Section 18
Flimwell to Hawkhurst
Walk Details
Walk Instructions
Robust Ramble – Kent Triangle - Faversham – Wadhurst – New Romney – Faversham
Section 18 Out
Flimwell to Hawkhurst
OS Map: Explorer 136 Royal Tunbridge Wells
Total Circular Distance: 11 miles/6 hours
Start: The Royal Oak pub. Parking at the pub by arrangement or the village hall car park is on the west side of the traffic lights.
Comment: This is a particularly difficult section from the start with illdefined paths and a forest section with many informal tracks.
With the Royal Oak behind, turn left. Immediately past the pub car park, look for an unmarked concealed gap in the hedge on the left. Go up into scrubland. Soon pass a large oak tree and cross a tractor track, to continue uphill on a narrow path into woods.
Soon reach a motorbike scramble circuit. Bear slightly left down the edge and look ahead to find a heavy log barrier with entrance into the forest.
Go forward, downhill. At a Y-fork bear right and keep on this track as it bears right, up through trees. It then bears gradually left. At a cross path, turn left, upto a junction of several tracks in a clearing. Turn right, on the wide main track.
Reach a crossing of ways and turn left on a bridlepath. In a short way ignore a mountain bike trail off right into woods. Further on pass a forest track coming in on the left.
Soon after, turn right on a wide track into woods parallel with a stream down on your right (ignore a mountain bike trail off left).
Keep on for some way then follow the track as it bends significantly, gently left uphill. Ignore a path sharply off down into woods on your right, also a mountain bike trail off left.
Look for a gravel bridlepath off right. Turn down this. At the bottom go through a gate into a narrow enclosed path alongside a field.
Meet a farm track and continue forward, downhill. At the bottom follow the track as it turns right and eventually reach a T-junction with a concrete track. Turn left over a stream.
Stay on the concrete track as it climbs up, to Little Pix Hall Farm, and arrive at a T-junction by houses. Turn left to pass the farm office then on across the main farmyard.
Finally ignore a path off left through a metal swing gate, then another off right. Keep straight ahead on the main track. By a metal fieldgate on your right, enter a narrow, enclosed path, for some way. Go through an equestrian gate, then down steps to an equestrian bridge. Continue on up through woods.
At the top emerge onto a road. Turn right for nearly a mile. Pass cottages and ignore footpaths off left and right. The way is mostly, but not always, downhill.
Finally come up to a road junction. Go straight across, still uphill, on Slip Mill Road.
At a Y-fork bear left to a main road. Cross to the entrance to Marlborough House School. Enter and bear slightly left across a gravel area, passing the school building on your right.
Continue on a gravel track. Where this swings right go forward onto grass and bear slightly left across to a wooden kissing gate in trees at the far side (pass a pond on your right as you go).
Through the kissing gate, reach a cross path. Turn left up it. It becomes enclosed and is easy to follow out to a main road. Turn right to reach the square by traffic lights in the centre of Hawkhurst and the Royal Oak Hotel. This is the end of the section.
Robust Ramble – Kent Triangle - Faversham – Wadhurst – New Romney – Faversham
Section 18 Return
Hawkhurst to Flimwell
OS Map: Explorer 136 Royal Tunbridge Wells
Total Circular Distance: 11 miles/6 hours
Start: The Royal Oak Hotel. For parking take the A268 east from the traffic lights to soon pass a petrol station, a pub, then Tescos. Immediately past Tescos, turn left into a public car park.
Comment: This is a longer stretch back. It should be straightforward as most of the route is on the excellent Sussex Border Path, but there are moments when careful observation is needed. There are stiles and some steep climbs. Be careful after the house called Roughfields towards the end of the walk, to find the stile steeply down into woods on the right then up to a golf course.
With the Royal Oak Hotel behind, turn left across to the traffic lights. Here turn left, downhill on the A229.
In 100 metres, turn right on a gravel footpath, just before a derelict Methodist Chapel (possible housing ?) by a bus stop. Pass by a metal fieldgate into a field.
