Hardcore around Hawkinge..... another Kent loop out.

Hawkinge, Kent.
Rule No. 9 for this one....if you are out riding in bad weather, it means you are a badass. Period.
Velominti - rules. 
It did rain, and rain, and then just when we thought it stopped, it rained again. 

Continuing our quest to cover Kent, we had our second route out from Lyminge, this time heading East and down to the Channel Tunnel terminal, around Hawkinge.

From the village hall car park in Lyminge, we headed back through the village and on to Station Road, turning right towards the village welcome sign. On the left is Greenbanks and, between the doctors surgery and the road is a track that is the start of the byway out of the village, this is a steep tricky ride, concrete and old tarmac up to  a muddy trail.
(sems popular with motorbikes).




It heads out to the south east between brambles, a good trail, alongside the golf course, you then exit onto Teddars Leas Road, which we followed around to the bridleway start on the right.
(its about 750 yrds, at the Shearins Bungalow site)



A good route, between fields, tree covered and dips down at the end out onto the road. Here we turned right, down towards Peene, its a quick steep descent with a sharp left hander at the end, leading onto the bastard that is Danton Lane.
This road runs alongside the channel tunnel terminal, it was wet now, really pissing down, and quite frankly miserable. But in an odd way I enjoy the crappy weather and my waterproof sock full up with water make for hard pedalling. We took the right hand fork on the junction at the top of the hill onto Crete Road West, this is a great lane, up over the terminal looking out to sea, with the channel a grey squally mess. 
Following the lane along further it dips under the main A20 and then out to meet the busy A260 Canterbury road, some rather shifty crossing skills got us over the road.
Crete Road East now climbs at about 12% up onto the cliffs above Folkestone, we follow the road here for half a mile and just past the houses opposite the closed lane on the right, is an unadopted road on the left.
This is according to some maps "Cut Throat Lane", a good ride across open fields (a white lane on OS maps, always a mystery those!), leading down to join the Alkham Valley Road. 
By this time my makeshift OS map was getting a bit soggy, so we headed right along the road, to find the next section of offroad. 
With the weather still terrible, and quite fun really, we (well I) totally mis-judged the distance and we ended up taking an early exit on Standen Lane, this led us confusingly towards Hawkinge, where I lost my bearing a bit.
However, at the village the sky cleared, I managed to fold the wet map and get it into my pocket, now resembling a tissue after a trip through the washing machine, it would be used only in dire need.
We took another couple of turns through the village missing my intended routes, and taking a cheeky footpath we finally got back on track, the footpath goes through the woods and out past horse paddocks down to a roundabout at Milgate Farm. 



The footpath exit brings you out next to the entrance to the cricket club, and we were back on track, taking this lane leads you up and into the woods and onto the next bridleway, at the right hand corner just past the club is the start. This is a lovely trail through Reinden wood, heavy usage by horses, but flat and wide through the woods. We exit at the end of the woods and head out onto the bridle way north east across the fields towards Swingfield.
Onto Boyinton Lane we turned left and followed the road out to the junction with the A260, and onto Reece Lane.
We turned left  right heading back on our loop now, onto Hoad Road, following the lane until the next bridleway, at about a mile the road bears to the left and the bridleway is on the right. (the trail straight ahead is a byway).



Here it runs down into a wood to a gate, and then into an open field, up and down a dip and back alongside the woods to the exit on the right, some parts are awkward grass covered tracks. 
Out from here onto Ridge Row, we rode straight down to Paddlesworth to join the next off road section. This is another bridleway heading west. 



This is another great flowing bridleway between a hedge and fence, down and across a field to a complete mystery, no regular traffic, or signs of horses. walkers etc, so using our best judgement we just headed for what looked like a lane on the far side of the field, it's a shame when this happens and you feel a bit of a failure for not picking up the trail, or working out where it should be.
We found the end......

and then the start of the next one on the other side of the road.



This is our last bridleway over fields heading back to Lyminge, its a good one, grassy and flowing, a few gates to get through and a section through a farmyard and down through a wooded section, there is a nice long downhill section at the end running to the village. 

And we're back... despite the weather, it was again great to be out seeing more of the county. 



 
 
 

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!).  
 

