natural history will find much to occupy them. And, of course, there are the contrasts of landscape that enrich each day's walk and make a journey along the North Downs Way a truly memorable experience.
The NDW is really the child of the much older Pilgrims’ Way, which ran along the base of the Downs from Winchester to the shrine of St Thomas à Becket at Canterbury. That route dates back to the 12th century, but the modern world has smothered large sections in tarmac, so a better, more peaceful and safer route was devised along the crest of the downland wall, although in some parts of Kent it descends to the Pilgrims’ Way where that original route is either a trackway or a mostly untroubled country lane. Instead of beginning in Winchester, it starts in Farnham on the Surrey/Hampshire border; and while the Pilgrims’ Way ends in Canterbury, the North Downs Way continues to Dover, and is now part of the E2 – a major European trail.
Walking west to east
As the quotation from Belloc suggests, the route could be tackled from Dover round to Farnham, but the journey described in this guide takes the opposite view, preferring instead to walk eastwards, as would the pilgrim. So for the sake of our modern-day pilgrim the National Trail, which was officially opened in September 1978, begins in Farnham and ends in Dover.
At Boughton Lees near Wye the route forks; one stem heading north to Canterbury, while the main and more direct route continues through Wye and follows the escarpment to the outskirts of Folkestone, then on to Dover by way of a breezy path over Shakespeare Cliff. The direct route to Dover measures roughly 123 miles (198km), while the alternative that takes the Canterbury loop is about 130 miles (208km) long, and for most of its course between Farnham and Canterbury, it either coincides with, or parallels, the older Pilgrims’ Way.
For the first 14 miles (22km) out of Farnham the route plots a course along a range of sandy hills to the south of the Downs, but after crossing the lovely viewpoint of St Martha's Hill east of Guildford, it strikes north to the chalk crest of Albury Downs at Newlands Corner. From then on the North Downs Way remains true to its name and mainly keeps close to the southern escarpment on a series of footpaths, tracks and brief stretches of quiet country lane as the North Downs spread east and southeast across Surrey and Kent before being stopped abruptly by the English Channel.
In four places the downland wall has been breached by river valleys. In Surrey it is the River Mole below Box Hill which causes the first breach. In Kent it is the Darent at Otford, the Medway at Rochester and Great Stour near Wye that have broken through the lofty chalk barrier to create valleys, each with very different characteristics. The Mole's is a comparatively narrow valley, a wooded slice with Dorking to the south and Leatherhead to the north. The Darent Gap north of Sevenoaks is a much more open swathe, the low-lying water-meadows beside the innocent stream teasing with prospects of gentle walks for other days. The most profound breach is that caused by Kent's major river, the navigable Medway, tidal as far as Allington near Maidstone. Where the Medway has muscled its way through the Downs, the valley has been industrialised, although the trail of the North Downs Way barely has a glimpse of this before crossing high above the river on the M2 motorway bridge. Contrast this with the Great Stour whose valley breaks the downland wall between Wye and Canterbury, a rural backwater of splendid tranquillity and long views.
Blue Bell Hill provides a great vantage point across the Medway Valley (Stage 7)
Between Farnham and Guildford the trail remains low, weaving across arable farmland interspersed with woods, coming now and then to a patch of heath from which the Hog's Back is seen to the north. The Ordnance Survey map shows major highways scoring through the country nearby, yet walkers on the North Downs Way are largely unaware of unseen (and mostly unheard) traffic on those roads. In springtime bluebells make a smoky haze on the woodland edge, in summer foxgloves stand sentry beside the trail, and in early September ripe bilberries tempt among the heathlands. In places wild raspberries brush against the path; elsewhere it could be blackberries that provide a juicy snack along the way.
The River Wey interrupts the line of the walk on the outskirts of Guildford, shortly before the path joins that of the Pilgrims’ Way leading onto St Martha's Hill, crowned by a flint-walled church at 573ft (175m) above sea-level. Although of modest altitude St Martha's offers the first of many awe-inspiring views across the heavily wooded Weald, but it is here that the route deserts both the Pilgrims’ Way and the sand hills, turning north to cross a shallow valley then slanting up to Newlands Corner on Albury Downs to experience the walk's first true chalk downland.
Bluebells carpet king's Wood in springtime (Stage 10a)
For some distance east of Newlands Corner the trail pushes through woodland, breaking out here and there to cropped grass, cowslips and orchids, and surprise views south to Leith Hill and an extensive ridge of greensand beyond which lies the Weald. Then, having crossed Ranmore Common, the route skirts England's largest vineyard as it descends into the Mole Valley. Here the river is crossed on romantic stepping stones, followed by a sharp ascent of much-loved Box Hill which signals the start of a roller-coaster section, dodging in and out of woodland interspersed with open panoramic highpoints, one of the best being between Colley Hill and Reigate Hill.
Between Reigate Hill and Ockley Hill a plague of motorways and railway lines threatens to disrupt the onward route, but the North Downs Way planners have successfully negotiated a way across with very little tarmac underfoot, and soon after leaving Merstham the crest of the Downs is regained once more, where the Pilgrims’ Way carries the journey over agricultural land for a while. Above Oxted the line of the Greenwich Meridian is crossed, and between here and Westerham Hill the trail exchanges Surrey for Kent. Where the county boundary is met, a special marker stone announces that you've walked 48 miles since Farnham, but have another 65 miles to go to Canterbury, and 77 to Dover.
Briefly beyond Westerham Hill a hint is given of high-rise buildings on the outskirts of London – a reminder that the city is half a day's walk away. But you quickly shun this by dodging back into woodland, and when the path re-emerges it is to see the Darent Gap looming. Below lies graceful Chevening House, official country residence of the Foreign Secretary, its northern façade partly concealed by trees as it slumbers at the foot of the Downs.
Across the Darent Valley at Otford another sharp climb returns the trail to the downland crest for a section that mostly keeps to the scarp edge – with all the visual delights that entails – before making a sudden descent to the Pilgrims’ Way which, since Otford, has been restricted to a narrow metalled lane. Where the North Downs Way joins it, however, this becomes a track, then footpath, leading to Wrotham. Trosley Country Park is next where, thanks to its great popularity, you're likely to lose any sense of solitude – but only for a brief while.
A broad firm path takes the NDW through Trosley Country Park (Stage 6)
Out of the Country Park a sunken track takes you down to the Pilgrims’ Way yet again, joining it just a short stroll away from one of the Neolithic burial sites that form part of what has become known as the Medway Culture. The Pilgrims’ Way is followed eastward for only a mile before returning up the scarp slope at Holly Hill, then plunging into an extensive woodland section above the Medway Valley.
Crossing the Medway on a motorway bridge in view of Rochester's castle and cathedral is at once exhilarating and hideous! Exhilarating because you're high above the river and with long prospects downstream with the Downs arcing blue into the distance; hideous on account of the heavy traffic thundering past, forcing you to muse on the madness of speed and its effect on the environment. Thank heaven that crossing is soon over!
Over