Stay around the edge of the field. Just after bearing left at the corner ahead, look for a feint path off right into woods. Turn right, up through the wood passing a pond on your left.
Through the wood continue on a path along the top edge of a field. Cross a long footbridge and reach a Y-fork in woods. Swing sharp left.
Go steadily downhill on a pleasant enclosed path between holly and rhododendron bushes. Cross a stream at the bottom and continue uphill. Emerge through an old metal kissing gate onto a road.
Turn right. Pass the grassy common on the left called The Moor, then the closed village shop on the right, to reach Henshill Lane. Turn right down here on the Sussex Border Path (SBP).
Near the bottom of the hill pas the entrance to Hensill House and farm and bear left uphill on a gravel track.
On approaching a farm beyond a wooden fieldgate, turn right, up a bank, into a field. Continue forward up the field edge with a hedge on your left.
Pass into the next field and keep along the bottom edge. Weave in and out of field edges on a clear path. Reach the corner of an orchard. Continue up the edge with the hedge on your left.
Pass into the next orchard by a large oak tree (ignore a path off right). Continue up and across the orchard ahead on a broad track.
Continue steadily uphill through orchards. Eventually the track reaches a corner and swings left down to farm buildings. Here, ignore the grassy way ahead, instead turn right, through a gap into the adjoining orchard. Immediately turn left up the edge with a hedge on your left.
Emerge at a road junction. Turn left downhill a few paces then right, up a bank, into a field. Go straight across the centre of the field.
Reach a stile at the far side. DO NOT CROSS but turn right and follow the field edge around to a gate in the corner. Again go straight across the meadow ahead.
At the far side go through a gap, cross a vehicle track, then continue through a wooden kissing gate, keeping straight on along the bottom of a paddock.
Leave the paddock and continue alongside the garden of a white tiled house.
Enter a wood and go down steps to a footbridge. At the far side turn left. At a Y-fork go right up the higher route.
Enter a scrubby area of bracken. At a Y-fork bear left, through to the corner of a field. Again keep forward with a stream and woods down on your left, for some way.
Drop down through bracken to a footbridge and stile, then on in similar manner. Eventually enter a wood and cross a footbridge. At the far side go on up a broad path by a house ahead.
On reaching the house turn right into a parking area. Walk past stables to a drive. Turn right, up a gravel track and keep around past buildings to a grassy way leading to gates.
Go through and on, with fence on your left. At the end of the pasture, turn left over a little brick bridge into the adjoining field.
Go directly forward, across the centre bearing very slightly right.
At the far side drop down through trees to cross a stream then on up through trees at the far side.
Reach a metal swing gate and then on, uphill, along the edge of a sloping pasture for a good way, eventually aiming towards buildings and the white cone of an oast.
Head straight towards the oast and exit through metal gates onto the busy A21. Turn right up the pavement a short way then cross with great care to the entrance of a house called Mumpumps.
Find a narrow way up the side to a wicket gate. Go through and on between hedges. Exit through a gate and stile and turn right up a wide gravel way to a road.
Turn left, downhill, then up. At heavy security gates, bear right over a stile into a wooded path.
Reach a corner of a sloping pasture and bear right downhill. Cross woods at the bottom and a footbridge, then bear right up the edge of a sloping pasture with trees on your right.
Look for a stile on the right, Ignore the footpath off left. Cross the stile and drop steeply right down into woods. This is still the SBP.
Soon begin a long ascent. Emerge onto the edge of a golf course. Go up the edge a short way, then cross, diagonally right to an isolated tree. Turn left up an asphalt path.
Where this swings left, go straight on, up grass with a hedge on your right, to a stile in the corner. Go up a wooded path then on, between hedge and fence towards a house called Quedley.
Zig-zag through the buildings to continue up a long stoney drive eventually emerging on a main road.
Turn right along to traffic lights in Flimwell. Cross and turn left up the A21 a short way to the Royal Oak pub and the start of the section.
