The Great and the Good amid the Heath and the Wood

'Lads who travelled from London to the south coast for my summer walks might be glad to see that the first walk of the autumn is much closer to home. Just outside the M25 the land rears up to form the Greensand Ridge. This then folds into a series of hills and heaths (called 'charts') that afford wonderful views of the Weald. The Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty adjoins the Kent Downs AONB and we'll move from one to the other and back again, savouring stone-built houses and churches where performers and premiers lived and died. Chief among these is Churchill's Chartwell, the view from which he called 'the most beautiful and charming'. I hope you'll agree.

The sights:

Limpsfield, Crockhamhill and Hosey Commons: Wooded common land on the Greensand Ridge and Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Crockhamhill Common has a series of old ragstone mines that provide a hibernation site for five species of bats. Hazel, oak and sweet chestnut colonise the better soils, but Scots pine and birch the poorer ones.

Chartwell: From 1922 until his death in 1965 the home of Winston Churchill, much used by him when out of political office for rallying the anti-appeasement cause, composing speeches, writing books, building walls, constructing lakes and painting. An early Victorian house of medieval origins, but rebuilt and extended in an arts and crafts style by Philip Tilden in the late 1910s. The house has extensive views over the Weald of Kent, "the most beautiful and charming" Churchill had ever seen. Grade I listed.

Toys Hill: Outstanding views of the Weald are to be had from a terrace donated in 1898 by Octavia Hill, one of the founders of the National Trust, who lived at nearby Crockham Hill. One of the National Trust's first properties. Over the years it was added to, so the National Trust's Toys Hill estate now runs to more than 200 acres (81 ha) of woodland. The area is a Site of Special Scientific Interest because of its abundant wildlife, and a Grade I site of national importance for nature conservation. We'll have lunch at the top which is 235m up and on a terrace which is the remains of the vast Weardale House of 1910, neglected, bombed in the war and pulled down in the 1930s. French Street is a pretty hamlet.

Westerham: Near Sevenoaks and on the River Darent. Granted a market charter in 1277. St Mary's Church is C13 and is unusual in displaying the country's only royal arms of Edward VI. General James Wolfe was born in the town in 1727 and is commemorated by a statue on the Green. Alice Liddell, the inspiration for Lewis Carroll's Alice lived in the Vicarage for a brief period. John Lennon stopped at a Westerham antiques shop and purchased a poster for Pablo Fanque's Circus Royal, which inspired the song, "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" The statue of Churchill on the village green was the gift of General Tito of Yugoslavia. William Pitt the Younger regularly stayed in the town. We'll have a tea/pub break in the town on the way back.

Limpsfield: The parish has over 20 medieval buildings and around 90 listed ones. Overbuilt St Peter's Church is C12. The composer Frederick Delius is buried in the churchyard, as is his wife Jelka. The conductor Sir Thomas Beecham is buried only a few yards from Delius, whose music he supported. Nearby are the graves of cellist Beatrice Harrison and ashes of clarinettist Jack Brymer, both of whom worked with Beecham.

Oxted: Mostly a suburbanised commuter town, built in excessive mock-Tudor stucco and timber framing. The town occupies a gap in the greensand ridge. The Greenwich Meridian runs through the town and Keir Starmer grew up in it.

The route (please click the link in red to see the route, its distance and elevations, at the OS website):

Having walked along Station Road and Snatts Hill from the station in Oxted, we'll cross the A25 then follow Rockfield Road to meet the Greensand Way (GSW). This will take us east, all the way to Limpsfield Common, Limpsfield Chart, Crockhamhill Common and Mariners Hill. At Chartwell, we'll take Puddledock Lane eastwards. We'll then ascend and descend Toys Hill but have lunch at the top. Following French Street northwest across Hosey Common and cross the B2026, we'll take footpaths to Westerham for a tea break. We'll then head west along the A25 (there's a pavement) and take a footpath to the southwest to reach The High Chart. A bridleway along the River Darent will take us to Limpsfield Common to cross the Common. Then, walking along Limpsfield High Street we'll get to Granville Road and head west along it to Gresham Road which will bring us back to the station in Oxted.

Dogs:

I love having dogs on my walks and this walk is suitable for them apart from during very hot weather. There will be plenty of shade and woods and commons for them to run free but also some roads to walk along. A dog off the lead must be obedient.

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(All images were taken by the leader on his recce on 18 August 2021. OutdoorLads is welcome to reuse them.)