Horsmonden to Goudhurst Circular – 8.5 miles

  Here we are, another summer coming to an end.  It’s been a busy one and despite the damp start, one we have certainly made the most of.  To round it off in a somewhat poetic way, today we are heading over to Horsmonden, the location of our very first summer walk all those weeks ago.  A rare Friday adventure for us after Beth managed to get a half-day off work, we set off at an uncharacteristic twenty to two in the afternoon, into the heat of the late-summer’s afternoon.

  Immediately failing to read the map correctly, we took a slightly wrong route through the streets of Horsmonden, but were quickly back on track as we walked along footpaths familiar to us from early June.  This first stretch was a stream of Orchards of ruby red apples ready to drop, pastureland and a vineyard, before crossing a gurgling river, shortly after which the heat got the better of me and my trusty hat went on.  Emerging onto a busy road from amongst a cluster of large Oast Houses, we crossed over to pick up a new footpath for the first time that day.

  It was immediately a challenge, being rather overgrown and full of shin-tickling nettles, lower legs aflame by the time the undergrowth opened up a little before us.  This next stretch was a little tricky, possibly because we hadn’t been reading the instructions from the start and were playing catch-up.  However, after a slight wrong turn and disturbing a large amount of ducks, we were comfortably into the swing of things.  A young pheasant guided us on our way for a few yards before disappearing, confident of our success.  The path began to steadily climb up toward where Goudhurst waited somewhere ahead on its lofty perch.  We passed through a long stretch of farmland, with views of the weald stretching out away to our right as the heat continued, and the promise of Autumn around the corner became almost sweet.

  After walking up a long driveway we emerged onto a road and began to make our way into the centre of Goudhurst.  Rather than walking along the busy central road, we chose to walk through the churchyard, which felt much better.  When making our way down the High Street, we did manage to make a wrong turn, going right one alley too early, but quickly realising our mistake and backtracking.  Once we were again going in the correct direction, we passed a tasty-smelling tearoom where we may well stop on another occasion, before an alley leading back out into the countryside appeared before us.

  The route began to descend steeply downhill through a patch of trees.  This eventually opened out onto a fantastic view of the weald ahead, a few Oast Houses dotted about, poking out above the trees.  We continued down the side of a few fields lined with blackberries, passing a handful of sheep for good measure.  Once the path levelled out, it became a long straight stretch toward the settlement of Small Bridge.  Unfortunately, the majority of this was on the road, however it was a very quiet lane, so wasn’t so bad.  We eventually arrived at a crossroads, at which we turned left to visit St Margarets Church.  This extension to the route was a good addition, as the churchyard was a ‘living’ yard, and a home to a range of wildlife, as well as a field of sheep behind for good measure.

  Retracing our steps and taking a road to the left, the route finally returned us to the comfort of a footpath.  Whilst crossing this first field, we came across a pig for the very first time on one of our adventures.  A large, handsome, slightly brutish-looking fellow with lovely floppy ears, not being well-versed in pig law, we decided to admire him from a distance and not risk peeing him off further by getting close.  It wasn’t long afterward, that we spotted a small deer staring at us a hundred or so yards away, standing perfectly still, but clearly visible in the open land.  Passing some more sheep as we waved the perfectly camouflaged deer goodbye, we then found ourselves entering a stretch of arable farmland.  This began with the highly familiar orchard, before giving way to a well-growing stretch of Kentish hops which towered above, turning the world into a jungle of beer-to-be.  This section, whilst pleasant, was quite zig-zaggy and hard to follow the path exactly (even the way markers seemed confused in a couple of places).  We will try to do better next time!

  After we crossed a road that we recognised as the outskirts of Horsmonden, we knew that the day’s adventure was coming to an end.  We made our way through the grounds of the National Trust owned Sprivers Mansion, and along the edge of a long paddock, as the light began to fade and we noticed that the heat had finally gone out of the day (I even took my hat off).  Once we returned to the road, we made our way back to the centre of the village, once more managing to not pay attention to the map and go slightly the wrong way, all in the name of balance.  And then there we were, back at the car just under four hours later (a good pace!), feet noticeably achy.  The route, whilst containing a lot of road walking, also had lots of pretty stretches, so is one we will likely do again.  In the meantime, we hopped into the car and headed over to the Vineyard in Lamberhurst down the road, for a well-earned drink and dinner.

  And with that, we close our summer account, which ended up only being ten miles shy of our epic Spring run.  I would like to say a big thank you to Piz Buin Mountain Glacier cream, as well as Decathlon walking boxers; for me, you have made all the difference between you.  I would also like to say a big thank-you to Beth, for being the best walking buddy I could ever dream of.

  This also marks the completion of our first full run of seasons since we first started blogging our walks.  In that time, we have recorded 249.2 miles under our boots, which is the equivalent of walking from our home to the Lake District, the tip of Wales, the edge of Luxembourg, or even a little way into Germany – not bad!  In that time we have had the pleasure of watching nature do its thing and the world change around us, and as always it was an honour.  We are certainly more experienced walkers than we were a year ago and know a little better what we are doing. Now we face our second lap, as it were, and can’t wait to see what the year ahead has in store for us!

Full route available at http://www.kentramblers.org.uk/KentWalks/public/walk_128.htm