A Ramblers group with walks of about 4 - 6 miles. We explore the beautiful Kent countryside from within the Tonbridge and Malling area and, occasionally, further afield.
From Otford, we pass through the village in search of Uranus, one of the outliers of the Otford Solar System. This Millennium project lays out the planets in their correct positions at the turn of the millennium (1 January 2000), on a scale of roughly 1:5 billion. It is a wonderful piece of mischief: you set out on a country walk, yet the very first thing you do is locate yourself in the universe. The scale is genuinely mind‑boggling—especially when you learn that, on this model, the nearest star beyond the Sun would lie somewhere near Los Angeles.
Leaving the village, we follow flat paths across open fields and through Sepham Farm. Soon the character of the walk changes as we rise steeply up the side of the Darent Valley, which cuts northwards through the North Downs. Stopping halfway up to catch our breath and turn around, we are rewarded with a panoramic view, the valley unfolding below us.
We continue into Meenfield Woods, heading towards Shoreham Cross, but before quite reaching it we descend towards Shoreham village and the river. This landscape—its wooded slopes, enclosed valley and pastoral calm—was a powerful source of inspiration for the painter Samuel Palmer. Working around two centuries ago, just before the Industrial Revolution began to transform much of the countryside, Palmer celebrated this corner of the Darent Valley as a pastoral ideal, consciously resisting the encroachment of mechanisation and modern life
Nibble break at half way with a view up to Shoreham Cross.
Refreshments at The Bull pub or, possibly, tea and cakes in the cafes in the village afterwards .
Car Park opposite The Bull, High St, Otford
