An Afternoon walk in Aylesford

Again, a spring Saturday and we, my sister and I headed off for the equestrian supply store in Aylesford with the intention of choosing gifts for niece who owns horses.  Aylesford is a place of family memories with St Peter's School and the Church being a part of our lives and our family history.  Our father went to the primary school there.  I was married in the church.  A favorite aunt once lived in Pratling street and my mother's family lived at the Aylesford Forstal close to the Pottery and Brick Works.  The village is now an isolated enclave of history surrounnded by industry and encroaching suburbia.  Thankfully the ancient packhorse bridge is no longer part of the main highway and the traffic lights on the other bit of road from Eccles and from Maidstone are working properly.

Aylesford has a free car park near the new bridge and from there you can walk around the village and to The Friars if you are so inclined.  Aylesford boasts the smallest pub in the county and the Hengist restaurant.  The former a rough drinkers pub and the latter a most up-market but worth it place.  Most friendly pub is The Bush but then it always was.

The team taking a well earned break

We decided to walk up past the school and was pleasantly surprised to see that the Jubilee gardens, once overgrown and neglected, are to be converted to a grand entrance, playground and gardens to the school.  The local scout troop and volunteers were working on the area to begin the tidying up - we will no doubt take a few moments to follow progress. 

We walked past the school on the road which leads back to the bluebell hill road and then onto a footpath behind the houses that follows the stream where once we used to gather watercress.  On our left was the snad quarry with its machinery and warning notices reminding us of friends and others who had died there in the cold water trying to swim or raft on the treacherous water. The path followed the perimeter of the quarry and sad to say we saw people there - about fifteen or twenty - taking their chances.

The path leads out oward the edge of Eccles and Burham where we turned down toward Aylesford keeping the tower of St Peter's on our left.  The Blackthorn was bursting to show off and looked pink and white which when we looked at the blossom we realised how the effect was achieved. The centre stamens of each bloom are red and pale yellow with white as the dominant color.  The blossom was falling giving the impression of snow introducing the entrance to Aylesford Priory (The Friars) where we took a stroll. 

We lunched late on snadwiches bought in the cafe and walked around the Priory taking time to stop in the chapels.  Peculiarly the sanctity of the place grips you and reverence for the holiness of the Priory permeates your thoughts and suggests a devotional attitude.  Sister Daffers lit a candle for a friend. I was moved to say a prayer of thanks. 

We walked back to the village and enjoyed a game of memory when viewing the Alms Houses where our Grandmother May lived for a time and me trying to recall where a perforance involving my cousin Cherry took place. 

Painters in Yalding and Wateringbury

It was a sunny day on Thursday 8th of April so my fellow artist and myself took off for the Medway to do some sketching in the village of Yalding.  We drove off with high hopes of a good day and had a look at the locks on the Medway first to see if we fancied drawing and painting the scene but discovered the watering holes were not that close so we went on to Yalding itself.  First stop. The Pub. It was closed so we walked out into the village with our pads and pencils and took up positions ready to draw.  Friend Bob Collins drew the Walnut Tree pub and I with my Fuji in hand took photographs and settled down on the steps of the war memorial to sketch my impression of the main drag. 

Yalding, you will have daffodils growing on your grass and your village will appear to have been taken with a fish-eye lens.  However, the place was pretty and well worth a visit for the artist who wants to sit and paint a village scene.  The people were friendly and talkative and we noted that although there are pubs in the village the centre for people to gather is the cafe near the memorial. 

We walked the streets, admired the church and took a stroll across the medieval bridge admiring the stonework and of course the view of the village church.  Bob, being a fat bloke and needing rests at times took it easy so I adjusted my pace and enjoyed the scenery even the more so having to stroll rather than walk.  We did a couple of sketches and I did a little intrepid exploring along a muddy bank to take pictures of the bridge. 

