Shepherds Well - a mining village

We went to Shepherds Well - a village in the heart of what was once the coal mining area of Kent.  The village boasts a functioning branch of the East Kent Light Railway with a station close to the mainline station in its centre.  We parked at the village hall and walked into the village exploring the roads and a few of the footpaths discovering a pleasant prospect as we walked around the houses.  The village is built on a hill with a church, St Andrews, at the top across the village green from the Bell Inn.

Good beer, good reasonabley priced food and a warm fire which we did not need but it was cheerful.

The church was worth a visit - we arrived during a cleaning session and learned that the gift box had been jemmied open and rifled.

We have not explored this area before but now that Spring is upon us and Summer on its way we might take the plunge and explore the small villages that were once serviced by the EKLR and learn the history of the miners.

The village, just off the A2 Dover road has a charm that on this March day was beginning to show with a display of daffodils and rural activity such as horse riding, the traffic being sparse, and the unfortunate banging away of shotguns. Such is life. 

The drawback to the peace and tranquilty, excluding the summer weekends when the railway is operating, was the wind driven sound of the Lydden Autosport track.  I like the sound of motorcycles having ridden them for many years and at times visited the track when it was used as grass track racing venue, but the of racing engines straining to beat each other around a circuit is not conducive to a quiet walk in the countryside.

Okay, so gripe over, the price we pay for diversity. 

The village is attractive and with part of the North Downs Way passing through it and many public footpaths that will take the walker on a trip around the village the place is worth a visit.  For casual walkers we reccomend stopping at The Bell Inn for a meal and a pint or two (plus and excellent pot of tea) and enjoy the downs which here give views of gently rolling farmlands and lines of trees. 

Right: The old bakery house.

As for the shotguns and the aftermath; we walked, now in the rain, to the outskirts of the village heading along West Court Lane.  We turned around when the road became exposed to the weather and returned to discover two rabbits, one recently bloodied and dead and the other dying and close to death.  As the two animals were not there on our way out we could only conclude that they were dumped from a vehicle or maybe dropped from a sack as the shooting came froma  distance and this was near a some very urban looking houses.  Most unpleasant.  You shoot an animal to eat it.  You do not let it suffer.  If you do you have no right to be in charge of a gun.  

But that was not what impressed us as you can imagine.  The surprise was the friendliness of all those we met and the attractive gardens just beginning to come alive and the views as we strolled around.  For a place randomly selected with no real intention of spending that much time there when we first arrived it gave us a pleasant afternoon's walk. 

Right: enjoying a ride.

As it turned out we enjoyed the views and took a little excursion to Eyethorne where the EKLR museum is housed with intention of paying the place a visit later in the year.  If we do we will post it.  

A view from the West Court Lane.