sunny day. Two of the group decided to try the alternative ending to Rochester despite being unsure if the pedestrian bridge across the Medway had reopened; I think the others had decided to try to get to Sole Street in time for the 4.30.

19 and a dog on a sunny hot humid day. Can’t say I like the long stretch through Jeskyns ‘woodland’ - a bit samey and featureless. Maybe when the trees have grown a bit. Ashenbanks Wood was more interesting with large old trees. The others raced off ahead as is their wont. I had almost finished my cider when they turned up at the Leather Bottle. That pub gets busy unless you get there early, like what I did. I left early with one other. (This subgroup fragmented further when we realised we had downloaded different endings!) Impressive poppies at Kitchen Field, though, apparently, not as impressive as last year. Lots of orchids in the bit after that (Ranscombe Farm?), also butterflies, mainly brown but some little yellow ones. Reached the Cock before 4. Just time to swill down another cider before heading for the 16:32 3 others caught that train.

9-10 ate at Leather Bottle. Though it has a large garden, the food was very mediocre. The pub tried to elevate their food with some 'fancy' offerings, sadly only on the appearance not the taste. So recommend to stick to pub classics next time. The afternoon was fragmented into many groups, a long march, or even a longer one for those visited reserves, to Cock Inn which provided refreshing drinks - note no cakes just nuts and crisps. 11 caught 17:32 train from Sole Street. A test for endurance in heat but good company kept everyone going, an enjoyable day nonetheless.

The orchids were in Brockles Field

10 on a cloudy day. On leaving the station, we noticed a “path closed” sign across the return route. It wasn’t long before poor Mr Tiger fell behind with nothing but the directions and satellite technology to help him. But he put on a brave face, put his best foot forward and, passing some impressive old chestnut trees, pressed on to the Leather Bottle. There, he sat down and waited for the others to catch up (which they did, eventually). Two, however, had gone to the Ship and weren’t seen again. After lunch we paid a visit to the church to see the le Cobham tomb and brasses. Quite good. Later, the Darnley Mausoleum was screened off. There had been some concern in the morning that the path back to Sole St was closed. This made the Meopham ending more likely. But Mr Tiger sent some of the younger ones ahead to check this out. Turns out there had been some resurfacing work but the path was open, so we finished the day in the Railway at Sole Street after all.

9 on this walk, despite a discouraging weather forecast. In fact it was just grey and damp rather than wet, with one VERY short shower in the afternoon, and more persistent rain only at the very end of the walk (just in time to wash the mud off our boots). I had not done the Meopham start before and found it interesting, with a couple of (soon to be) bluebell woods (one also scattered with violets), one very frisky horse, and the nature reserve, where a lark sang and the big wood had more incipient bluebells. This brought us to lunch, where at my urging we avoided the Leather Bottle and Darnley Arms and tried the Ship Inn. Not bad: a chain pub, perhaps a bit lacking in decor, but we could order at the bar and the food came quite quickly. No complaints about the fare that I heard. We had a vigorous discussion over lunch about whether we would walk to Rochester or back to Meopham. Actually we didn’t. My attempts to raise the subject were met with embarrassed silence. So using techniques I learned when staffing the London Visitor Centre at Victoria station in my youth, I “shut down the options” and suggested that the consensus seemed to favour Meopham. No one dissented. Shortly after lunch two walkers branched off at a non-authorised place to do a short cut back to Sole Street. The other seven of us did the longer loop around Ranscombe Farm but - at the urging of one of our number - did it backwards, which worked quite well. It meant the Medway Valley view was in front of us and we avoided doing the same woodland path twice. The farm is actually a Plantlife reserve and over its fields there was a positive cacophony of larks singing (at least four, maybe more) - an incongruously summery sound. The walk along the downs ridge and through the woods to Henley Street was very pleasant. There was discussion about stopping at the Cock Inn, but in the end we pushed on to Meopham. There we found the Station Inn rather basic. Possibly the last pub in England which does not serve hot drinks, food or anything but booze, and which offers nothing but wooden seating, though to be fair it seemed popular with locals. We did not linger long and caught the 17.16 express to Victoria (calling at Longfeld and Bromley South only!) Group cohesion factor: 88.8% (based on 9/9 keeping together in the morning and 7/9 in the afternoon: do check my maths…)

Is there a short cut that's actually doable please? plus the weather supposed to be back to normal tomo ? Thanks👍

I am not sure what you mean by “actually doable”. The short cuts are as described in the walk post, and there is more detail on the home page for the walk (click on the “walk directions” link). If you scroll down on the walk directions page you will see it even includes an interactive map, where you can click on each option and see its route displayed. All these options are “actually doable” unless conditions, such as a big storm the previous day, intervene. There is obviously a possibility that a) paths might be blocked by falling trees b) there might be localised flooding (though I can’t think of any specific place this might occur) and c) that the trains might be disrupted. We will just have to wait and see. As for the weather, I suggest consulting the BBC Weather or the Met Office. The latter have a detailed video forecast for the following day from late afternoon onwards.