We had a pint and a half at the pub and some salted beef sandwiches.  They were delicious and I noticed that others who were dining seemed to enjoy their meals as much as we did.  The service was friendly and the place was a pleasant lunchtime experience. 

We waddled off after lunch to Wateringbury where we parked near the mill pond to do a couple of sketches of the pond and the houses around it.  I took pictures and drew the old mill house.  We walked up to the church where I used the camera and Bob did a sketch of the church itself.  The churchyard looked beautiful with its display of daffodils and primroses and the white blackthorn, pink almond blossom and the fine spring sunshine.  A note that in january 2009 my sister and I saw a brave primrose  in flower near a gravestone and I took the opportunity to find the plant and see how it was doing. I can report that it is in full bloom and doing well. Good on you primrose!

Sevenoaks - Kent

Sevenoaks was one of those places that we passed through or around with the occasional trip to Knole Park and the magnificent Knole House.  This day we were expecting rain so decided that going to a town where they may be ready shelter was a good idea.  As it turned out the day was not as wet as we expected to instead of dodging the showers we ambled around the town enjoying the early spring blooms and the experience of seeing the town from the sidewalks.  The first problem was the car parking and missing a few so we ended up parking behind the theatre, cinema complex close to the pedestrian area.

Sevenoaks is an old town with a history that as we explore the area we will discover.  The river Darent passes through to Dartford via Otford, Shoreham and Eynesford where the Lullingstone Roman Villa is displayed and well preserved.  The town centre, once a market and trading centre complete with a labor market where tradesmen would sell their wares and services, is pedentrianised although old much of it has been modernised.  I am not a fan of the clean lines that tend to make all buildings look like a kit set company has supplied modules to a limited range of designs but at least the older parts have been integrated with a little care.  The newer sections have arches and narrowish lanes. 

However, all towns and cities develop as the centuries pass and like many others Sevenoaks has done just that.  The treat for lovers of buildings is the many magnificent house on the wide streets whose ages range from the 1700's to 1900's and of course the more modern structures of the later 20C. 

Sevenoaks school, a secondary and boarding school that claims an international touch and has among its students some who are capable of places at Oxford and Cambridge and the Ivy League Universities of the United States appears to dominate part of the town.  It's core buildings are ancient but the school itself seems to be progressive offering places that are well sought after.  It reflects the tone of the town - genteel sophistication with the knowledge of its part in history. 

Dominating the Tonbridge end of the High Street is St Nicholas Church opposite the Knole Park entrance and parts of the Sevenoaks school.  Beside the church is the Chantry House built in 1720 which was itself built around a much earlier place in 1542 (I wasn't around then so I have no idea what it looked like).  We walked into the church yard but unfortunately the trusting community has chosen to put security on the entry and bar all who do not have the codes.  What does one do to worship the Lord at Easter? Seek his spirit in the nearest pub?

The little lanes around the church led us through Six Bells Lane (Above) and past some delightful dwellings and back to the main road.  From there our stroll led us past the Constituional Club building to the Sevenoaks Cricket Club grounds from where we had good views of the Darent valley.

Earlier we stopped at a market stall and bought cheese and some delicious organic bread rolls as a walking lunch.  The cheese was delicious and the bread tasted like real bread.   As you can see from the reflection of the stall in the Chequers Pub window the bread looked delicious. We decided to walk and from the cricket ground (above is a view of the flower gardens near the grounds) we took to the Vines and down onto a suburban road, turning left St Botolph's road back to the grounds and then on back to the car park, ascertain the time left on the ticket and discovered we had enough time left to get a cappucino and an ale.  So, it was back into the Shambles for a cafe or a bar.  We found a bar and sat in there putting the world to rights as you do. 

Shoreham - a village on the Darent

We took the dog with us to Shoreham to give him a treat and so it seemed a day for everyone else and their dogs to be out and about.  Spring weather, flowers not yet ready to pop out and the trees still bare of leaves but tentatively pushing out buds, Blackthorn showing its white flowers, Forsythia and Peach in bloom and the inevitable Daffodils.  Shoreham is emerging like the rest of us from the dull winter and as a first time visitor was a most welcoming place. 

