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From
WhatMountainBike? MagazineTHE
KENT DOWNS, SEVENOAKS
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Distance:
23.08km (12 miles)
Time:
2-3 hours
Rating:
Moderate
Maps:
OS Landranger 188 Maidstone & Royal Tunbridge
Wells.
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Essential
Info
Best Time
to go: In dry conditions any time of the year. Be
warned several bridleways are impassable after wet weather.
Maps:
OS Landranger 188 Maidstone & Royal Tunbridge Wells.
Getting
there: Getting there: By train from London Charing
Cross, Waterloo East and London Bridge to Sevenoaks; from
London also to Kemsing and Borough Green.
Food and
where to stay: Cafes and pubs in Sevenoaks town; the
Mote Restaurant at Ightham Mote (NT, open April-Christmas,
house open April-October, all closed Tuedays & Saturdays).
There's also the Buck's Head pub in Godden Green, and
the tearoom at Knole (NT, open as house, April-October,
all closed Monday & Tuesday). For a place to stay
overnight see YHA below.
YHA:
Kemsing YHA (tel 0870 770 5890) lies 4km north of the
route from near Seal.
What to
take: All spares you need for a normal ride, plus
snacks and light toolkit. This is not a particularly puncture-heavy
route and pubs are never far away.
Bike Shops:
For spares and everything else try Bikes Etc, 53-55 High
St, Sevenoaks, BN13 1JF. Or North Downs Cycles, 16 Old
London Road, Badger Mount, Sevenoaks, TN14 7AE (01959
532099). Plus there's also Randalls Cycles & Toys,
5 Sevenoaks Road, Otford, Sevenoaks TN14 5PB (01959 522517).
The cool thing
about the Kent Downs is they lie within easy reach of
London and are less well-ridden than other downland honeypots,
such as Leith Hill near Guildford.
The North
Downs Way travels along the neighbouring escarpment north,
and our route features similar landscape: wooded and hilly
but with distinct Kentish orchards and oast houses. The
trip also visits three grand estates, Fairlawne, the private
one, and Knole and Ightham Mote, which are in the custody
of the National Trust (NT).
If you admit a certain curiosity for turreted or moated
homes from the days before PVC windows and pebbledash
(you may even be an NT cardholder) then you will enjoy
the fly-past of Knole and Ightham Mote. Few cyclists combine
riding with a proper sightseeing visit, but you can make
a return trip, and in the case of Ightham Mote partake
en route of a fine luncheon (at middling cost) at the
restaurant without going into the house itself. NT members
can also cycle to the tearooms at Knole House on the basis
that they are visiting the property by bike - get a day
permit at the gate. Please note the only cyclists allowed
to ride in Knole Park are Sevenoaks residents with a coveted
permit (ring Knole on 01732 453006).
A third of the way through the route, at the bottom of
a fine descent, you encounter picturesque Ightham Mote,
a 'superb moated manor house, nestling in a sunken valley
and dating from 1330'. The discreet location saved the
fairytale manor from a sacking by Cromwell's troops during
the Civil War and preserved it for posterity. The new
Mote Restaurant has a sheltered patio, and while it's
no cyclists caff, juicy sausages & mash come on a
white platter for £7 and wash down well with a glass
of organic cider.
This is a relaxed middle-effort ride close to civilisation
that needs little preparation and should take a long afternoon
rather than full day out. Unfortunately it starts and
finishes on roads around Sevenoaks - as much as 6km in
both directions. If you have no interest in Knole or Sevenoaks
(chosen primarily for its frequent London train services),
you could comfortably start/finish at any village east
(pleasant Godden Green has a pub). Alternative train stations
are Kemsing and Borough Green.
The riding to Ightham Mote is good quality, but the 3km
highlight comes on the return leg after Ivy Hatch, when
the sunken climb up to Raspit Hill is followed by snaking
woodland tracks, rippled, if you're lucky, by sunlight
filtering through the leaf canopy.
