West Peckham Pub Walk

We have a little book (reminiscent of the Mikado and his little list) that describes pub walks in Kent and on the list is The Swan on the Green at West Peckham. So, with a desire for a good lunch and a walk we set off to try the place out. Surprise! The pub brews its own beer and I can shay without doubtt...that the beer is verra good. Having tasted small samples of each - we both had some - I settled on the strong bitter Bewick Swan which was delicious and so easy to go down that one has to take care when imbibing because it is definitely moreish. The young lady who served me was giggling and worrying about being 'snapped' but she need not have worried - it was the pint that took my interest!

You park in the pub car park and go in for a cup of coffee or a beer and be sensible on summer week eneds and book a table. I can recommend doing that with all pub walks as it not only makes your day an enjoyable one but it also helps to keep a precious part of our English heritige in place - i.e. the country pub. Besides, it is polite to let the landlord know that you appreciate his or her amenities. Not only that you also learn much about the locality and get a warm and friendly welcome.

A pretty cottage not far from the village.

As for the walk itself you stagger out of the pub and visit St Dunstans church on the way crossing the green to a kissing gate and follow the path to Pear Tree Cottage. From there you go through a gate into a strawberry field and follow the perimeter to a posted gap which will lead you out onto the road past a stone cottage with a magnificent willow tree growing in the garden. There is a gate and wide track which you take leading up a hill past views of the valley to a marker post which then directs you past orchards - apple, raspberry and apple, to a track between two orchards. Look for the huge trees in the paddocks.

The track leads out onto Gover Hill Road and a cross roads where you will be directed to take the narrow road up the hill. We deviated and took a path through part of the National Trust woodland and was treated to a viewing point over the Medway river valley.

The road will lead you to a cross roads where there is a private road up to Hurst Manor - take a stroll up the road and for a few moments stand and look at the view.


View from the look-out in Gover Woods

One of the attractions of West peckham is the quiet roads and this makes walking a pleasure. The area is so pleasant for walking with so many footpaths and bridleways to choose from that if you should feel like it you could arrive at the Swan early in the morning, do a four hour walk, have an excellent lunch and walk it off in time for the evening opening.

Right, a few words about the lunch. The menu is small but covers most tastes and being small this means that what is served is of high quality. The produce used in the cooking is sourced locally wherever they can and it is obvious that it is also fresh (as opposed to frozen and zapped) and prepared and cooked on the premises. I had the sea-food platter which was excellent with fresh bread that was light yet tasty and Daphne had the asparagus dish. Both portions were enough to enjoy and not too large to exclude a dessert. Again as local as you can get and delicious.

Walking the lunch off was a pleasure.

Although we used the pub walks guide for our walk it is obvious that other walks can be taken in the area with no more than a good West kent road map and a little common sense as to direction and pace.

As a perk of the walking tour we saw this delightful display of red Hawthorn blossom which, like the white blossom and the wonderful spring blooms cascading from garden shrubs and wild trees alike gives us a magnificent visual treat.