Cuxton to Sole Street Walk

Main walk: 17.3km (10.7 miles)

a) Shorter start from Cuxton Subtract 2.3km (1.4 miles)

b) Shorter ending Subtract 5.6km (3.5 miles)

c) Linking to Snodland to Sole Street 16.6km (10.3 miles) or 14.3km (8.9 miles)

d) Extension to Snodland to Sole Street 18.7km (11.6 miles)

5 out of 10: some hill climbs, one a bit strenuous

Landranger 178, Explorer 148

This is an exploration of the very pretty and little known area of the North Downs just to the east of the Medway Towns that is covered by the Snodland to Sole Street walk. The morning is nicely contrasted, with a mix of open views and woodland, then a longer wooded ridge which has extensive bluebell woods in late April or early May. You then cross an extensive area of newly-planted organic downland vineyards, which are full of poppies and other wildflowers in June, to come to the village of Luddesdown. A walk across another scenic ridge (also part of the vineyard) brings you to Henley Street, where there is a pub (sadly no longer serving food, but a good place for a drink) and where you can finish the walk, if you wish.

In the afternoon, an optional loop takes you up to the pretty village of Cobham, where one of the three pub options is The Leather Bottle, which features (very briefly) in Charles Dicken’s Pickwick Papers. Cobham Church also has a wonderful collection of medieval brasses and a fine carved tomb from the 16th century, and the ancient almshouse behind it is also worth a visit.

a) Shorter start from Cuxton. This option cuts 2.3km (1.5 miles) off the main route, making a total walk of 15km/9.3 miles. You miss out some fine downland sections and views on the main walk, but your compensation is a lovely climb up a hill with fine views of the Medway Valley (and nice wildflowers in May). You then follow a wooded ridge to merge with the main walk route.

b) Shorter ending. Sole Street station is just 0.9km/0.6 miles from the the Cock Inn, and so it is possible to end the walk here, making a walk of 11.7km/7.3 miles (or 9.4km/5.9 miles if combined with option a).

c) & d) Alternative start or finish to Snodland to Sole Street walk. The morning of these walk directions can be used as an alternative start to Snodland to Sole Street walk on this website. Or its afternoon can be used to extend that walk: see the main walk document (DOWNLOAD WALK button above) for details.

Cuxton is on the Medway Valley line, with trains every half an hour Monday to Saturday, hourly on Sunday. The quickest way to get there from London (total journey time 45 minutes) is to take Southeastern High Speed trains from St Pancras to Strood, changing there for the short hop to Cuxton.

A slower (1hr 25 mins) but cheaper option (ie avoiding the high speed supplement and also being able to buy tickets from London Transport zone boundaries if you have a season ticket) is to take a train to Strood from Charing Cross or London Bridge.

Trains back are from Sole Street to Victoria and take 45 minutes. A day return to Rochester will cover you for both routes - apart from the short hop from Strood to Cuxton, but it would be a hard-hearted ticket inspector that charged you for this small section, given that you already have a ticket for a stop beyond Strood (ie Rochester).

Get a train that arrives at Cuxton at around 10.30am in order to get to lunch in time, except if doing the shorter start when a train arriving at 11am would be fine.

A short 450 metre diversion off the main walk route (see directions in the text) is now necessary if you want to have a hot lunch. This brings you to the Golden Lion 01474 815644 www.thegoldenlionpub.uk, 10km/6.2 miles into the walk by the main start or 7.7km (4.8 miles) by the shorter start, which is a traditional pub with a fairly simple menu, served 12-3pm and 6-9pm Monday to Saturday and 12-5pm on Sunday. It is also open all afternoon for drinks.

The Cock Inn, Henley Street, 01474 814705 www.cockluddesdowne.com, 10.8km/6.7 miles into the walk, or 8.5km/5.3 miles if using the shorter start, the original lunch option for this walk, no longer does food, but is a very cosy and characterful pub for a drink (you could spend all afternoon just admiring all the pictures and bric-a-brac with which it is decorated).

Alterantively, if can hold back the gastric juices, it is also not impossible to carry on another 3.8km (2.4 miles) beyond the Cock Inn and have lunch at the Leather Bottle in Cobham, 01474 814327, a pub that featured in The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens, and which serves food all afternoon.

On option b) Shorter ending, the Railway Inn, 01474 814375 www.railwayinnsolestreet.co.uk by Sole Street station is also a lunch option, 1km after the Cock Inn, serving food 12-9pm Monday to Saturday and 12 to 6pm on Sundays.

For tea the most atmospheric choice is the Leather Bottle in Cobham, which has both a pleasant garden and a characterful interior. It serves a formal afternoon tea in its restaurant (the room facing the road): food is served here until 9pm but I am not sure how late they do the teas. Cobham also has two other pubs - the Ship Inn and the Darnley Arms.

The Cock Inn, passed a second time on the afternoon loop, also makes a very cosy tea stop. Alternatively, at the end of the walk, the Railway Inn by Sole Street station is open all afternoon and seems very popular with locals.

Luddesdown churchyard is an obvious picnic spot, but a better one - two benches with a fine view - is just a bit further on - see paragraph 86 of the walk directions.

After the walk, please leave a comment, it really helps. Thanks!

You can also upload photos to the SWC Group on Flickr (upload your photos) and videos to Youtube. This walk's tags are:

National Rail: 03457 48 49 50 • Traveline (bus times): 0871 200 22 33 (12p/min) • TFL (London) : 0343 222 1234

Jan-23 Peter