Edenbridge to Westerham walk

Main walk: 17.8km (11 miles)

With shorter ending: 11.6km (7.2 miles)

Short cut to Emmetts Garden: saves 2.8km (1.7 miles)

Starting from Edenbridge Town: adds 1.8km (1.1 miles)

Starting from Hurst Green: adds 1km (0.6 miles)

Main walk: 8 out of 10: quite a few hills, some rather steep

Shorter ending: 4 out of 10: gentle gradients apart from a couple of short steep sections

Landranger 187 & 188, Explorer 147

When you see a view from a ridge, you do not usually know much about the countryside you are looking at. But on this walk, you start in the Eden valley and climb slowly and gently across fields up towards the Greensand Ridge, with increasingly pretty views. By the time you climb up onto the escarpment, in a series of delightful stages, the view has become a familiar friend.

In the Second World War, Winston Churchill is supposed to have looked at this very view and said: "This is what we are fighting for." Certainly, Chartwell, his house, which is passed on this walk and which is now owned by the National Trust, was his refuge and great love, though he had little enough opportunity to visit it during his time as wartime Prime Minister. This walk, with its short afternoon, is ideal if you want to visit this property.

The walk also takes in Emmetts Garden, another National Trust attraction, and offers a shortcut to this in the afternoon if you want to spend more time there. Emmetts also has a wonderful display of bluebells in late April and early May, but even better wild ones – some of the loveliest ones in southern England - are to be seen throughout the walk, particularly in the afternoon around Ide Hill, at the start of the optional Hurst Green start, and just beyond Mariner’s Hill on the Shorter Ending to Westerham.

If that is not enough, in the pretty town of Westerham you can also visit Quebec House (National Trust), a historic house associated with Wolfe, the youthful general who conquered the Canadian city for the British Empire.

Starting from Edenbridge Town station: Edenbridge has two stations on two different railway lines. This option starts from the other one (which these days has quicker rail services - see Transport below) and soon joins the main walk. It adds 1.8km (1.1 miles) to the walk length, so the distances to all lunch and tea options need to be increased by that amount.

Starting from Hurst Green: This attractive route starts at Hurst Green station and has some fine bluebell woods in its early stages. It later skirts along the bottom of the Greensand escarpment, then climbs up it, with panoramic views, to join the main walk route at Crockham Hill. It is 1km (0.6) miles longer than the main Edenbridge start, so the distances to all lunch and tea options given below need to be lengthened by that amount.

Shorter Ending from Chartwell to Westerham: This option takes you directly in 4.8km (3 miles) to Westerham, making a total walk of 11.6km (7.2 miles) from Edenbridge station, 13.4km (8.3 miles) from Edenbridge Town station, and 12.6km (7.8 miles) from Hurst Green. It is particularly useful if you want more time to visit Chartwell or Quebec House in Westerham.

The main walk starts from Edenbridge station on the Redhill to Tonbridge line. When this walk was created there was a direct train to this from London Bridge, but you currently have to change at Redhill. The connecting train is usually a Thameslink service, giving you the option of catching the train at St Pancras or even West Hampstead. Sometimes the National Rail Planner may suggest a train from Charing Cross and London Bridge, changing at Tonbridge. Either way it is about an hour from London to Edenbridge.

It is quicker (as little as 38 minutes) to get from London Bridge to Edenbridge Town, from where you can use the alternative start directions in paragraph 12 on page 4. Hurst Green (another possible start: see Walk options above) is a stop before this and has trains from both London Bridge and Victoria.

For all the starts, catch the first train from London after 10am to get to lunch at Crookham Hill or Chartwell in time, or the first train after 9am if aiming for lunch at the Fox & Hounds or the Cock Inn in Ide Hill. Buy a day return to "Edenbridge Stations", or Hurst Green if starting from there.

Returning from Westerham you can get the 246 bus to Bromley South station (about 40 minutes), from where there are fast trains (taking about 20 minutes) to Victoria. This is a London Transport service, which runs at least hourly till near midnight and you can pay with an Oyster card or use LT travelcards or passes. The 246 also calls at Hayes station about 15 minutes before Bromley South: from here there are up to four trains an hour to London Bridge (journey time 30 minutes) with some going on to Charing Cross and some to Cannon Street. On Sundays when the house is open, the 246 also serves Chartwell hourly until around 5pm.

Another alternative from Westerham is to take a 236/594 bus to Oxted (not Sundays: currently operated by Southdown PSV): a return rail ticket to Edenbridge Stations or Hurst Green will be valid from there. There is also a 401 bus to Sevenoaks Mondays to Saturdays, but the last bus for this is currently (May 2022) at 2.30pm.

The Royal Oak in Crockham Hill (01732 866 335), 4.7km (2.9 miles) into the walk, is a small pub (booking very much advised) that serves lunch from 12pm to 2.15pm Thursday to Saturday and to 3.45pm on Sundays. It is open all afternoon for drinks at the weekend, but closed conpletely Monday to Wednesdays.

Chartwell, 6.8km (4.2 miles) into the walk, has a National Trust-run self-service tea room and restaurant, which can be reached without going into the house. It does two or three hot food options every lunchtime from 12 to 3pm. It is open for tea until 5pm. It is open year around, apart from Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

The Fox & Hounds in Toy’s Hill is a possible later lunch stop reached by a short diversion 10.3km (6.4 miles) into the walk. It serves food 12-2pm, to 2.30 pm on Saturday and 3pm on Sunday, and has a garden.

The Cock Inn in Ide Hill (01732 750 310), 11.9km (7.9 miles) into the walk, serves food till 12-3pm and 5-8pm Monday to Saturday and 12-4pm on Sunday. It has some outside tables, looking onto the village green.

Emmetts Garden, 13.7km (8.5 miles) into the walk, or 10.9km (6.8 miles) via the short cut in paragraph 122 of the walk directions, has a National Trust tea room. It is open till 5pm daily from mid March to the end of October and till 4pm in November and December.

In Westerham the Tudor Rose Tearooms are only open until 3.45pm Monday to Friday and 4.30pm weekends, but on the left-hand edge of the green there is a Costa Coffee, open till 5pm daily. Between the two is the Grasshopper on the Green pub. Westerham village centre also has other pubs, including the Kings Arms.

A possible picnic place is indicated in paragraph 57 of the walk directions, though there are various other very scenic spots just after Crookham Hill and around Ide Hill.

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

Apr-24 Peter