Walk 1: Downe Circular Tread in Charles Darwin’S Footsteps on This Walk Among Woods and Meadows in the North Downs
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Walk 1: Downe circular Tread in Charles Darwin’s footsteps on this walk among woods and meadows in the North Downs. Easy walk, good for kids. Combine with trip to Downe House and Christmas Tree Farm How long? 45mins-1hr et off the bus by the church 2.5 miles (4km) of St Mary the Virgin (13th- Public transport: 146 bus runs century; look out for the hourly every day until late from graves of Darwin’s family) Bromley North and Bromley South and walk east past the (25-minute bus journey from GGeorge and Dragon pub on Cudham Bromley). R8 bus runs every 80 Rd. The walk starts with the marked minutes from Orpington railway footpath a few metres east of the station (20mins). 12 mins by taxi very cute Christmas Tree Farm from Hayes railway station. (which has donkeys, llamas and a Parking: easy, in Downe village wonky house), on the road heading Start of walk: footpath next to towards Cudham (POINT 1). Follow Christmas Tree Farm, Downe the path, with the enclosures of the Steep slopes? None farm on your right. There is a drive on your left. Stop and admire the Walk highlights donkeys if you will, then follow path Christmas Tree farm. Darwin’s diagonally across a field of grasses to garden and house, wild flower a clump of trees. meadows, hedgerows, the chance The path now takes you of seeing Battle of Britain air- diagonally left towards a farmhouse craft, beech trees and old, flint Point 2 ( ). Watch out for the ▲ and wooden houses and a great footpath sign, skirt the house and ½ a mile church. Nice cake/tea shop and continue round the edge of a field N two pubs with decent food. An then (Point 3) take a sharp right easy walk, no steep inclines. Great (to head west) at the intersection Spitfires, a Hurricane and assorted to combine with a visit to Downe of footpaths (if you were to go left spotter aircraft have been based House, where Darwin wrote Origin here, you’d soon enter a fantastic there and are often flown. of the Species. His study is kept in bluebell wood, best seen in May of Soon the path breaks into the the condition in which he worked course). Cross the road (Point 3.5) open and you’ll see superb beech in it. Thirty minutes’ drive from and enter the meadow (brilliant trees on your right (and some East Dulwich with daisies and buttercups from Luftwaffe bomb craters from 1940). May to July) bordering Darwin’s You’ll cross three fields on this path Covered on Ordnance Survey house and garden, with small (the third is Point 7) before entering Explorer 147 map cricket pitch on your left (the a copse and, after about 30 metres, boundary is within range of a turning 90-degrees right to go over decent forward defensive). Darwin’s meadow (point 4) a hidden stile (Point 8) and head The path meets the western east across a field. Until late March corner of Darwin’s garden trail (Point 5), this time running 2015 this field was a wild pasture (Point 4) – you can have a quick north to south. So, turn right here with flowers and hawthorn trees, peek, but you’ll have to pay if you (heading north) and just keep on but now it’s a cereals field, very linger – then head across the great going through the woods. Biggin attractive in June, not in winter. man’s Sandwalk and diagonally left Hill airfield is just beyond the trees After about 300 metres the path across another field with a great on the other side of the valley. narrows to become a kind of alley view of a wooded valley. This is my There is a quiet golf course on the and brings you out in Downe by favourite part of the walk as you floor of the valley (West Kent Golf a bus stop. There’s a great little look over unbroken treetops to the Club). After a few minutes you will cake and tea shop, much used by western horizon for what seems cross a lane (Point 6) and continue weekend cyclists, by the Rajdoot like miles. At dusk, watch out for on the footpath heading north. curry house and then you’ll be at wild deer at this point. Superb This woodland is mentioned by the Queens Head (Point 9). The sunset vistas also. Don’t Geoffrey Wellum in his astonishing pub made the news on March 22, let the occasional waft of kerosene book First Light, covering his time 2015, when protestors dressed as jet fuel from the airfield detract at RAF Biggin Hill as a 19-year-old breastfeeding babies ambushed from the timeless vibe of this part Spitfire pilot. The airfield played a the UKIP leader Nigel Farage and of the walk. key role in the Battle of Britain and rather spoiled his Sunday lunch. The path descends slightly today is used by leisure flights and Adam McCulloch St Mary the Virgin church, Downe into the valley then joins another executive jets. In recent years a few [email protected] localkentwalks.wordpress.com.