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04-02-2024, 22:00
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On Saturday, I pulled on my trusty hiking boots for thefirst time since last Spring and headed back out on the Tunbridge WellsCircular Walk. Last year I’d set myself the relatively easy task of completingthis 28 mile walk which, as its name suggests, encompasses the town ofTunbridge Wells. On the way, the TWCW passes through the High Weald Area ofOutstanding Natural Beauty, and takes in some attractive villages, whichinclude some excellent pubs. A guide book, published by the Kent RamblersAssociation, divides the trail up into four sections of slightly equal length,with the opportunity of dividing these further. Being a circular route, thereare opportunities to join the path at a number of different locations, whilstkeeping in mind public transport connections at either end.It should have been an easy task, after all when a friendand I walked the South Downs Way, we were covering distances between 12 and 14miles, on a daily basis. That was 14 years ago, and unsurprisingly my levels offitness and stamina have declined somewhat, but even so, just a couple of yearsago, I was walking 8 to eleven miles a day, as I completed the quitechallenging at times, North Downs Way.

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By the end of May, last year, I’d only completed two of thefour sections (15 miles) of the Tunbridge Wells Circular, before inexplicablylosing interest in the walk. The guidebook was partly to blame, as I tookseveral wrong turns due to a combination of poor signposting, plus scant, andin some cases, incomplete information in the guidebook. Becoming lost in themiddle of a wood, is no fun, even though civilisation is never that far away,so I kind of gave up on the TWC – not completely, but the idea was definitelyput on the back-burner. This weekend though, I was determined to do something aboutit, and following a couple of weeks of dry and relatively warm weather – for thetime of year, was determined to do something about it. Up to this point, I hadwalked in a clockwise direction, from Southborough to Frant, taking in thelarge village of Pembury on the way. The next stage is from Frant toGroombridge, a distance of just seven miles, although given my decreased levelsof fitness, plus the possibility of muddy conditions under foot, I sensiblydecided to cut the walk short at Eridge Green. This isn’t quite the halfwaypoint, but with a half-hourly bus service back to Tunbridge Wells, it did makesense. So, on a rather dull and overcast Saturday morning, off I went, takingthe bus over to Tunbridge Wells from Tonbridge.

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I was lucky with my onward connection to Frant, having justa 15-minute wait, and after a short ride south, out of Tunbridge Wells alongthe A267, the No. 15 bus dropped me off almost out side the Abergavenny Arms.This imposing pub, dates from the 15th Century, but has seen many alterationssince first opening its rooms. It is one of two pubs in the village, but seeingas it was both nearer to the starting point of the walk, and the fact I wantedto renew my acquaintance with the pub, the Abergavenny was my first port of call.
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There will be more about the Abergavenny in a subsequentpost, and the same applies with the strangely named, Neville Crest & Gun atthe end of the walk in Eridge. For now, I want to concentrate on the walk, apartfrom saying that the walk I was about to undertake, was a repeat of the one Imade with a group of friends, on August Bank Holiday Monday, 2020. This was duringthe period when COVID restrictions were first lifted, only to be re-imposed three month's laterwith that ridiculous 4-Tier system, devised by the hapless Matt Hancock. The bonus,at the time was our meal qualified for a 50% reduction, under the then Chancellor, Rishi Sunak’s “EatOut to Help Out” scheme. Rishi is now Prime Minister, and Hancock thankfully, is nowhere tobe seen, but three months later, we were to look back at those halcyon days when lock down was first lifted, with a sense of longing.
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It's worth noting that my friends and I had walked to theAbergavenny from Tunbridge Wells earlier that day, and after our meal hiked asimilar distance to Eridge. On Saturday, after leaving the pub, I continuedalong the A267 for some distance, concerned that I might have missed thespot where the TWC deviates from the main road, and descends into EridgePark. I hadn’t missed it, even though the turnoff seemed much further away thanI remembered from 3½ years ago, but the drop down into the park was every bitas steep as I recall. The path down was slippery as well, and contained umpteentrip hazards, in the form of exposed tree roots.
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Worse was to come, in the form of mud and lots of it,and my initial optimism that it might be reasonably dry underfoot, soon vanished.I was warned about the mud by a group of ramblers who were making their way up toFrant, after having walked over from Eridge. One look at their muddy boots andtrouser bottoms said it all, although it was some way down before I reached thereally muddy areas. These were found in the relatively flat bottom of the hollow,where a series of lakes, topped up by a number of streams, makes this anidyllic spot in summer.
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The area didn’t look anywhere near as attractive in early February,but I kept plodding steadily on, only to reach a sign which said “Halfway ish.” Discovering there was a similar distancestill to walk, was rather dis-heartening, because whilst this section of thetrail was only three miles in length it seemed much longer, thanks in no small partto the muddy conditions underfoot, which made for slow going. A walk which shouldonly have taken an hour, ended up taking nearly two because of the constantneed to make ones way around the worst of the muddy areas.
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I almost got lost again, although the guidebook did hint thatone should bear right, across a stream, and then continue steeply uphill.Having to leave the mud-free, metalled road I’d been walking along, didn’t seemright, but fortunately salvation appeared in the form of a young couple, whoknew where they were going. They suggested that I follow them, which I did, butthey soon disappeared from sight, being much faster walkers than me. This didn’tmatter too much, as after looking at both my map and guidebook, I could see Iwas on the correct path.
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Getting left behind, seems the story of my rambling life, asI am quite a slow walker. This is the principle reason I prefer to walk on myown, as it ends up quite embarrassing when walking companions end up having tostop and wait for me, at the brow of every hill, or area where the path splitsin two. And Mrs PBT’s thinks I’m a fast walker! Fortunately, I was on the finalstraight, and at the top of the final hill I could hear the noise of the trafficon the busy A26.There was one last hurdle to contend with, and that wasa field of sheep, or rather two fields, as they were interconnected. A field fullof livestock doesn’t normally bother me, and I have

