For this weekend’s walk, we made a return to Hartfield, and our first repeat walk since starting our blog back in 2023. We last did this route a little over a year ago, and on our first visit, were very taken with it indeed. We set off from the free car park at about quarter to midday and made our way out of the small village, past the playing fields and quickly out into the countryside. Already, conditions were notably better than they were last time. By this point previously, we had already encountered our first mud, which had been quite significant in patches all the way around; on this occasion, thanks to this year’s quick-drying mud and the fact we were a month later in the season, we had no such issue.
We heard chiffchaffs and nuthatches as we made our way toward the Medway tributary, and across a series of farmer’s fields beneath clear blue skies on the other side. By the time we reached the day’s first wooded patch, I already felt the need to remove my jumper, whilst we stopped to appreciate a handful of bluebells dotted about the green carpet laid out amongst the trees. Birds continued to sing, and we could hear the sounds of bleating lambs coming from a little way down toward the river. Out the other side, we saw plenty of evidence of said sheep, in the volume of wool hanging from the bushes (we naturally harvested this for wedding décor).
The route was immediately familiar, and we required no instructions, our memories guiding us across the countryside. We made our way past a campsite, on the other side of which Beth too, joined me in the no-jumper club. We harvested more wool as we walked, and the route took us from field to field, occasionally treating us to colonies of Wild Garlic lining springs running between, with countless buds ready to burst into stars. We also managed to take the correct route this time across the last field, before the walk began to take us up the day’s first major climb. We walked steadily upward beside bright, white blossoms as the sun beat down on us. Things levelled out as we reached some awaiting trees, where a few more bluebells greeted us, and we climbed over a stile to walk past one of the areas many farms. We walked through a field containing three very woolly sheep, including a handsome ram whom we had met last year. A few minutes later, we stopped to say hello to some characters we had also met on our previous lap; the donkeys. They both came over to their fence to say hello to us, pulling funny faces and allowing us to give them a scratch and a cuddle, before leaving them to continue grazing.
The footpath next took us through a stretch of woodland running along a small trickling stream, and so we picked a comfortable log on a steep bank amongst a blanket of green and dotted with bluebells to stop for lunch. I ate chicken pasta, whilst Beth had tuna, and through intelligence and trickery, I got her to admit that tuna smelt bad – this naturally annoyed her, but it was worth it! We carried on through the trees, enjoying the sight of the different flowers, when suddenly I spotted something. Amongst a patch of Wild Garlic leaves, I spotted a small handful of white, star-like flowers – garlic in bloom! These are my favourite spring flowers, and so we of course had to stop and admire them.
A few minutes further and we picked up the long, quiet driveway past Bolebroke Castle, which was most notable for a couple of sheep herds and a recently squashed snake glued to the tarmac – Beth found this unexpectedly interesting, and decided to take a photo… We also passed a small tea room just before the day’s only busy road crossing, which we had thought about stopping at for lunch, and may do sometime, however decided we would prefer to stop amongst the spring setting instead – correct decision. Across the road and we walked past a series of flowery cottages and began to walk uphill once more. As things levelled out, we walked across a horse paddock and through the trees on the other side and spotted the largest herd of wild deer we had ever seen! Thankfully, we were downwind of them and so were able to reach the fence line without spooking them for a closer look. However, these keen creatures did pick up our presence not long after, and as more and more looked in our direction, we decided to turn and leave them in peace before a hundred deer bolted at once.
We made our way across the hilltop and through the day’s last patch of woods. A few bluebells decorated the glade amongst a veritable sea of Wild Garlic leaves filling every remaining inch between the trees, waiting to bloom at any moment – and here, we were finally able to catch that familiar springtime woodland waft on the air. We came back out into the open to views of Hartfield ahead set amongst bright, sweeping countryside. Beth stopped to take it all in, and so I joined her, before continuing our way downhill. Back across the river, and we began our return into the village. Previously, these final fields had gifted us with the most precious of spring gifts, and so it was too on this occasion that we came across a field full of delights – lambs! We made our way slowly through the sheep field, the first of which contained rather chunky lambs, some of whom weren’t much smaller than their mothers. I was also able to gather more wool before moving on to the second and third paddock, which contained significantly younger ones. Some suckled, some played, and one fine fellow stuck his face into the sun and enjoyed the feeling of the warmth in his wool.
Unlike our first attempt, we managed not to get lost upon our re-entry to Hartfield, and so about three and a half hours after leaving, we returned to the car. Of course, we weren’t done just yet, and after changing shoes and emptying my pocket of wool, we went to the pub; Formerly “The Anchor Inn”, it has since been renamed the “Bear Inn”, presumably because of the areas Winnie the Pooh fame. Fortunately, aside from the name, it has bear-ly (get it?) changed, and we sat in the sunny garden enjoying a couple of pints before heading home after a great day’s walking.
We are pleased to say that we found our second go around just as enjoyable as the first! It has a good variation along the way, lots of lovely countryside to get lost amongst and a solid pub at the end. As well as gathering loads of wool, for the first time this year we spotted the triad of spring: wild garlic flowers, bluebells and lambs!
Matthew G. Huggins 