Loop out from Wye, Kent, UK

 Cracking route out exploring the delights of the Wye countryside. Free parking just outside Wye, popular with walkers.

The start is the car park on the hill above the Wye Valley Nature reserve on Coldharbour Lane, from here head left (east) along Coldharbour Lane, towards Hastingleigh. Ride through the village and on the left is the bridleway entrance, take this. It starts following the fence line in the woods and then carries on to a track, there are a few options off the path (other bridleways and footpaths etc.), we took a left hander in the woods and then instead of staying on the bridleway, strayed onto the footpath out to Hassell street.
Oh well, nothing ventured, nothing gained.... we took the opportunity to have a rethink and re-route.
At the crossroads where the path joined the road we too the right hand exit onto Woods Lane, and followed this onto the next bridleway entrance.
It sits on the left hand side, as you come down a hill, easy to miss and rush past. It rises diagonally across a field and heads west, we didn't, and again followed a footpath the wrong way.
This led us through a small wood and out onto Richdore Road. We turned left here, following the road up to Penny Pot lane, and into Eggringe Wood. This is a great area, and feels like it needs further exploring...
Just into the woods on the road is the byway entrance on the left, its a well surfaced trail, big enough for cars etc, so was a breeze to fly down, it drops about 100 ft, down through the woods onto fields and out onto the road at Sole Street.
A left here and a right down Hobbs hill towards Crundale, up a small climb before the village next to the church is a byway entrance. The view from here is good, a great spot for a water break and take in the landscape, then you're off. It's a great trail, single farm track that rises and falls along the top of the ridge, then enters the woods and then out onto a farm entrance lane, turn left and take the next byway entrance on the right, this drops down towards Coombe Manor and a bridleway that crosses the trail. Here we turned right onto the bridleway to head back along the valley. This trail skirts around the edge of the wood under the byway we have just ridden, at the time of our visit, it was hard work, long grass, ruts and overhanging brambles etc. Once you hit the byway you are back onto the farm track and riding the valley bottom, again its a great view. (Crundale Downs).
At the end of the byway turn left and this takes you up the hill westwards, its a bit of a drag but a moderate climb, about 150ft up the valley side. Once you meet the road turn left through Warren Wood, there is another byway on the left at the end of the wood, it's a short climb up a track with wooden steps, bit of a pain, but good to get to the top and through the woods. We rode through Marriage farm, down towards Penn street farm and then right out into the Olantigh Estate. You can take the other routes here back towards Wye, we went along the lane missed another bridleway and ended at the "t" junction. Just opposite was what looked like a path, but with some bike use so we gave it a go, it's a trail that runs the length of the long plantation (as denoted on the OS map), and is a good diversion, heading through the woods on a nice singletrack to come out onto the Olantigh road and head back towards Wye.
On the left just past the school is the bridleway we missed earlier, so we took it, a nice straight ride out of the village up to the lane, we headed south, (right) back towards Coldharbour Lane, but being the explorer types we are, instead of just heading back to the car park, we decided to try and find the route along the top of the hill, listed as a bridleway on the map.
There is a footpath on the left with two stiles to climb over, and then a bastard of a hill, hard enough on foot but pushing the bike up was horrible. Past some spillways cut into the hill and finally onto the top we joined the bridleway and dodged cow shit all the way.
At the end it drops down to the road again and is a quick spin up to the car park.
A great area, good ride, with plenty of chance to go back and right the wrongs we made....



 

Mystery tour, loop out from Biddenden.