Ok many thanks Walker, my question was a bit vague, sorry about that. Going to skip tomo as think there may well be leftover damage👍

I am assuming 0 on this walk, as all trains are cancelled due to storm damage . For anyone who got to Victoria and couldn’t find the train on the departure board, it did exist, I assure you: I think there were so many cancelled trains, they just decided not to list them all.

Denmark Hill staff assure me that Meopham is closed. I'm going to Eynsford as I have a walk on my phone. (South Bank Ramblers going from there. )

8 walkers on this new Kent walk. It was mostly sunny with some cloud and the rain held off . The route took us through bluebell woods with interesting old trees (mostly "hornbeams" I'm told), open stretches and some beautiful views. 5 did the circular from Meopham, 3 from Sole Street. No-one opted for the Rochester ending, hard as it was to resist the route alongside the M2.

It is not mentioned in the walk directions, but after lunch on this walk you are very close to Sole Street station and could take a train back from there, if the weather turns out very inclement. Trains at 01 past to Victoria - a Cuxton return would be valid - and at 31 past to St Pancras changing at Rochester - Cuxton return with high speed supplement would probably be accepted. Both take about an hour (the Victoria train being actually a bit quicker).

6 on this walk, 1 on the high speed train, 4 on the Thameslink and 1 who drove to the lunch pub and walked back to meet us. Once again the rest of you were fooled by an over-gloomy forecast. In fact we had fairly light rain after lunch with sunny intervals in the morning . At times, indeed, it was quite pleasant before lunch: mild, breezy and bright. Autumn colour is definitely ticking up. Some trees - field maples, Norway maples - were showing quite a lot of yellow, and there were glorious red tones on some wild cherry, along with gold and maroons in the hedgerow. I might stick my neck out and predict good autumn colour for the next two weekends. For lunch one went to have sandwiches and was lost to history. The rest went to the Dickens-laden Leather Bottle where food was tasty and quickly served. After lunch we spent quite a while exploring the medieval tombs and brasses in interesting Cobham church, and the almshouse behind, which I had been in before. The car driver then left us and four of us plodded on in the light rain. Around Luddesdown vast areas of vineyard have been planted and on the ridge to Cuxton there was more autumn colour, though still far from its best. We had interesting and wide ranging conversations. The White Hart provided nice puds and tea for two of us, beer for the others, and we caught the 5.22 train home.

Oh, and we also saw two ENORMOUS “fairy rings” of fungi on the last stretch through the woods. A shame it was raining more persistently here, so I could not take a photo.

There are lots of areas of bluebells along the last ridge to Cuxton on this walk. A glance into the White Hart in Cuxton the other week suggested it was rather nice, despite its slightly unpromising location

22 cloud and sun dry Great swathes of yellow to start as we walked alongside rapefields. Only a smattering of bluebells till mid afternoon .The final section was awash with the little devils. There was also an impressive display of wild garlic at one point. Leather Bottle was fine The two I was with had a posh wild mushroomy thing that seemed to go down well. Later the White Hart was OK too. Amazingly, I found myself with a group even slower than myself. But we got there.

I don't think the group I was with would share the feeling that the Leather Bottle was fine. Everything came within a very few minutes, plainly much assisted by a microwave. Mashed potato was instant. Given that there are three pubs in Cobham, I'd be up for trying the others next time.

A few had the idea to have lunch at the Cobham festival, Munchies on the Meadow which was just past the pub. Reports that for lunch it was very good and some of us had a wander around after lunch and picked up bread and jams etc. More info here http://www.munchiesfestival.com/ Stephen

As well as the Cobham festival there was the annual Rochester Sweeps festival http://www.medway.gov.uk/leisurecultureandsport/events/sweepsfestival2017.aspx if you still had the energy for more eating, drinking and dancing...

Will I need my sun lucky hat??

Or lucky sun hat!

Train delays, missed connections, stuck on platform, we all are 30min behind you, I think my old hat need a good old washing!!

11 Most arrived 30 minutes late thanks to the HS1 leaving St P 6 minutes late (no driver!) and missing the connection by 1 minute, despite it having been asked to wait. 2 got there on time on the Charing X train. It were a tough walk on such a hot sunny day. Lots of up and down bits (I’m sure there were more ups than downs). Still, mustn’t grumble. Good views etc

7 sunny 6 off the scheduled train, 2 of which announced immediately that they were slow walkers, which inevitably lead to them forming a separate group after a while. the rest where joined at lunch by the walk poster, who had missed the scheduled train. nice walk on a splendid day with a healthy mixture of woods, fields, far views, valleys and nice churches (we visited them all, and got a guided tour and bell-ringing demo in one of them in return). The only downside was the end of the walk: a bit tarmacky anyway, and then the ending in Snodland didn't really work: the route along the Medway is blocked due to the works for building a new river crossing, necessitating quite a bit of A-road side walking. That ending probably best avoided until the bridge is finished. Minor quibbles though. 17.15 train.