Loop out from Lyminge

A Loop out from Lyminge

As the distances to the start of our rides get further away, we’re pushed for time on a Saturday morning to get it done (looking back I can see I've not updated this for over a year, very slack!).
Today we started from Lyminge, (the removal of the “ly” from the village sign is always worth a smirk).
There is free parking at the village hall, which is where we start from.
Heading out from the village hall on the byway at the top end of the car park, its a roughly used small climb on a grassy bridleway. At the crest of the hill it becomes a tree lined singletrack between two open fields, good and flowing down to a gate at the bottom and across a sheep paddock out to the road.
(Sheep shit, the stickest of the shits).
We turned left here for a road section along the Sandling Road, a bit of a drag with some high hedges and traffic, at the junction with the A20 (Ashford Road), the byway entrance is on the right.

byway entrance 

The byway now runs west through a wooded section and out into an open chalky surface, and then at the end back to an overgrown doubletrack, its a good diversion. The exit appears out on the road (the B2068).
byway exit
We turned left here heading south (ish), onto Stone Street and through Standford, and take the right hand turn onto Kennett Lane, followed this around and then over to Hayton Road. About 500 yards along the road is the entrance to the bridleway, it looks like (and is) a track to an industrial yard, but the route goes through here and out towards the field.
Bridleway Start. 
It takes a few turns and to be honest I think we lost it a bit and ended up on a track out to Swan Lane.
Further down Swan Lane is the entrance to another bridleway which essentially joins the one we lost.
We followed this and took it under the M20, the trail then passes between the M20 and the channel tunnel rail link. You turn right under the railway and out onto an open field, no signpost, and the route is a bit of a mystery.
We aimed for the lonely tree in the middle of the field and rode over towards the farm, which luckily turned out to be the bridleway.
Bridleway at Barrow Hill   
You exit the trail on the Ashford Road (A20) and it was a long road drag on the busy A20 to get to the exit for the A261 to Hythe. This is the bottom end of the loop really,  and we took this road up the hill, there is an entrance to a Byway on the right, which is a good ride through the woods and out onto farm land, We overshot the bridleway / byway junction and had to double back, the bridleway is on the left hand side and runs diagonal back to the road.
Byway start on A261 
This takes you back to the A261 at Oxenden Farm, at Pedlinge, a good farm track. It crosses the road and heads out into the fields, past a chapel, with a rickety wooden gate. 
Pedlinge bridleway 
This takes you on a nice route through to Saltwood, we lost the bridleway at the end by went through the woods and over the stream and out into the village. A good section with a quick downhill. 
Up the hill into Saltwood and we were looking for the castle where our next off road section was due to start, we cocked it up and ended up retracing out steps and heading the right way.
The next trail runs alongside the castle (from Grange Road to Castle Road), the left hand track.
Saltwood bridleway  
The trail runs under and old railway down a small valley and then up and out along a fence up to BlackHouse Hill, its a grassy bumpy climb up to the road and gate, but take 5 mins to turn around and see the caslte peer over the tree tops.
Saltwood Castle
A quick dash down the road to the bottom and the next trail starts, I'd take Cliff Road on the left then head up to Sene Park, a rather interesting estate of houses all vying for a sea view.
The climb up from Sene park is a steep rocky trail up to the golf course. There is a small joy riding across the green lawn of the fairway and onto the woods opposite.
Through the woods, out onto open fields and all the way to the M20 on the bridleway, its a good ride, through the MOD camp at Dibgate and onto the Elham Valley way and over the M20.
Our route now takes us up to Peene and onto the old Elham valley railway, a flat gravel trail. It stops sadly, and you have to take a cheeky footpath to get out onto the road again. So we went through Etchinghill and out to the original bridleway back to the car park at Lyminge.
Good ride, great variety of trails and sights, (you can see the sea!).