For those of you who may not be familiar with the area around Maidstone in Kent the village of Hollingbourne is one of those ancient villages that nestle below the North Downs close to the river Medway. Once the seat of a district council today Hollingbourne is a village set in farmlands on the edge of the M20 and the Eurostar Rail line.
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In truth the area we know as Hollingbourne is made up of two villages Eythorne and Hollingbourne with Hollingbourne north of the old standard southern rail line and Eythorne to the south. Wandering along the base of the hills is the Pilgrims Way bereft of foot weary pilgrims telling dirty stories but still dotted with Inns and Taverns to sustain and refresh the traveller.
As you can gather there will be pubs mentioned in these posts with the idea of suggesting good places to eat and drink.
And why not?
It is a pity that the two villages are so close to the M20 and the Euro Rail link as both tend to disturb the inherent tranquility of the place. However, if one ignores the rush and roar exploring is pleasant. We stopped at The Sugar Loaves pub for a drink and a comfort stop aware that unfortunately we could not have lunch there and walk. That was a pity because the menu looked good at good, affordable prices and the food smelled good too. The beer was excellent. We settled for a walk along out of the village close to the railway and past the M20 service area.
The pathway crossed the railwy above the services where we bought sandwiches. We, are my sister and myself, she a Golf widow on Saturdays and me in need of the company to explore. I have permission from my cat. The path way climbed steadily through fresh clean woods partly coppiced toward the small village of Broad Street straddling the Pilgrims Way. A pleasant surprise was seeing pink orchids growing in the coppiced way; an unpleasant surprise was discovering a notice that warned us of wild boars advising us not to disturb them.
Above is a pink wood orchid we saw in the woods before we discovered the sign about wild boars. After that, when we clear of the animals I had thoughts of spit roast pig decorated with wood orchids.
Have you ever had that trouser wetting feeling that you have wandered in where you are not wanted and something nasty is about to happen.
Well, we got a little of that. Aware that we, as middle-aged persons, that our tree climbing abilities were limited and running faster than bacon on hooves with tusks was a daft thing to try we did what Samuel Pepys was apt to do; walk swiftly on.
The walk up the hills opened up views across to Leeds and Maidstone and although steep the road was pleasant with trees and chalk cuttings to view and evidence of rabbits. At the top we stopped in the Woodland Trust property to eat our sandwiches. This area, close to Hucking and Hucking House, consists of 135 hectares of woodlands and natural grasslands which is grazed by cattle.
From there we walked down to the North Downs Way and then along the Pilgrims Way back to Hollingbourne church passing close to the Manor and discovering that there is a large pond close by. A sight I have never seen when passing through!
