Eldridge's Lock to Barnes Street on circuit from Golden Green

We didn't have time for a long walk today as we were just stopping off near Tonbridge for this walk on the way from home in Norfolk to Richard's parents' house in East Sussex, and we wanted to do some sorting/cleaning before returning to Norfolk with a car-load of stuff. We had found a circuit which would complete the section of the Wealdway along the River Medway and we'd also found a very promising place for car-parking by the recreation ground in the village of Golden Green (TQ639483). Once we had persuaded Google Maps that we wanted Golden Green not Golders Green, we had a good journey, with a real contrast of driving conditions, from the M25 to narrow country lane on the approach to Golden Green. The parking was indeed most convenient, obviously used by dog-walkers taking a more direct route down to the river (the path runs alongside the car park), but plenty of room for all of us. As we left the car we realised we'd left the sun cream behind in Norfolk, but fortunately the sun only came out very occasionally.

The first part of the loop took us along the road through Golden Green and then towards the A26. After we'd run out of pavement, the road was rather too busy for comfort, and we had to cross from side to side because of the bends. There were however some good views, including to Hadley Tower, a folly also known as May's Folly, and there were several Oast Houses within sight.

We were aiming for a path down to the river between Fish Hall (and some fishing lakes) to the west and Hadlow Place Farmhouse to the east, but there’s a path shown further east which would have taken us to the same place by way of a dog-leg. However the access to this path through a hedge from the road looked a bit overgrown, so we decided not to take the chance and to stick to the original plan. From the road, this involved taking the drive to Hadlow Place Farmhouse; there was no footpath sign so we weren’t 100% sure we weren’t trespassing, but we took the risk! It was a very good path, through orchards then, when the tarmacked drive swung round to the farm, we kept on straight, across rolling agricultural land which eventually brought us down to the River Medway.

Well, not quite…the banks of the river were overgrown and we couldn’t actually see it for a little while, but there was a clear path a few metres away, and this is the route of the Wealdway. Initially, we followed the path westwards for about half a mile, past a short muddy section in woodland then out into open countryside again to Eldridge’s Lock, which is the point we’d reached last time we were here. We watched some canoeists taking the route around the lock (would you call this a fish ladder?) then turned around and retraced our steps along the path, with occasional glimpses of the canoeists who were averaging a similar speed.

We passed the path that had brought us down to the river and continued close to the river bank, sometimes close to it and sometimes separated from the river by a thin strip of summer vegetation. There’s not a lot you can say about walking alongside a river, but it was pleasant enough. We left the canoeists behind at Porter’s Lock and, just before Hartlake Bridge, overtook a family with a dog. Note for others looking for parking: we’d driven over Hartlake Bridge on our way to Golden Green, and there are a few parking spaces nearby, though watch out for fishermen…(having heard a woman who goes fishing saying that she prefers to be known as a fisherman, I feel more confident using that word). We also passed one of the World War 2 "pill boxes" along the banks of the River Medway.

After another mile or so, we reached East Lock, a complicated affair. We crossed to the southern bank of the river here and continued past an island in the river and the attractive point where the two braids of the river re-join. Not too much further, we reached Ford Green Bridge. The Medway Valley Walk (which we had been following, in addition to the Wealdway, all the time we’d been walking by the river today and indeed since Tonbridge on the previous leg) continues straight ahead, but the Wealdway turns to the north over the bridge here, leaving the river behind. So that’s what we did, past some (definitely male!) fishermen.

We stopped for lunch then continued north, close to some hop fields. Kent was famous for its hop growing and the oast houses were built to dry the hops, ready for use in brewing beer. Very few hop fields remain in Kent now and most of the oast houses seem to have been converted into upmarket homes. However it is still pleasantly rural, and as we followed a meandering section of path to the south of Barnes Street we passed an attractive if rather run-down barn.

We were soon back at the road, and we could see the route for next time leaving the road again slightly to the east. For now though we followed the road back to the car, noting the difficulty that the postman must have round here, as each little group of houses (and occasionally single houses) seem to be numbered separatey e.g. “1 Signpost Field” – but where’s number 2?

This was a walk with a couple of post-scripts. Back at the car, we were just removing our walking boots when a few motor scooters went past, then a few more, then a few hundred more! It turns out that this was the “ride out” from the Big 7 Scooter Rally at the nearby Hop Farm.