I’m back in England and today gave me another opportunity to hike through the rural forests, pastures, and villages in the greater London area. For this week’s hike – my 28th consecutive weekend hiking – I chose a counter-clockwise loop hike in the valley of the River Eden, through the historic villages of Chiddingstone and Penshurst. Spring has arrived! and the landscape is about as different as different can be, compared to last weekend’s hike!
Although the weather was cool and the skies were grey, most of the time, the route was interesting and the scenery pretty. Some of the highlights:
- pastures with sheep and new lambs (just in time for Easter!).
- the historic village of Chiddingstone – with its fourteenth-century church, a tiny post office in a building dating to 1452, and a massive house known as Chiddingstone Castle; this village is so historic the National Trust bought the entire village in 1939 (wow!).
- the ‘Chiding Stone’, a boulder where my book says “villagers… were chided for their transgressions.” The true origin of the town’s name is unclear.
- the quaint village of Penshurst, with a church dating back to the twelfth century (wow!) and housing the beautiful estate of Penshurst Place (today very busy with tourists).
- the gnarled Sydney Oak tree, reputed to be 1,000 years old.
- oast houses, some still active as farms and some refurbished as homes.
- the sharp calls of pheasants hidden in the underbrush beside the trail.
I concluded the hike at Penshurst Station, where I started… but not without a stop for a hearty lunch in the Little Brown Jug, a delightful pub with a pleasant library-like atmosphere.
More pretty scenes in the gallery!
Hike stats:
Distance: 10.3 miles (16.6km)
Time: 4h8m excluding lunch
Gain: 334 ft (102m)
GaiaGPS track
David Kotz 