Greensand Way or North Downs Way?

[Randy Winkman]

I live on the edge of South East London and enjoy a walking challenge. In the last couple of years I've walked the whole of the Kent coast, the length of the river Cray and most recently the length of the river Medway. All as bit-by-bit challenges when free time allowed.

All 3 have normally involved travelling by car to get to the start/finish point but I must admit the most satisfying bits were when I could use the train such as walking Folkestone to Dover. That meant I could walk a long way in one direction and then get the train home.

Any views on my next challenge? It's a toss-up between the 2 in the thread title. Anyone familiar with those routes?

[theplayingmantis]

Nope sorry, but on name alone the NDW would be my choice as its a more recognized/famous one, so perhaps should be better?

But don't bother with the Essex way if ever tempted to venture NE...its rubbish. i could have come up with better route, although was nice to get the train to Harwich to start it, but had to get picked up at my end point and then dropped off each start point again.

Currently walking the Saffron trail, also crap!!

But then Essex doesn't have the natural interior geographical features of Sussex/Kent.

Of more interest walk wise, I started to walk the borders of Essex a few years back one summer at spare weekends, 20 odd miles a day or so, as per what they did in this book, https://www.amazon.sg/Frontier-Country-Around-Esse...

Starting at Waltham Abbey clockwise i got as far as Coalhouse fort at East Tilbury until life got in the way, Will pick it up again one summer.

[croyde]

We are looking at walking Offa's Dyke over by the Welsh border next year.

Not researched it yet but walked a tiny bit of it this summer and fancy it as our first long walk challenge.

Question to OP, do you just pre-book a few places to stay along the way or is it something more organized like I see some companies offering?

[Randy Winkman]

croyde said:

We are looking at walking Offa's Dyke over by the Welsh border next year.

Not researched it yet but walked a tiny bit of it this summer and fancy it as our first long walk challenge.

Question to OP, do you just pre-book a few places to stay along the way or is it something more organized like I see some companies offering?

Nothing so grand. I've just been doing walks that are reasonably close to home so I can drive there and back during the day. It does make progress rather slow though. Especially with the first half of the Medway which twists and turns and has no specific riverside path. Sometimes I would walk a total of 15 miles or so and only make 3-4 miles progress along the river. Part of that is because of having to get back to the car. It was fabulously educational though. Seeing a river grow from something I could step over to its end at Rochester. It's great from Yalding northwards where at least I could use the train to get back to the car each time.

[Randy Winkman]

Resurrecting my own thread to report I'm walking The Greensand Way from Hamstreet, near Ashford in Kent to wherever I can be bothered to continue until in Surrey. So far, in four separate walks I've got to Sutton Valence. My finding are, lots of mud, lots of sheep of varying sizes, lots of apple orchards, public footpaths that go across peoples yards and driveways, good achitecture in some villages eg Dutch gables (see below), some good churches with very old Yew trees in the graveyards, oast houses (presumably now homes) and some birdwatchers looking for a Great Grey Shrike. No idea if they found it. Highlight perhaps was a white, grey-squirrel (sadly no photo) which I have reported on this website which says such a thing is very rare.

https://whitesquirrels.co.uk/squirrel-facts

To start with the walk was quite flat but views south have been great in the last few miles.






Most sheep ignore you or run away. This lot ran towards me and then followed me about 400 yards across the field. They were big blighters as well.

[vikingaero]

Randy,

You should do the new Kent Coastal Route (old but now connected up) that you can walk from South London to Thanet.

https://londonist.com/london/beyond-london/english...
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-stretch-of-...

There's a new free Explore Kent App that is free and has loads of walks and cycles on it.

I do a lot of walks in the High Weald AONB running from Matfield towards East Grinstead.

If you ever want to visit some Hearthstone/Firestone mines in Surrey then let me know (closed for bat season until Easter 2023).

[markh1973]

You could look at doing the Darent Valley Path - bot closest to the Thames isn't great but then you get some beautiful countryside as you got through Farningham, Eynsford, Shoreham, Otford and ending up in Sevenoaks.

