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Greensand Way 10 : Pluckley to Ashford Walk

Greensand Way Stage 10 - pretty orchards and woods, commons with a bog, Godinton Park, then the Great Stour River into Ashford

Greensand Hills Greensand Way Kent

History

Club walks since April 2015, and a summary which goes back to Jan 2010.

Date Option Post # Weather
Sat, 29-Nov-25 The Greensand Way from Pluckley to Ham Street or just to Ashford (SWC Walks 152 & 153) 3
Sat, 24-Oct-20 Pluckley to Ashford or Hamstreet on the Greensand Way 9 showers in the afternoon
Thomas G
Length : 25.8 km (16.0 mi) or 16.4 km (10.2 mi)
Ascent/Descent : 200m or 150m
Net Walking Time : ca. 5 ½ hours or 4 hours
Toughness : 4 out of 10 or 2 out of 10

Take the 09.34 Ramsgate train from Charing X (via W’loo East and London Bridge (09.43)), arrives Pluckley at 10.46.
Alternatively, take the 09.40 Margate train from St. Pancras I’nal (via Stratford I’nal (09.48), change at Ashford (10.18/10.30), arrives Pluckley 10.37.

Return trains from Ashford are on xx.02 and xx.30 to Charing X, xx.16 and xx.40 to St. Pancras and xx.56 to Victoria.
Return trains from Ham Street are on xx.02 (change at Ashford). There is also Bus Line 511 to Ashford, leaving from opposite the station at xx.52 to 17.52.

Buy a Ham Street or an Ashford return .

This is a pretty route, combining two stages of the Greensand Way. Check out the photos on the website, they were taken in winter. The route starts along a link route through pastures to Pluckley village, where you pick up the Greensand Way proper. You then pass through a sequence of orchards to Little Chart and continue through a variety of interesting and pretty landscapes, from pastures, woods, commons and bogs to the very large Godinton Park Estate to Great Chart. From there, …

-- For the Ashford Ending , you finish with an acceptable urban stretch along a link route into Ashford's centre, following the Stour Valley Walk, largely through parks and along the Great Stour river, to Ashford International station.
-- For the Ham Street Ending , you skirt Ashford's sprawling suburbs with its many new estates and pass a couple of walker-unfriendly farms. Some pretty countryside follows though, with tranquil pastures and the enchanting Ham Street Woods National Nature Reserve (the latter along a mud-prone bridleway), all the way to the fine village of Ham Street.

Notes:
The route shown on the route map reflects the waymarking on the ground as of December 2020; this differs widely from the route shown on OS maps and as described in Kent Council's outdated resources. All changes improve the route by avoiding busy roads or arable field crossings.
At the end in Ham Street, the Greensand Way leads to the train station first, then on to its official finish at the pub in the village centre. To get to the pub first, fork left in the car park at the far end of Ham Street Woods, along a tarmac lane, and at a T-junction in the village turn right towards the pub at a crossroads. From there turn right towards the station.
Lunch: The Swan and Dog in Great Chart (12.7 km) or The Queen's Head in Kingsnorth (17.7 km).
[Ham Street] The Duke’s Head .
For walk directions, map, height profile and gpx/kml files click here and here .
  • Austen
    Fri 28-Nov

    Can this be done following the G. Way on the ground?

    Given the late start, I may try for an earlier train.

    Inclined to aim for Ham, despite the one-hour wait for a train.

  • Karan
    Sun 30-Nov

    Undeterred by a dire met office forecast2 disembarked at Pluckley and didn’t see any walkers. A early diversion was made to check out the Pluckley nature reserve but it’s still a work in progress.

    Setting a rapid pace the two caught up with walker 3 (on an earlier train) close to Great Chart, the village being the recommended lunch stop. Having already rescheduled the pub booking once we made apologies to walker 3 and made a surge. A very good lunch and prompt service left us optimistic to complete the full walk rather than end at Ashford. This was a good choice as the rest of the walk revealed colours, some recent housing developments to which one walker commented: “People do need homes to live in”

    Before the light faded we were treated to a picturesque sunset and silver lined clouds in the sky. The final approach into Ham Street was sketchy under foot and head-torches were required (natural light from the moon was non existent). Surprisingly the group reconvened and3 made the delayed 18:02 out to Ashford Int where train changes were made to head to London. A grand long in winter is possible doing the walk poster proud.