Delightfully pretty, an unusual church and house that date back to Tudor times and a pub that claims to exist since 1500, it is a place that in summer is no doubt swarming with visitors.  The river is the attraction if only for its wandering clarity and at this time of the year the menace of flooding and of course the valley in which it runs.  Barely green the trees are still magnificent and as we walked up the hill to the cross on the bank we were delighted by the view that displayed the village including a clear view of a man wheeling a barrow to collect compost from the heap that serves the allotments.  Naturally I spoiled the illusion by describing the village as a super Lego display. 

Now spring is truly on its way we were delighted to see clumps of wild violets on the bank beside the woodland walk.   We met people with children and dogs and our canine companion, my nephew's dog Zoid, almost loved every moment of it - I say almost because he seemed a little nervous of other dogs when he was on the lead.  If we took him off there is no knowing where he would go so he had to subdue his feelings and put on a brave face. 

However, the village was a place we need to visit again.  There are no less than five pubs in Shoreham so this means that there should be another four visits plus another for the attractive Honey Pot tea room.

A View of the High Street and the Tea Room

The main attraction is the walk along the river which can be followed at least to Eynsford where there is the Lullingstone Roman Villa and the Lullingstone Country Park.  We walked the village and turned down into Mill Lane with some delightful houses to view and of course the river.  We took the footpath beside the river past the Old Mill Cottage to the bridge and weir and turned up toward the church from there.  It was a pleasure to walk the avenue of Yews past the church where a couple of artists were painting pictures of the porch and to the field beyond. 

We turned left out of the gate and walked back in a circular route back to Mill Lane via footpaths and then along the High Street to turn left again down to the bridge before which we stopped for lunch at the Kings Arms.  I would not say the food was excellent but for the price it was more than value for money and earned praise as good.  We sat outside with the other dog walkers as dogs are banned from the inside (must watch that in future) and enjoyed a chat with a group of people and their dogs and a young couple who had walked along the river from Farningham with their Spaniel.

After lunch we set off back along the High Street and chose the footpath leading up out of the village past the sports ground and play centre to the woodlands and hills above.  There, once we had staggered up the top using the dog to pull us up in turns - he hasn't yet learned to walk and not drag the lead - was a terrific view and the violets mentioned earlier.  We turned right at the top and walked past the cross, viewing it and then from there back down to the end of the village and back to the car park for the drive home feeling much better for the experience.

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.

Sissinghurst Village

On this cold March day with the weather threatening to bring another cold snap we decided that a good place to go would be one of the Weald villages so we chose Sissinghurst to wander around.  One of the pleasures of wandering around a village is that you do not have to committ yourself to a walk that is likely to take you into waterlogged or difficult areas or along paths that need hiking boots and sticks. You also get to see the village for what it is. 

On many occasions we have passed through, sometimes on the way to Sissinghurst Castle Gardens and other times as a preferred road back to Leeds.  It was a pleasant exercise to stop at The Bull and park the car, take a cup of coffee, threaten to return for a meal and start stomping. 

The first visit was to the church with the school attached.  The church is fairly modern being built in 1838, only a mere one hundred and seventy-two years old.  It looks small but it is roomy although a little dull and is without a cemetary surrounding it - the cemetary is behind the school - strange but logical. The two buildings work well together and I am sure they have been doing so for many years.  We had a quick look at Sissinghurst Place but the time for viewing the place will be on 14th March, Mothering Sunday, and Sissinghurst open day ( if the notices are right).

We took a stroll down Chapel Llane to where the Crane Brook crosses and decided to walk back again not wishing to wallow in the quagmire that surrounded the stream.  Content to walk back to the village we turned along  a public footpath that ran parallel to the road behind the houses that dipped down to the road leading to Buckhurst Farm.  From there we walked back to the village and admired the buildings. 