[Randy Winkman]

vikingaero said:

Randy,

You should do the new Kent Coastal Route (old but now connected up) that you can walk from South London to Thanet.

https://londonist.com/london/beyond-london/english...
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-stretch-of-...

There's a new free Explore Kent App that is free and has loads of walks and cycles on it.

I do a lot of walks in the High Weald AONB running from Matfield towards East Grinstead.

If you ever want to visit some Hearthstone/Firestone mines in Surrey then let me know (closed for bat season until Easter 2023).

Many thanks.

I have already walked the whole of the Kent coast including Sheppey. I added the part from the Datford Bridge to Greenwich after I had initially thought I had finished. I found the whole thing got more interesting as I got nearer to London. For me, looking across and estuary is better than looking out to sea. That includes the south side of Grain/Hoo where you look across to the Medway towns.

Thanks for the links though.

[theplayingmantis]

thanks for the update and pics interesting.

I completed my far more modest Saffron trail in mid autumn as covid and summer holidays disrupted many a weekend having started in summer.

Some delightful little churches and a couple of very good pubs (one for cask ale, one for both cask and food) along the trail, were the only real highlights the scenery being pleasantly north west Essex bucolic as i'm used to once passed the first few stages of the trail, but ends in a bit of a whimper at Saffron Walden, and is at best sparsely signposted at many points, what with it not being a national trail, stickers on lampposts or fences being the method in some place...i utilized the various unofficial webpages available that shows it imposed on OS maps, for my navigation, relying on the way marks only as a confirmation i was on track.

Pubs;

Walnut Tree at Broads Green, old fashioned and quirky (opens and closes when owner can be bothered) (cash only) serving some nice cask, amongst them the sublime offering from Bishop Nick brewery (BN being ran by scion of the Ridleys family)

Compasses at Radley Green, as above lovely traditional country pub, more au fait with modern world(card payments), although full of old school charm and friendly staff, and Camra award winner. Cask BN amongst others available.

Fleur de Lis at Widdington, lovely atmosphere food pub, v nice food and some decent alcohol offerings including a couple of cask options (Tim Taylor boltmaker and Woodforde wherry, 2 top drops! as well as local craft offerings) as well as extensive spirit and interesting wines.

Churches;

The redundant St Mary the virgin at Chickney is spooky in its isolation, something right out of a James Herbert novel.

Also St Mary's at Little Easton is fascinating, some outstanding marble monuments/death figures/statues to the local lords of the manor and brasses (edit. as in metal, not Las Vegas...), as well as really nice modern part with the American chapel, and some terrific stained glass windows shipped from Ohio dedicated to the memory of the 386th bombardment group who were stationed nearby as well as interesting background to memorial to them.

and Mike Reid is buried in the cemetery too!

Edited by theplayingmantis on Friday 9th December 14:18

[ARHarh]

croyde said:

We are looking at walking Offa's Dyke over by the Welsh border next year.

Not researched it yet but walked a tiny bit of it this summer and fancy it as our first long walk challenge.

Question to OP, do you just pre-book a few places to stay along the way or is it something more organized like I see some companies offering?

I walk a bit of Offas dyke most days as it runs past my house. Most just wild camp along the path, plenty of places to hide away.

[Randy Winkman]

markh1973 said:

You could look at doing the Darent Valley Path - bot closest to the Thames isn't great but then you get some beautiful countryside as you got through Farningham, Eynsford, Shoreham, Otford and ending up in Sevenoaks.

Cheers. I know that area a bit but have never walked the path. As a south east Londoner it's long been the destination for a long walk. In fact, this morning I went (in the car) to the Caste Lavender Farm near Shoreham. I good place for a bit of Christmas shopping.

[Randy Winkman]

theplayingmantis said:

thanks for the update and pics interesting.

I completed my far more modest Saffron trail in mid autumn as covid and summer holidays disrupted many a weekend having started in summer.