HollieB
Pluckley to Hamstreet - 16 miles
Pluckley to Ashford - 10 miles
This is the only section of the Greensand Way that I haven't yet walked. It starts in familiar territory through Pluckley village and Little Chart, before heading out to Hothfield Common and Hothfield Bogs, passing by Godinton House and Park, for a lunch stop at Great Chart. From here you can follow the River Stour into Ashford, or continue along the Greensand Way as it skirts round Ashford to Kingsnorth before heading off south to its finish at Hamstreet.

Some useful places along the way:

Great Chart - 8 miles - Swan and Dog, food all day. No 2 bus to Ashford: 13:56 16:09. 2 miles walk to Ashford station along the link route (Stour Valley Walk).
Kingsnorth - 11.2 miles - Queens Head, food til 14:45. No 2a bus to Ashford: 14:57 17:36 18:24.
Hamstreet - 16 miles - official end of the Greensand Way. The Dukes Head in the village centre looks like the only option for refreshments.

Walk Directions/Maps
You will need a map for this walk. The route is shown on Ordnance Survey maps, or Kent County Council have a nice booklet to download with OS maps, walk instructions and some information about the places on the way. If using this booklet, take the link route shown from Pluckley station to Pluckley village and start at Chapter 3.3, in section G, by turning left after St Mary's Church.
Train Times:
Outward: Charing Cross 9:10, London Bridge 9:19, Pluckley 10:20. Or St Pancras 9:10, Pluckley 10:08 (change at Ashford).
Return: Frequent from Ashford. Hamstreet xx:02.
  • Thomas G
    Oct-20

    The routes can also be found in SWC 152 and 153, if I'm not mistaken?

  • Anonymous
    Oct-20

    Is that correct Bridie2?

  • HollieB
    Oct-20

    yes - there's not much info on the SWC 152/3 walk pages but turns out there are gpx/kml files to download

  • author image
    Andrew
    Oct-20

    It would be great if someone could take a few notes & photos to complete the walk's write up. There is a curious brewery (a pub/restaurant) by Ashford Station.

  • Thomas G
    Oct-20

    9 walkers on this one, initially splitting into 3 + 6, but later into 3 x 3 as became apparent in the lunch stop village. The weather was overcast initially, then rain set in over lunch, then we had a few more short showers later on. showers in the afternoon

    This was an outing almost of two halves: the Pluckley to Great Chart (ie fringes of Ashford) route is almost faultless, beautiful and varied, and the Great Chart to Ham Street bit (SWC 153) initially very dull to at times not very nice, with in parts slack waymarking, plenty of new housing estates on former agricultural land, some disruptive farmers and homeowners and plenty of stretches where the waymarking suggests a very different route from what the OS map or the online Kent Council drafted walk directions show. The last third of the afternoon route was very pleasant though with some interesting woods and fine, gentle countryside and Ham Street is a fine enough village to end a walk.

    More detail about the route of SWC 152: the link route from Pluckley station to village crosses some pastures and then you have a stretch along a busy road into the village (on pavement), which is probably the only part of the walk that is not really enjoyable. From Pluckley to Little Chart a series of fine orchards are walked through on good paths. The Greensand Way then runs concurrent with the Stour Valley Walk, and consequently you follow the Great Stour river (mostly at some distance) through the pleasant, mildly undulating landscape. Forests, pastures, a common heathland and a bog are walked through, all on good paths, before the route circles around the very large Godinton Park Estate (the house is always out of view though). And before you know it, you are in Great Chart at the Swan and Dog, which seemed a very well run pub and indeed had a fine menu (us few lunchers ate outside). The link route to Ashford Station looks very urban on the map, but might just be ok, as it follows the Great Stour and skirts a few parks en route. Another time...