It's easy to get lost on the first bridleway near One
Tree Hill. Stay with the wooden rail, hold an easterly
line (rightward, orchard on right after 500m) and maintain
the elevation. If you find yourself heading downhill northward,
you've probably strayed onto the footpath - but there's
no signing and once on the yellow road through Bitchet
Common, it's easy enough to find your way back to the
where the bridleway emerges.
There are several averagely strenuous hills: a long starting
ascent up through Sevenoaks, a terrific V-dip followed
by a long descent off Wilmot Hill to Ightham Mote (slow
down for walkers and dogs), up through the orchard between
Plaxtol and Ivy Hatch, then the biggest of the day, a
sunken bridleway climb with railway-sleeper steps from
Ivy Hatch up to Raspit Hill (makes an interesting descent
in reverse when damp). The off-road finale is a satisfying
descent too.
Route info
The start:
Sevenoaks station car park (free parking on Sunday),
map reference 188/ 523554.
- 0.00km
(0.00 mile)
From the station exit, turn right up the main road uphill
(A224, up past the old Railway & Bicycle Inn) through
junctions to the top of town (entrance to Knole House
& Park on left, 1.75km), continuing on the far side.
After another 2.22km, fork left onto the minor road
(St Julian's Road, white railings). Continue (along
edge of Knole Park) for 1.72km, then go right SP (sign
posted) Hildenborough (opposite park gate). At the road
junction, continue straight over on the bridleway.
- 6.25km
(3.9 miles)
Ride the bridleway for 1km (stay with the wooden rail,
hold an easterly (rightward) line (orchard on right
after 500m) and maintain the elevation) to the roadway
at the end. Go left and after 0.18km go right onto another
bridleway. Stay ahead on this (for 0.6km, V-dip, slow
down for walkers and horses), joining a trackway downhill,
going left at the farmtrack, and left again at oast
houses at the bottom. At the road, go right, the entrance
to Ightham Mote comes very soon. Continue to the house.
- 10.08km
(6.3 miles)
From Ightham Mote, continue in the same direction on
the bridleway across fields. Go right-angle right where
signed (five-bar gate), right-angle left on the trackway
at the bottom, and emerge at road (A227). Continue straight
over on the bridleway through the Fairlawne estate,
follow road round left past the ornamental gardens,
and right (SP) across open field. Continue on clear
sheep track, down through the lime-tree avenue, as far
as the road. Go left, and in the village of Plaxtol,
go right by the church. Just beyond the first right,
take the bridleway left up beside the cottage.
- 13.03km
(8.14 miles)
This bridleway leads upward to fields, through an orchard,
and through a wooden fence. Near the meadow top,
at a cross-tracks, continue, with a slight veer right.
Emerge at the road (A227).
Go straight ahead on the minor road, continue through
Ivy Hatch (SP Seal), and fork left on to a minor road
emerging the far side SP Stone Street. After 0.38km
go right on the little lane, and go left almost immediately
on the bridleway by the white house. Climb hard up stepped
track and continue on this bridleway in roughly the
same direction for 1.27km as far as the road. Go right,
pass the church and where the road bears right, turn
left on a bridleway, continue for 0.81km, cross directly
over the road, and continue for another 0.6km, to an
estate road. After about 10m go left down a steep bridleway.
Continue to the bottom, the last of the off-road, to
the road.
- 16.53km
(10.33 miles)
Go right and continue to the junction in Seal, and go
left beside the pond. Climb up to Godden Green (Buck's
Head), and go right (SP Sevenoaks) continue 1.78km.
At the B2019, go left (SP Sevenoaks), continue to the
A225, and go right. Go left at the war memorial, St
Botolph's Rd. At the end, go right for Sevenoaks station.
You're now back in the car park. Get off bike. Grin/grimace.
Drink fluids. Head to pub in town for more 'fluids'.
Total Distance:
23.08km (14.43 miles)
This route
was provided by WhatMountainBike? magazine.
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