Free parking in Biddenden village centre.
From the car park we headed south on the A262 and turned left onto the High Halden road, getting the legs spinning and warmed up on some tarmac. We followed the road past Turks Head Farm and to the entrance to the Byway listed as Gore Lane. It's a wide trail, running between trees, and ends up as a tarmac drive way past a farm and out onto the road.
This is the lane to the north of High Halden, we turned right here and the the first left onto Wrens Nest Lane ride this to the end and then turning right onto Hookstead, and then down onto the A28 (turning right, heading west).
On the A28, watch for traffic etc. and the restricted byway entrance is poorly signposted and looks like a drive to a house, it's not, and its about 100 yards on the left between two houses.
There's a gate at the start and then it winds down through the trees and stops, leading onto a driveway and out onto the lane. Here we made a cock up and went right, but we should have gone left, needless to say, one long loop around and we found the start of the next bridleway. 
Ride East along Harbourne Lane cutting through Pond Wood and Herontoll Wood, at the next right hand bend the bridleway starts. To be honest I'd avoid this if I ever went back, it's not sign posted and following it is a nightmare. We ended up asking someone if we were on it when it felt like we were in her garden. She was understanding and pointed us in the right direction, turns out it does go through some gardens and landowners are not keen to show where.
Anyway, we finally came out onto Redbrook Street, and turned left, following this over Plurenden Lane and up to Chequertree Farm and then left over to the A28, a quick left and then right takes you onto Green Lane, single track tarmac with a dead end sign. This leads you onto the start of the next byway labelled Gadsby Lane on the OS Map.
Its a well maintained trail, around the woods, and out onto PotKiln Lane. 
Between Dent's Farm and Brickhouse Farm on the right is the bridleway entrance, the last one for this loop, it's signposted and gated.
But. this is a mystery tour again, no route marked out in the field, we rode staight across the cornfield following the line of the path. Messy and unclear, it was a bit of a crappy end to the loop.
Back on the road and heading back to Biddenden, along Pook Lane and Cot Lane back to the A274 and the car park.

A ride out from Biddenden

Saturday 31st Jan 2015, a loop out from Biddenden via Sissinghurst, Kent.

Parking at the car park in Biddenden village we headed out south on the A262, Tenterden Road, at the junction with Benenden Road, on the left is the entrance to the first byway, it looks like a gravel drive (which it is, at first), but leads onto a hard packed trail. It's a flat pull through to Fosten Lane.
At the end of the trail turn right and head south, we are going towards Hemsted Forest so follow the lane to Cranbrook Road, and turn right here. This is a fairly busy road, watch out for traffic, they had a tendency to overtake. Turn left on to Mockbeggar Lane, follow this all the way to the junction and then onto Benenden Road again, still heading south. 
This leads onto Goddards Green Road, but the bridleway is tucked away on the right this is the start of the run through Hemsted Forest (Forestry Commission land).
Its a good bridleway, hard packed in places with some muddy sections, some of the signage is a bit suspect, so we ended up missing the path and heading through the woods on other trails, this is a good area, with some interesting looking trails to each side, we will return.
At the end of the woods the path ends on the Cranbrook Road, turning left here we're heading west towards Cranbrook, about 500-600 yards along here is the entrance to a footpath, this was a cheeky cut through to keep things less "road", it heads north up through some woods (a tight squeeze in places, over a small bridge, some more woodland and onto the Sissinghurst Road (A262).
We're now heading west again and towards the entrance to Sissinghurst Castle, take the road on the right and follow the driveway up to the castle, the bridleway follows through the yard and out around the grounds, there is a view of the towers and in the summer I can imaging a good quick ride, in January, however, its a muddy drag, with a small slippery climb up to the road.
This is Bigdog lane, our loop comes back this way later, turn left here, and follow this down to the houses on the left. Here is the second bridleway its muddy and slippery and has a short tough climb out to the road. 
The intention here was to head up the A229 north, to ride the restricted byway at Brewers Wood, this again caused us some issues, and we ended up on a footpath and past a large chicken farm....
So that will be left for another trip.
Out onto the A229 and a shortcut via a footpath to the Frittenden road, this is a twisty path with a number of stiles and fallen trees to contend with, to be honest if you were walking it would be fine, but we were using it as a shortcut and we paid the price!!
Now we are heading back to Biddenden via Bigdog Lane it should be very simple, but we had an issue with a sign post.... and went the long way back!!

Cycling - 2014

Strava stats for 2014, broke the 1000 mile barrier this year, and almost 80,000 ft of climbing.
Not bad considering the only free time seems to be 1 day per weekend.

2015 gives me more to aim at.

Year-to-Date    
Distance     1,085.7 mi
Time     99h 54m
Elev Gain     72,123 ft
Rides     75

covered many of the Byways and Bridleways in Kent, UK and found some cracking trails and rides. Some of which I'll be doing again next year.