Section 35
Chilham to Selling
Walk Details
Walk Instructions
Robust Ramble – Kent Triangle - Faversham – Wadhurst – New Romney – Faversham
Section 35 Out
Chilham to Selling
OS Map: Explorer 149 Sittingbourne & Faversham
Total Circular Distance: 9 miles/5 hours
Start: From the White Horse pub in the centre of Chilham. There is a public car park down Taylors Hill below the village.
Comment: Many well-used paths in the woods. Be careful to stay on route, otherwise very pleasant walking by orchards and in woods. Tricky section through farm buildings and fields going south out of Shottenden. Final rather tedious stretch into Chilham.
From the front of the White Horse pub in the square in Chilham go left, down the side of the pub, then slightly left again down Church Hill (this is still the NDW). Near the bottom look for a short path off left down to a main road.
Cross to a bridlepath opposite and walk up the side of a field with a treeline on your left. Stay on the path where it veers left through the treeline, then on up in the same direction with the treeline now on your right.
Pass a bridlepath off left and keep on up the field edge. At the top of the field go through a metal fieldgate, and on through new plantings to the top of the hill.
Continue on the bridleway as it swings slightly left with an orchard on your right, to a T-junction with a farm track. Turn right up to a road at Stone Stile Farm, ignoring a track off left as you go.
Cross to the road opposite and immediately turn left up the bank to a metal fieldgate. Go forward along the foot of the pasture (following a zigzag diversion of the original path).
Reach a metal swing gate in the corner and turn right, uphill, along the edge of an orchard.
At the top of the rise, by a bungalow, turn left along the top of the orchard to a corner with a massive new orchard ahead. Turn right on a farm track with a hedge on your right.
At the top corner, turn left on the farm track with a hedge on your right. At the next corner, leave the orchard through the hedge on the right onto a road. Turn left for ¼ mile (ignore a sideroad off right and a track down to a house, off left).
Eventually bear left onto a bridlepath into woods. Follow this path as it doglegs left then right. Then right again around a large garden on your right. Ignore a path coming up from the left. At the top, turn left, uphill, ignoring path coming in from right.
The path becomes narrow and enclosed between trees on your left and a wooden fence on the right. Reach a crossing of tracks with an isolated house beyond.
Turn right by a metal fieldgate, steeply downhill, on a narrow, enclosed path. From the bottom continue steeply up to a road.
Turn left on the road. Ignore the first path off right and continue to a bridlepath just beyond, also off right into and across Perry Wood car park.
Go forward through woods at the far side to emerge onto a road opposite Downwell Villa. Cross to a footpath going through a wooden fieldgate at the side of the villa. Continue up and past a new bungalow on your right and into woods. Keep on for some way on a clear but very narrow path.
Emerge onto a road. Cross and continue up the bridlepath opposite into woods. Keep on the main path, up past a house on your right, then downhill.
Eventually meet a crossing of ways and turn right on a bridlepath, downhill to a road.
Cross, slightly right, to a footpath up a drive to Puddledock. Pass gates on the left and a house on your right to reach and cross a stile by a wooden fieldgate into a field.
Keep down the side of the field to a stile in the corner and cross into an enclosed path. Dog-leg into an orchard and keep forward, down the side of the extensive orchard for ¼ mile.
At the top end of the orchard reach a wide earthen farm track. Either cross into the orchard beyond and find a footpath going diagonally right through the trees to the far side, or turn right on the farm track, uphill for 50 metres, with a tall hedge on your left.
At the top of the hill, turn left on another farm track through orchards. Go steadily ahead, downhill, to a corner where the path becomes enclosed between fences (the diagonal alternative path across the orchard also reaches this point).
Continue down the enclosed path to reach a road. Turn left to reach the White Lion pub in Selling and the end of the section.
Robust Ramble – Kent Triangle - Faversham – Wadhurst – New Romney – Faversham
Section 35 Return
Selling to Chilham
OS Map: Explorer 149 Sittingbourne & Faversham
Total Circular Distance: 9 miles/5 hours
Start: From the White Lion pub. Some on-street parking or free car park downhill, beyond the pub, below the school.
Comment: Very pleasant walking through orchards and woods. Good views. Paths around Perrywood need careful attention to stay on route.
With the White Lion behind, turn right, downhill. Just past a side road to St. Mary’s Church, turn left, up the entrance drive to the Village Hall.
Pass the hall on your right and bear left up a bank onto an enclosed path between hedge and a wire fence.
Keep on down the side of an orchard. At the bottom of the slope, bear slightly left, into a field, and continue uphill along the field edge with a hedge on your right, passing a wooden telegraph pole halfway.
In the top corner find a wooden swing gate in the hedge and go through to a rising enclosed path between wire fences. Pass buildings on your right and keep down the drive to a road.
Turn left for 50 metres, then right, up a leafy path into woods. Ignore cross paths at the top of the rise and keep forward.
Emerge onto road and turn left. Soon reach the Rose & Crown pub on the right.
Turn sharp right up the front of the pub, soon passing the car park. Continue up into woods on a bridlepath.
At the top of the hill, at a house gate ahead, bear right, down and around the garden (on your left).
At a Y-fork, ignore the bridlepath off left and keep forward, uphill, on original bridlepath. In 75 metres or so, look out for a cross path. Turn right down this a short way then left, up a bank, to a metal kissing gate into a field.
Go ahead up the rising field with the edge of woods over on your left – good views.
Go through a metal kissing gate halfway and keep forward down the side of an orchard, ignoring side paths.
Join a farm track and follow this, slightly left, away from the orchard, past a pallet storage area on your left, then on, still gently left with a hedge on your left, towards buildings.
Exit onto a road (Goldups Lane). Turn left past Hares Farm Oast, to a road junction. Go straight over Soleshill Road and up the road ahead towards an oast.
At a right bend, go left into a path enclosed between buildings. At the far side reach a rough yard. The path should go straight ahead but there is a pond in the way. Turn left to the end of the yard. Find a way into the field, skirt the end of the pond, then head down the open field, heading just left of a pylon to reach a corner of a hedge.
Ignore a path off left, instead, turn right, downhill, under power lines and across the open field.
At the far side of the field climb a stile and go up steps to an enclosed path between fence and hedge.
At the end, reach and cross a stile onto a rough lane. Turn left for ½ mile.
Eventually drop down to the bottom of the hill and face a hedge ahead with a road beyond. Turn right to emerge onto the road.
Cross to the opposite verge and turn right. Soon reach and turn left up a drive to Young Manor Farm.
Where the drive turns right in towards buildings, go straight ahead, over a stile into a pasture (no signs here), then steeply uphill, parallel with fence over on right.
At the top, cross a stile between wooden fieldgates, into an enclosed path up the side of woods.
At the top, at a T-junction, turn right on a sunken track, uphill.
Ignore side paths and keep on the main track uphill.
Ignore a footpath signed off right and soon after, go ahead, downhill, on a byway (part of the North Downs Way).
At a sharp left bend follow the track left (ignore a footpath off right).
Reach and cross a car park to continue on Mountain Road for nearly a mile, passing houses on the right and the grounds of Chilham Castle on your left.
Eventually reach the outskirts of Chilham village and turn left up School Hill. Reach the square at the top and bear right across to the White Horse and the start of the section.