Left - Buckhurst Farm

Although the day was cold there were some sunny spells that on ocassion highlighted the March landscape - that washed out almost spring feeling as we wait for the bulbs to burst out of their winter shells (nice cliche) and the daylight to help the birds and daytime animals to feed.  The recent snow and rain was in evidence with ditches filled with water and in places cleared to allow flow.  The hedges showed signs of recent council and farmer vandalism in aid of clear views for road users leaving a bare skeleton for the birds.  We are losing our hedgerow birds people - stop the hedge cutting - trim not slash.  In the midst of all this moaning about vandalism we were pleased by the sun catching the poles and undergrowth of a hop garden.

This is part of the hop producing area and we expect to see at least one field - that was all we got. However, Sissinghurst village is a pretty place and with The Bull inn serving food all day and good beer the village is worth a visit.  The intention being perhaps to walk along the Crane to see lake Chad and the windmill at Cranbrook town leaving Cranbrook for a later visit. 

Right - the Sissinghurst sign and Penny Farthing

It would be pleasant in summer to perhaps combine a visit to the gardens at Sissinghurst Castle and the village instead of passing through.  Our intention would be to follow that up and maybe walk around the castle estate from the village. 

Right - an attractive houe front in The Street and below a neat looking rusty shed.

Sissinghurst is on a Roman road and as you may have noted from the location of the house shown above as on The Street we must realise that the word for street was via ( as in Via Appia). We use the word via to mean going through and as the road went from Bodiam through Sissinghurst to wherever it ended up it makes sense.  We noted that in many villages there is often a road named The Street - could the Romans have made it?


Oh, and lunch at the inn was good.  We had light meals, tea, and a glass of Sussex ale.  The presentation and the price were good with enough to satisfy without the need to leave any.  The Bull has a thoughtful touch to its bar - a supply of games to suit most tastes that will also help keep children occupied.  It offers a children's menu.  It also has a garden bar with a pond and ducks - too bloody cold to sit outside this day as the smokers are compelled to do.  Give the place a visit and enjoy a walk.

Marden Kent - a wool town

Marden in Kent not far from Maidstone was a wool town. Today it is a pretty village and on the commuter run with the rail line passing close by.  We decided to take a quiet stroll around the place and hope to re-visit for a much longer walk when the weather will allow easier walking in and around the village on the public footpaths.  In the meantime first impressions suggest that there is much to enjoy in this weald town that still offers the stocks outside the church.

The sign proudly declaring Marden is set in the centre of the village on a triangular island on which stands a building now used as a farm shop.  You could say this is the village square and on this Saturday we found the place was quiet with the occasional bus and a few vehicles driving through.

We parked close to the Library and walked west along the road past the church and the railway station to return the same way.  Sister D was suffering from a recent bout of the lurgi so we allowed ourselves the luxury of a casual and careful walk to allow for the chill although it was a sunny day.  We stopped for a drink and a light lunch in the West End Tavern which from the outside did not appear to be anymore than a local pub. Surprisingly the place turned out to be a combination of local pub and pleasant restaurant wirth a friendly Saturday afternoon atmosphere that was most welcome. 

The locals in Marden seemed to be friendly and willing to make conversation.  The picture of the Old House showing a ladder leaning against a window from which a man was working was one such experience.  We chatted about how the house was to have a former extension replaced and how the work to restore the rest was progressing.  Such things make the trips worthwhile apart from the pleasure of walking and exploring our county.  (And drinking the local beer)

The Church is unusual in that it has a wooden top to the tower and from research the church was begun at the time of Bill the Conker's invasion ( that man gets everywhere)   although I think the set of stocks shown were given to the village in 1882 - the local gentry apparantly liking age old traditions. 

We will return to Marden later in the year as there is much in the area to explore and perhaps we will combine some of the exploration with river walks.  Whatever we do it would be a treat to return to a place we have only glanced at.