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walked through herds ofcattle (including one containing a rather large bull) as well as flocks ofsheep, without any trouble. This lot had a look about them though which was farfrom friendly, and when several sheep came bounding towards me, I had to scarethem off by waving my rucksack in front of them. That worked for a while, butas I continued towards the second field, further woolly beasts made their appearanceand didn’t look like giving up on me.Again, waving my backpack and my stick along with raising myvoice had little effect, so foolishly or not I made my way towards them makingas much noise as possible. They backed away, but then their mates in the secondfield came funnelling through the gap in the hedge to join the others. Once theywere all through the gap, that was my cue to make my way as quickly as possibletowards the kissing gate at the far edge of the field, and escape.

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I recall a work colleague claiming that sheep can, ifalarmed, charge at people with the objective of headbutting them to the ground.This is where the danger lies, because should you find yourself in this unfortunateposition, the herd will take great delight in trampling you, possibly with seriousand even fatal consequences! Knowing this and determined to show these normally docile creatureswho was boss, my tactics of waving things around, shooing them away and lookingthem directly in the eye worked, and I escaped from the field unscathed.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Anu_7t1ov5D4bPOznQm2sdS9zqoT6frFdD7r7yZ1XP nASqBVPhGM_Zlh75PIQZMR9JmqG1B5yLuvXku5GdoHRaNtYfsl W_NdUfLzg3pZOWDDqLq9OByZscdFvK0YaieCP-Y-8BT6Ay5NIgIBN2cseEHjDtV7uwAT8kKkgh6JOQg8eKboHtPBCH qBfVI/w400-h220/Neville%20crest%20long%20view.jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Anu_7t1ov5D4bPOznQm2sdS9zqoT6frFdD7r7yZ1XP nASqBVPhGM_Zlh75PIQZMR9JmqG1B5yLuvXku5GdoHRaNtYfsl W_NdUfLzg3pZOWDDqLq9OByZscdFvK0YaieCP-Y-8BT6Ay5NIgIBN2cseEHjDtV7uwAT8kKkgh6JOQg8eKboHtPBCH qBfVI/s3939/Neville%20crest%20long%20view.jpg)
I double checked the way mark signs plus my map, and was definitelyon a public right of way, so technically I wasn’t at fault. One possible explanationfor the sheep’s intimidating behaviour could be the lambing season is fast approachingand these expectant mums would soon be giving birth. It makes sense, wanting toprotect their unborn from a nasty man, even though his sole aim was to get across their field, to the other side of the road, where a nice welcoming pint of beer waswaiting for him.The Neville Crest & Gun was indeed just a few minutes’walk away, and next time I shall tell you about the pub, and how it served meone of the best pints of Harvey’s I’ve had in a long time.
Footnote: the second sheep picture belongs to another time and another place, but they still look quite menacing, don't you think?


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