CTOG14: DAY 5 - CUXTON TO OTFORD

DAY 5 Wednesday 24th September 2014

ROUTE Cuxton to Otford

DISTANCE 15.0 miles
CUMULATIVE MILEAGE 67.9 miles

START POINT Horseholders Wood - TQ 676 644

FINISH POINT Otford Village - TQ 528 594

WEATHER Drizzle during morning, clearing then sunny and warm

WALKERS Cally Charman, Rod Boreham and Graham Palmer

SUPPORT DRIVER Jim Rice

SUFFER SCORE 5
(On a scale of 1-10 with 1 being easy and 10 being unbearable!)

CTOG AWARD                   The lovely Romanian lady who cooked us dinner at Oak Hall
   Delicious trout and fresh vegetables followed by apple crumble and
                                           homemade custard - an amazing treat much appreciated by weary
                                           walkers

Oh dear, it’s raining! Our hearts sank a little as we walked across the courtyard of Aylesford Priory to go to breakfast and it was very wet underfoot following overnight rain. The wet conditions were worrying as we knew that later in the day we would be walking across the chalk downs and how slippery chalk can be when wet. We feared that falls might be the order of the day and we were not looking forward to that, particularly as we would still have 4 more walking days to go.

Breakfast in the Pilgrim's Hall

A good breakfast, the van packed and we bade farewell to Aylesford Priory which had been our overnight accommodation for the last two nights.

One of the walking team, Graham, was keen to get going as he was looking forward to getting back to Otford, the village where he was born and grew up.

The barrier that had thwarted Jim and the van at the end of Day 4 was still in place and so we took the decision to take a route back up onto the North Downs Way that would cause us to re-walk about ¼-mile of the route again. Unfortunately, to get back up onto the North Downs Way we had a very steep climb to negotiate which was painful on calf muscles which were not properly warmed up at the beginning of the day. Our concerns about the wet chalk were soon realised when Cally took a heavy fall which fortunately didn’t cause any permanent damage…….other than to her dignity. The weather continued to be showery but fortunately nothing too heavy that might have required us to don waterproofs.

Cally takes a fall for the team!

Mud!!

Our route today took us through the woods above the villages of Snodland, Birling and Ryarsh as we headed towards the Trosley Country Park which covers 170 acres of woodland and chalk downland and is a haven for dog walkers.

Trosley Park

There is a magnificent Visitors Centre at the entrance to the Country Park and a great restaurant which served us with a very welcome cup of coffee.

Cally chatting with Jim as the sun comes out for the first time

Coffee break over and we were back on the trail now heading for Wrotham village and what would be…….

OUR HALFWAY POINT!!

Wrotham, our halfway point

Reaching the halfway point just had to be celebrated and so we sent Jim ahead to find us a good pub and, as it was now another beautifully warm and sunny autumn day, a beer garden would be preferable so that we could sit out and enjoy our drinks. Jim didn’t let us down and we joined him at The Rose & Crown in Wrotham High Street for a very welcome celebratory drink. Just down the High Street is the impressive building, Wrotham Place (now owned by a private bank) which is where Henry VIII was staying when he learned the news of Anne Boleyn’s execution in 1536.

We think Jim might be enjoying himself too much!

Couldn't have Jim having all the fun - unanimous decision by the team to join in!

Back on the trail again and we were now heading out of Wrotham towards the village of Kemsing and the St Clere Estate.

Jim chatting up the locals

The house at St Clere was used in 1980 for filming the Agatha Christie thriller, The Mirror Crack’d, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson. For the walking team, St Clere meant another big uphill slog as we traversed from the Pilgrims Way back onto the North Downs Way again.

Walking back up on to Exedown on the St. Clere Estate

Another field, another gate....

The haze that had shrouded the far hills during the morning had now been burnt off by the warm sunshine that we were enjoying and the resultant views to the South were now quite spectacular.

4 legs would have been so much easier!

For some, the strain is starting to show!

And some of us are still smiling.....

From above the St Clere Estate we were now heading towards the imposing building of Otford Manor where we would be spending our next overnight stop. The house which lies directly on the route of the North Downs Way, was built by Sir Oliver Lyle of Tate & Lyle sugar family fame. The magnificent building sits high on the North Downs above the village of Kemsing and is known locally as ‘Treacle Towers’.

The cross in front of Treacle Towers

Our finish point for the day was to be Otford village and our route would take us down The Mount and past Otford station. We had completed a total of 15 miles today and were pleased to see Jim waiting by the famous Otford Pond ready to take us back to Oak Hall (previously known as Otford Manor) for our much needed overnight stay.