11 plus a dog assembled at the train station. Only two wanted pub lunch so we did not bother phoning the pub. The sun was out, we navigated through a few patches of muddy path in the morning but nothing too taxing. Two ate at Leicester Arms, we sat in the large garden at the back, both had excellent Fish & Chips. 6 picnickers then joined us for drinks, one of whom could not resist the temptation of delicious cake sitting on the bar counter….. Several robins paid visit to our table, they were rewarded with cake crumbs and chip pieces for their bravery...although a nut was left untouched, a bit too challenging perhaps?! The Rain God also heard our pleas, granted us a free pass to the sunny heaven in the afternoon. Eight of us walked together in the afternoon and passed the other three picnickers enRoute. Several different routes were taken for the last bit of walk into Tonbridge, 4 went to Wetherspoons and 3 to Basil Wholefoods – a nice café which can be used in future. They shut at 4:30pm on Saturdays. 4 of us then caught 5:07 train to Charing Cross. A nice walk in good company. Thanks for posting this.

PS: Three walkers were a little bothered by the dog running up and down the narrow path very close to people today. We do have a section about bringing a dog on club walks on our website under New Members FAQ . I cut and paste the relevant section below.

"Can I bring a dog?

Yes. It doesn't often happen, but dogs are welcome, and assistance dogs are very welcome. Please be aware that not all people are 'dog people' though, and wouldn't appreciate a dog running between their feet while walking. Please read the The Rambler's advice for taking dogs on a country walk beforehand, paying particular attention to 'sheep' and 'cows'.

You are welcome to use our website to organise 'dog-friendly' walks."

Sunny ?

Unlike the weather forecast which indicated rain from 2pm. It was sunny !

And 99% firm paths underfoot. Some muddy patches along the bridleways in the area of Hever Castle but nothing major.

About 15 off the train at Hever, soon stringing out across surprisingly unmuddy (for the Weald in winter) rolling bucolic countryside on a day of dry mild slightly cloudy weather. We admired long rural views, surmising that many were essentially unchanged since the First World War, if you take the windows out of the oast houses and put a lot more horses in the fields.

As our walk poster had sheepishly confessed at Hever, the Leicester Arms in Penshurst was still undergoing refurbishment, and the Fir Tree House tea rooms being closed for the season, the non-picnickers resorted to the Porcupine Pantry ("Only the finest, freshest porcupines, none of your frozen rubbish") only 100m off the track at Penshurst Place, which provided sandwiches and sausage rolls. And, possibly, soup.

Your reporter decided to pass on the walk to Tonbridge (first walk of any distance since July, courtesy of a torn cartilage and Covid) and walked down to Penshurst station, only to discover there was a replacement bus service to Edenbridge but no timetable. Undaunted, a thumb out produced a lift within minutes right back to my car. Good to be back.

19 assembled at the station under grey skies only to immediately split into one group that followed the official route back over the railway tracks and another to pick up the official route further down the path on a more direct approach. All came together at Penshurst where 8 had lunch in the pub/restaurant and the rest had a picnic. After lunch one embarked on the shortcut to Leigh only to be caught out by the treacherous rail replacement service and ended up in Edenbridge. I, myself, entered into an attempt to break the high-speed walking record with another walker and we got separated from the rest of the group. The cafe 65mm coffee by the river informed us that they could only serve takeaways 20mins before closing time (or they just wanted to go home ...) so we went to the lovely Nancy's tearoom. The owner allows his guests to stay way past closing time (16:00) to finish their tea.

Nice day with surprisingly dry ground.

If there is further rain this week it would be advisable to check for flood warnings. When the Leigh Flood Relief Barrier is raised large areas of land around Penshurst, Leigh and Tonbridge are deliberately flooded to protect Tonbridge and other towns downstream on the River Medway.

Is there an update on the fluid situation for this walk, or let us know how to check this? Thank you.

You can check it by clicking on the flood warning link that. Sean provided in his comment below.

There was a flood alert at the beginning of the week but it's gone now. Last Saturday the Tonbridge walkers reported that the Racecourse Ground at the end of the walk was partly flooded and I'd expect the ground to get quite waterlogged towards the end, but probably not impassable.

A minor issue is that trains still aren't running on the Redhill-Tonbridge line at weekends because of a serious landslip at Godstone. That doesn't affect the out-and-back trains for this walk, but if you want to shorten it by diverting to Penshurst or Leigh as suggested in the text, you'll have to take a replacement bus.

Hi, I tried to buy a return to Leigh, but I couldn't find any train. Can you please tell me what train ticket to buy? Thank you

The reason for suggesting a return to Leigh (Kent) is in the walk's introduction and too tedious to repeat here. You're not travelling to Leigh so it doesn't matter that there's a bus replacement service on Saturday.

If you want a simple life, buy a single to Hever on the way out and a single from Tonbridge on the way back. But it will be more expensive.

13 , 11 at the station, joined by 2 at lunch stop who walked from Tonbridge and walked back with us.

cloudy with sunny periods