Walk pictures - Darent Valley Path: Sevenoaks to Eynsford

Introduction

Mum and I decided to walk the Darent Valley Path, or at least some of it. The path officially runs from the Thames (near Dartford) to Sevenoaks, so of course we decided to go in the opposite direction.

There is actually a choice of two end points (start points, from our perspective) for the walk. One is near Sevenoaks station; the other is a bit to the west, nearer the source of the River Darent. We were starting from the station, but decided to walk to the less obvious route, on the basis that it seemed slightly more authentic for some reason.

Chipstead

So we headed west from the station toward an old village (now subsumed in Sevenoaks sprawl) called Chipstead. On the way we passed an area called Riverhead, which turns out not in fact to be near the head of any river.

Railway bridge in Riverhead. I’m not entirely convinced that is genuine stone.

1/125 at f8, 23mm, ISO200 51°17′8″N 0°10′16″E

Chipstead turned out to be a very nice collection of old houses, mostly with names of the form ‘The old (insert useful amenity here)’. It now has basically no facilities, except for a couple of pubs.

A rather nice row of houses.

1/125 at f8, 23mm, ISO200 51°17′3″N 0°9′14″E

Several layers of painted sign near an ex-shop.

1/125 at f2.8, 23mm, ISO200 51°17′5″N 0°9′7″E

Whitewashed walls and some kind of climbing plant.

1/250 at f5.6, 23mm, ISO200 51°17′4″N 0°9′5″E

Public footpath sign.

1/250 at f5.6, 23mm, ISO200 51°17′5″N 0°9′8″E

Taking the footpath toward a lake, we caught our first glimpse of the river - possibly. There were bridges over two streams, at least one of which was probably the river.

Horizontal fencing, a local speciality.

1/125 at f8, 23mm, ISO200 51°17′6″N 0°9′6″E

The local lake (okay, gravel pit).

1/80 at f8, 23mm, ISO200 51°17′9″N 0°8′57″E

We followed a path beside the lake, into farmland, and then across the route of an old railway branch. (The railway closed in 1961 and the M25 now uses part of its route, so they won’t be re-opening it in a hurry.) After that we followed a muddy track under the motorway and up through newly-planted woodland.

In the motorway underpass.

1/15 at f2, 23mm, ISO200 51°17′50″N 0°9′33″E

After walking a little way along roads (and past a car showroom called Chaucer, which seems a little incongruous) we then followed another footpath through fields toward Otford.

And, momentous occasion, the sun came out!

1/250 at f8, 23mm, ISO200 51°18′9″N 0°9′43″E

Otford

Otford is a pleasant but touristy small town with a large supply of old buildings and antique shops (although not so many of the latter as Dorking can boast).