East Malling to East Farleigh

Saturday May 4th. Our group of 17, including 3 welcome guests, safely crossed the railway line at East Malling and were soon walking on mostly woodland paths and some country lanes enjoying some lovely views, orchards, bluebells and birdsong.

After 4 miles there was a welcome break at the riverside Ramblers Rest cafe at Wateringbury.

The next mile and a half is a very pleasant path along the Medway, climbing out of the valley to reach our picnic and pub stop at West Farleigh. However, the boggy patches and mud which have affected so many recent walks were still sufficient to make this stretch more exciting than it should be.

The weather was very kind to us all day, and lots of people were driving over the medieval bridge at Teston as we returned down to the valley after lunch. There was also much activity on the river and our path along a very attractive meandering Medway taking us to our station destination at East Farleigh.

The village across the second medieval bridge looked very attractive, but rain threatened and we all chose the first train home.

Tony with thanks to Christine M, Mary-Jane and Howard for photos