Birling Village Kent

Birling is a small village close to Maidstone and West Malling in Kent set on the road between Ryarsh and Snodland.  Its attraction is the church on the hill and the ragstone houses built by the Neville estate for its workers.  As the friendly church warden informed us, it is a fuedal village and from the way she described the community, the youngest Neville plays the organ at the church, and how the family are tied to the church and the land around we had to believe her. The result is an attractive Kent village with that look of the larger towns, such as Maidstone and parts of Rochester.  The houses built of Kentish Ragstone and brick are attractive and are well looked after.  Notably the modern newly built homes followed the older style and although it obvious that they are new they blend in.   We wandered around in the heat taking a look at the church - there is parking - and took a stroll to the Neville Bull for a light lunch and some liquid refreshment.

The place is worth a visit.  Statement of fact.  The pub was clean, the landlord cheerful and friendly, the food good and the menu extensive.  The Bull theme is carried out with some droll water color cartoons distributed around the walls - dreadful jokes - but worth a look.  There is a large car park and a patio for sun lovers and smokers. 

Birling has its own attractions, least of all the glowing roses that abound in the gardens which at this time of the year with the rain and the hot sun are going crazy trying to show off.  A quietly pretty village Birling is surrounded by farmlands with paths leading to woodlands, to Ryarsh and back up to Holly Hill,  a local woodland area.  For the less intrepid walker the good news is that there is a car parking space at the Holly Hill woods and from there it is pleasant to walk along the West Weald Way or to take the paths to Luddesdown - that depends on the weather and the time you want to spend. 

The casual walk around Birling in the twenty to thirty degree heat was a little too much for me skin and blister and at one stage she sheltered in the shade of a telegraph pole to keep out of the sun.  Singing 'Waltzing Matilda' to remind her how hot it can get in Aussie I suggested we wander back to the church and go inside where it was cool.  It was there met the church warden and chatted.  A church has stood there since medieval times and has been impoved, added to and refurbished.  It is worth a look and please make a donation. 

The church stands on a hill which so its history suggests was used as a redoubt and a place to gather water.  There is evidence in the run of the land that there should be a natural water flow past the hill and through it as a filter it being sandy and not chalk - hence the use no doubt of the Ragstone - with the occassional showing of willow where a stream flows. 

Organic pigs and the Black Death

One of the nicest things about going places you have never been before is that they turn out to be places you want to visit again.  Luddesdown, a small village close to Cobham and Meopham in the Gravesham area of Kent is one such a place. With a choice of pubs to stop at I chose The Old Lion over The Cock Inn not because it is better but simply because it was reccomended by a local who told me the food was good. I cannot say the same for the beer but I did like my snack.

The feature of Luddesdown is Luddesdown Court and the Parish Church as well as the organic farm where you are invited to walk and enjoy. The farm is not exactly the hub of the walks in the area but is centered there in such a way as to be an integral part of a walker's pleasure.  There are a number of country parks close by and from there some of the walks, including the WealdWay either include it in circular walks from Sole Street, Meopham or Cobham and Shorne Country Park or as part of walks around the North Downs Way which is excellent.  As a result I met a number of people on various hikes and learned much about the area.  I met a group of teenagers loaded up with backpacks and camping gear on their way to make camp at Meopham and learned they were doing part of their Duke of Edinburgh award - well done folks!

I drove to the church and parked, had a wander around and took a short excursion along part of the WealdWay and returned to investigate the Village Hall.  A local resident and his dog told me the history of the hall which was once a school with the school master's house alongside.  The school operated teaching most ages up until 1956.  It faces over a valley, part of the organic farm, and down on a cricket pitch part of which is on a slope! 

From the pub where I stopped for a pint and a chat with a local I walked up to the Dode church meeting a horse rider on the way who directed me to where it was.  The story of the church is that it served a village until the 1300's when the population was hit by the Black Death and decimated.  The Parson ran away, so it is said, and left his parishioners to their fate. The village buildings fell into disrepair and disappeared but the stone church remained and was converted to use as a barn.  Today weddings are held there albeit using a registrar but access is limited as it is on private property.  The girl serving in the bar said she and her friends used to go up there when they were children but would not go there at night - spooky, she says.

I walked back via WealdWay and to Luddesdown Court and watched the cricket match for a while but needing a lunch I left them to it and wandered back via a footpath across the fields back to the pub. 

A Fleeting visit to Ryarsh and a flick through Birling

I have often passed the sign on the A20 pointing to Ryarsh and Birling and as curiosity is in danger of killing the cat I decided to use a life and have a look. A doomsday village Ryarsh has a strange charm from its modern village hall neatly ensconced beside the playing fields to its 16C pub, The Duke of Wellington.  The strange part is that the pub is called after the Duke that thumped Napoleon but dates from 1516?  Time travel?  According to its website the pub offers a friendly service but I walked in, found a few disinterested locals, a private function that drew all the staff away from the bar and a feeling that I was an intruder.  Most unpleasant but we will try it later maybe? 

However, there was a good reason for walking the village.  I wanted to see what was there and found a few old buildings, a grand Oast, and an 1852 building pictured above which the owner was working on replacing inside wall linings and and the crumbling wall outside the house. He said he was going to reinstate the iron railings that formerly made the wall so attractive.  The locals in their homes were friendly.

I walked along the old school lane and found the school which was once a school as to be expected circa 1858 and did time as the village hall and is now two houses.  The stone looks like Kentish Ragstone cut to shape.  There are other places in the village with evidence of similar material.  Notably the older houses, there are a number of new buildings with 1960's and 70's utility stamped all over them as well as some more modern ones. Tacky stuff. Take the road opposite the pub up the hill (cannot remember the name) and there is a house named appropriately 'The Old House' with buttressed brick walls and late tudor style chimneys that smack of this once being a manor house - now a row of separate dwellings.

It is above this house that the road winds around eventually to the hills and disappears into a track. Footpaths head to the hills but as this was a fleeting visit and I needed a map I declined to follow them.  The hills are those leading to the Trosley Park area and those above Snodland.  Mighty pleasant looking part of the North Downs and well worth a further tromp.

In showing the Old School House last I have a method in my madness - driving through Birling I saw many of the houses were built similarly and I marked the place for a further visit.