Stage 5 Westerham to Wrotham (15 miles) - Tea Loaf in the Pond View Cafe

I missed out a week on doing a stage because the weather just too inclement. This week I was determined to get out despite a poor forecast. So it was that I set off from Westerham in cold fog and fine drizzle without much prospect of improvement. There were not going to be any fine views today. I was also armed (legged?) with gaiters from the off, as whilst today was going to be cold it wasn't freezing and the ground was going to be well and truly muddy, and the mud on the NDW is very sticky indeed.

A stile near Knockholt Pound, not much to see here.

 The route passes Chevening and Chevening House. This is a 115-room mansion, in a 3,500 acre  estate. It is a three-storey, symmetrical red brick structure in the English Renaissance style. It may have been designed by 17th-century British architect Inigo Jones. Staying there as a guest in 1911, the former Prime Minister Lord Rosebery crossed out "Chevening" at the head of a piece of writing paper and substituted "Paradise".  The house was the family seat of the Earls Stanhope, and was bequeathed to the Nation by the 7th and last Earl Stanhope. The Chevening Estate Act of 1959 stipulated that the future resident should be the Prime Minister, a Cabinet Minister, the widow or lineal descendant of King George VI, or the spouse, widow or widower of such a descendant. Today it is a rather nice country pile for David Davis (Secretary of State for Leaving the European Union), Liam Fox (Secretary of State for International Trade) and  Boris Johnson (Foreign Secretary) when hosting official events. As a result it has acquired the nickname Brexit Towers. [Wikipedia (10/02/2017)]

A bench looking down an avenue of trees (the Chevening Keyhole) on the Chevening estate.

This bench is a memorial to Rowland Oakeley who was the founder of the Footpaths Section of the Sevenoaks Society, leader of 234 walks between 1971 and 1982, and author of the first four volumes of the Society's walks booklets. A special walk was held in July 2014 to dedicate the bench. Some 30 walkers celebrated with champagne, and the tape was cut by Rowland’s son Dr Henry Oakeley. Pity I missed that.

I could just about make out the large stately home through the fog in the valley below but attempts to capture it in my camera were futile. Given the nature of its inhabitants I was also expecting to be snatched at any moment by a heavily armed and camouflaged police officer possibly lurking in the bushes.

Having then walked down Star Hill, off the downs and into the Darent Valley, I met up again with the M25. This time the path joins a road the footpath of which is a mere 10 metres from the inside lane separated by a small strip of woodland. It was here in this woodland that I spotted today's fascinating discard. You may recall that on the last stage it was smoked salmon and Thomas the Tank Engine Wellies. Today it was Nitrous Oxide gas cylinders, about 5 of them. The sort of gas cylinders that have become fashionable amongst those seeking chemical based thrills and with a lust for risk. There have been a spate of thefts of such cylinders from hospitals throughout the UK and Kent is no exception. Yes, I have reported them to the police but I was left wondering why I bothered when I got the impression that they would treat it as an act of fly tipping rather than recovery of stolen goods (and administering of a noxious substance, supply of illicit drugs etc) for forensic analysis. Hopefully, someone at Kent Police will see the significance when it pops up on their screen.

There then followed some road walking and along part of the Darent Valley path to the village of Otford where I had been promised a choice of tea rooms. The problem with winter walking and going into civilised tea rooms is that my boots were by now well caked with the finest of local clay. I passed the first establishment on the basis that it had a carpeted floor but was pleased to see that the second one had a laminate floor and a large and very effective door mat on which to at least attempt to clean my boots. This was the Pond View Cafe overlooking the village pond and duck house. Capuchino and Tea Loaf. When I enquired about the recipe for the tea loaf, expecting it to be a family secret I was offered the opportunity to assist in the production of the next batch! I don't think the proprietor was joking. A very nice cafe with a fine view, very friendly owner and a good menu. They did omelettes - I think any cafe that does freshly made omelettes has a good menu.

Pond View Cafe (on the right), Otford.

Unfortunately I missed Uranus on the way in to Otford, I was so intent on finding that cafe. Apparently, there is a representation of the planets in our solar system, as aligned at 00:01 on 1st January 2000, on a scale of 1:5 billion with Uranus represented by a concrete pillar on the route as I entered the village. The sun is 649 metres away on the recreation ground.

This part of Kent, being not that far from London has many large country piles and next up was Otford Manor. This is not very old, built in the 1930s for one of the Lyle family as in Tate and Lyle. I guess it was close by the treacle mines. It is now owned by Oak Hall who organise Christian Holidays and bible study groups.

By now it was lunchtime and as I know this area reasonably well I already had a particular bench in mind for my lunch stop. I was planning to sit on the top of Kemsing Down chalk grassland overlooking the village of Kemsing. However, my plan was thwarted by a fence between the NDW path and my bench. Clearly that bench is only meant for use of people following the path though and from the village as I have done many times. I thought for a moment of climbing the fence but thought better of it; its there for a reason and I should respect that. Luckily, I shortly found a felled tree stump that served well as seat and table.

Just after lunch I came across the second milestone. This one was curious because it was only in miles; the Km appear to have been very neatly chiseled off. I hope this was because of some schoolboy error in the conversion from miles rather than some Euro phobic prejudice against kilometres.

The second milestone

The second milestone, no metric please we're British.

The good news is that I am now about half way along the route from Farnham to Dover.

The route now joins the Pilgrim's way along a track open to walkers, horses, bicycles, motorbikes and cars, although the track is only one car width wide. I saw plenty of evidence of the four wheel drive enthusiasts enjoying this off-road opportunity in the form of discarded cans and bottles and churned up soil. Thirsty work this driving off road. I also met today's top dog walker; Jemima was a small Scottish terrier type, refusing to fetch his / her ball, preferring to sniff my legs instead. Jemima had an interesting friend in the form of another terrier in a push chair being wheeled along by it's keeper. Jemima's friend seemed happy enough in the perambulator and barked as I went past, showing no sign of giving up his / her privileged position.

The Pilgrim's way took me all the way to Wrotham and my lift home. Wrotham is (or maybe was) a quiet little market town along the pilgrims way. It is now wedged between the M20, M26 and the A20 and the market has long since ceased to be.

Next week I hope to walk from Wrotham to Blue Bell Hill (and across the river Medway and the M2).

Snow drops in the woods on the right

Wooden cross near Otford Manor, not far from the Pilgrim's Way

Nearly time to harvest the wool trees