Some delightful little churches and a couple of very good pubs (one for cask ale, one for both cask and food) along the trail, were the only real highlights the scenery being pleasantly north west Essex bucolic as i'm used to once passed the first few stages of the trail, but ends in a bit of a whimper at Saffron Walden, and is at best sparsely signposted at many points, what with it not being a national trail, stickers on lampposts or fences being the method in some place...i utilized the various unofficial webpages available that shows it imposed on OS maps, for my navigation, relying on the way marks only as a confirmation i was on track.

Pubs;

Walnut Tree at Broads Green, old fashioned and quirky (opens and closes when owner can be bothered) (cash only) serving some nice cask, amongst them the sublime offering from Bishop Nick brewery (BN being ran by scion of the Ridleys family)

Compasses at Radley Green, as above lovely traditional country pub, more au fait with modern world(card payments), although full of old school charm and friendly staff, and Camra award winner. Cask BN amongst others available.

Fleur de Lis at Widdington, lovely atmosphere food pub, v nice food and some decent alcohol offerings including a couple of cask options (Tim Taylor boltmaker and Woodforde wherry, 2 top drops! as well as local craft offerings) as well as extensive spirit and interesting wines.

Churches;

The redundant St Mary the virgin at Chickney is spooky in its isolation, something right out of a James Herbert novel.

Also St Mary's at Little Easton is fascinating, some outstanding marble monuments/death figures/statues to the local lords of the manor and brasses (edit. as in metal, not Las Vegas...), as well as really nice modern part with the American chapel, and some terrific stained glass windows shipped from Ohio dedicated to the memory of the 386th bombardment group who were stationed nearby as well as interesting background to memorial to them.

and Mike Reid is buried in the cemetery too!

Edited by theplayingmantis on Friday 9th December 14:18

Thanks for this. Even on a "signposted" trail with an OS map and a phone app it still sometimes goes wrong for me. The ones that get me are when I get signposted across a field and there's no clear path where other people have walked. Or you get to a public footpath sign and not know if it's my footpath or just another random one. I once earwigged in on a Duke of Edinburgh award bloke giving some advice to a group of teenagers. He said that when using an OS map, even if you think you know where you are going, when you get to a feature that you know will be on the map, get the map out and locate yourself exactly. That means that if you eventually get to a spot where you are unsure, you have a definite point in your mind not far behind you that you can use to get your bearings again from.

[Sticks.]

Sounds interesting, and it would be interesting to see photos as you progress. A friend of mine walked the coast of Britain, in stages, and had the photo's made up into books.

I'd always wanted to walk the N Kent shore and and have a look the old forts. I mean to have a look at the Romney Marsh churches in Summer too, which might make a good walk for you.

If memory serves there were a lot of Flemish weavers in a radius around Tenterden, which might explain your architecture. Though I may well be wrong.

[Randy Winkman]

Cheers. I've looked at a few churches down there. The standout one is St Thomas à Becket near Brenzett. I think there are enough others to do a bit of a church crawl without walking too far. One or two of them would probably be open but not all of them.

That's interesting about the architectural influence. Here are a couple of additional photos. First a cottage near Kingsnorth (not where the powerstation is).



A pill box used as a shed. I appreciate it's someone's home and car but hope it's OK as no house or car numbers are shown.



Pub in Great Chart.




View near Ulcombe.

[Sticks.]

Interesting pictures, thanks. I assumed that about the architecture, I'll have to read up. Dering Arms Pluckley is the same. https://goo.gl/maps/NXAtdZnC9gQqfgUd7

[Randy Winkman]

Sticks. said:

Interesting pictures, thanks. I assumed that about the architecture, I'll have to read up. Dering Arms Pluckley is the same. https://goo.gl/maps/NXAtdZnC9gQqfgUd7

Cheers. I parked in Pluckley for one walk but didn't see that one which I've just seen is a little outside the village. I did see rather nice butchers shop there though.

[Sticks.]

Randy Winkman said:

Cheers. I parked in Pluckley for one walk but didn't see that one which I've just seen is a little outside the village. I did see rather nice butchers shop there though.

Yes, it's right down by the station. Classic and sports car meet 2nd Sunday lunchtime in the month. I assume it's still going. And you probably know, Dering windows, after some such Lord Dering escaped through one, or something.