The North Downs Way. Kev Reynolds
true to its name and mainly keeps close to the southern escarpment on a series of footpaths, tracks and brief stretches of quiet country lane as the North Downs spread east and southeast across Surrey and Kent before being stopped abruptly by the English Channel.
In four places the downland wall has been breached by river valleys. In Surrey it is the River Mole below Box Hill which causes the first breach. In Kent it is the Darent at Otford, the Medway at Rochester and Great Stour near Wye that have broken through the lofty chalk barrier to create valleys, each with very different characteristics. The Mole's is a comparatively narrow valley, a wooded slice with Dorking to the south and Leatherhead to the north. The Darent Gap north of Sevenoaks is a much more open swathe, the low-lying water-meadows beside the innocent stream teasing with prospects of gentle walks for other days. The most profound breach is that caused by Kent's major river, the navigable Medway, tidal as far as Allington near Maidstone. Where the Medway has muscled its way through the Downs, the valley has been industrialised, although the trail of the North Downs Way barely has a glimpse of this before crossing high above the river on the M2 motorway bridge. Contrast this with the Great Stour whose valley breaks the downland wall between Wye and Canterbury, a rural backwater of splendid tranquillity and long views.
Blue Bell Hill provides a great vantage point across the Medway Valley (Stage 7)
Between Farnham and Guildford the trail remains low, weaving across arable farmland interspersed with woods, coming now and then to a patch of heath from which the Hog's Back is seen to the north. The Ordnance Survey map shows major highways scoring through the country nearby, yet walkers on the North Downs Way are largely unaware of unseen (and mostly unheard) traffic on those roads. In springtime bluebells make a smoky haze on the woodland edge, in summer foxgloves stand sentry beside the trail, and in early September ripe bilberries tempt among the heathlands. In places wild raspberries brush against the path; elsewhere it could be blackberries that provide a juicy snack along the way.
The River Wey interrupts the line of the walk on the outskirts of Guildford, shortly before the path joins that of the Pilgrims’ Way leading onto St Martha's Hill, crowned by a flint-walled church at 573ft (175m) above sea-level. Although of modest altitude St Martha's offers the first of many awe-inspiring views across the heavily wooded Weald, but it is here that the route deserts both the Pilgrims’ Way and the sand hills, turning north to cross a shallow valley then slanting up to Newlands Corner on Albury Downs to experience the walk's first true chalk downland.
Bluebells carpet king's Wood in springtime (Stage 10a)
For some distance east of Newlands Corner the trail pushes through woodland, breaking out here and there to cropped grass, cowslips and orchids, and surprise views south to Leith Hill and an extensive ridge of greensand beyond which lies the Weald. Then, having crossed Ranmore Common, the route skirts England's largest vineyard as it descends into the Mole Valley. Here the river is crossed on romantic stepping stones, followed by a sharp ascent of much-loved Box Hill which signals the start of a roller-coaster section, dodging in and out of woodland interspersed with open panoramic highpoints, one of the best being between Colley Hill and Reigate Hill.
Between Reigate Hill and Ockley Hill a plague of motorways and railway lines threatens to disrupt the onward route, but the North Downs Way planners have successfully negotiated a way across with very little tarmac underfoot, and soon after leaving Merstham the crest of the Downs is regained once more, where the Pilgrims’ Way carries the journey over agricultural land for a while. Above Oxted the line of the Greenwich Meridian is crossed, and between here and Westerham Hill the trail exchanges Surrey for Kent. Where the county boundary is met, a special marker stone announces that you've walked 48 miles since Farnham, but have another 65 miles to go to Canterbury, and 77 to Dover.
Briefly beyond Westerham Hill a hint is given of high-rise buildings on the outskirts of London – a reminder that the city is half a day's walk away. But you quickly shun this by dodging back into woodland, and when the path re-emerges it is to see the Darent Gap looming. Below lies graceful Chevening House, official country residence of the Foreign Secretary, its northern façade partly concealed by trees as it slumbers at the foot of the Downs.
Across the Darent Valley at Otford another sharp climb returns the trail to the downland crest for a section that mostly keeps to the scarp edge – with all the visual delights that entails – before making a sudden descent to the Pilgrims’ Way which, since Otford, has been restricted to a narrow metalled lane. Where the North Downs Way joins it, however, this becomes a track, then footpath, leading to Wrotham. Trosley Country Park is next where, thanks to its great popularity, you're likely to lose any sense of solitude – but only for a brief while.
A broad firm path takes the NDW through Trosley Country Park (Stage 6)
Out of the Country Park a sunken track takes you down to the Pilgrims’ Way yet again, joining it just a short stroll away from one of the Neolithic burial sites that form part of what has become known as the Medway Culture. The Pilgrims’ Way is followed eastward for only a mile before returning up the scarp slope at Holly Hill, then plunging into an extensive woodland section above the Medway Valley.
Crossing the Medway on a motorway bridge in view of Rochester's castle and cathedral is at once exhilarating and hideous! Exhilarating because you're high above the river and with long prospects downstream with the Downs arcing blue into the distance; hideous on account of the heavy traffic thundering past, forcing you to muse on the madness of speed and its effect on the environment. Thank heaven that crossing is soon over!
Over Wouldham Common sanity is restored on an undemanding walk to Blue Bell Hill, then it's down to Kits Coty House, the giant upright stones of another Neolithic burial chamber standing on a downland slope with far-reaching views across the Medway Valley.
East of Kits Coty a long stretch with few distant views delivers the North Downs Way to Detling, beyond which a sudden return to open country shows the vast expanse of the eastern Weald spread below. The trail tucks round the outline of Thurnham Castle, slopes down to rejoin the Pilgrims’ Way at Hollingbourne, and follows that gentle route for many miles above Harrietsham and Lenham, only just missing Charing – a village worth making a short diversion to visit. From there until Boughton Lees, you lose any meaningful association with the Downs but there are compensations, one of which is the crossing of Eastwell Park and an opportunity to look at the remains of St Mary's Church on the north shore of Eastwell Lake.
Direct route via Wye
The North Downs Way divides outside Boughton Lees and the continuing eastward option enters Wye, a lovely small town noted for its agricultural college, then climbs onto the downland crest for one of the finest sections of the whole walk. This hugs the scarp edge for a while across Wye Downs and Broad Downs, then deserts it in order to pass through Stowting. But soon after, another glorious stretch is encountered which takes the walk above Postling (where Joseph Conrad once lived), descends to Etchinghill, then up again to wind round the steep upper scarp above the gruesome marshalling yards of the Channel Tunnel Terminal. Ignoring this blot on the landscape the trail makes a loop round ancient Castle Hill, site of a 12th-century ring and bailey castle, before setting out on the final clifftop march that leads over Shakespeare Cliff and ends in Dover itself.
A shepherdess gathers her flock on Wye Downs
Dover Castle dominates the town as it has for 900 years (Stage 11 and Stage 12a)
The Canterbury Loop
The northern spur from Boughton Lees visits Chilham, one of Kent's most attractive villages, then Old Wives Lees, passing through acre after acre of orchard country on the way to Canterbury.
The