Rocks and Ridges Rail Trail (Sevenoaks Station) Preview

Directions

Leave Sevenoaks station by the main exit and walk out to London Road. Turn left and follow the road to Braeside Avenue, the next turning on the left. At the end of this road, turn left onto Brittains Lane and follow it to an entrance on the right, just before a row of houses.

Directions

Follow the path which runs between the back of houses on the left and countryside on the right, which soon turns into woodland with a stream, a tributary of the River Darent, in the valley bottom below. The path leaves the houses behind and runs along the right-hand side of a field before curving left. Soon after, leave the main path. Cross the stream continuing to follow the footpath towards the embankment of the Sevenoaks Bypass. Turn right at the top of the field and continue to a turning on the left, leading to a short tunnel under the embankment.

Directions

Continue ahead, still uphill, crossing to the left side of the next field to arrive at the B2028 Sevenoaks to Edenbridge Road. Go left a short way to a junction and turn right onto a surfaced track leading to Greenlane Farm. At a junction in front of the farm, turn right onto a tree-lined unsurfaced track heading downhill. Turn left at the next path junction to follow a field boundary, soon descending to a lane in a valley bottom.

Directions

Cross the lane and go up the far side of the valley and then along a low ridge with good views of the North Downs to the north. The path crosses from the left to the right side of fields and eventually comes to a T junction. Turn right along a track.

Information

The route passes a group of historic farm buildings including Dryhill Farmhouse and Wellers Farmhouse, both of which date back to the sixteenth century, together with two eighteenth century barns and a late medieval ragstone wall facing the track at Dryhill Farm.

Directions

At a junction, continue ahead on a paved road, soon reaching a turning on the right leading into Dryhill Local Nature Reserve. Follow the road for about 200 metres past the first rock outcrop on the left to a turning circle where there is a helpful information board, including a map of the site, showing two short walking trails.

Information

Dryhill occupies occupies a former stone quarry abandoned in the 1950s and it is now distinguished by its outcrops of ragstone; a hard grey limestone traditionally used as a building material both locally and further afield. Its impressive structure of its rocks and fossils led to it becoming the first ‘geological’ local nature reserve in Kent; a Regionally Important Geological Site (RIGS).

Directions

When you have finished exploring the site, return to the track junction and turn right. The track heads along a valley to Manor Farm where you cross a stream. Continue up the valley on a path into woodland and stay on the main path. Cross a vehicle track and follow the path to a lane (Back Lane which was crossed earlier). Turn right and in about 100 metres, come to a junction. Turn left here onto a single-track road which leads back to the B2028. Go left a short way and then right on to a footpath.

Information

The path enters Whitley Forest, which contains areas of coppice woodland, conifer plantations and open fields. It forms part of the Montreal Estate which extends over a wide area to the west of Sevenoaks. The estate originally extended further east on land since developed, including Montreal House on the northwest side of Sevenoaks which was demolished in the 1930s.

Directions

Follow the woodland path to reach a wider track. Turn right to where a series of tracks and paths diverge. Take the first track on the left then bear right at a junction and left at a second junction to reach the top of a slope. When the track peters out on entering a field, continue ahead over a low bank and head downhill on a grassy path. Bear right through a gap in a second, more pronounced bank and descend to the valley bottom to cross a bridge over the outlet to a pond on the right (the outlet stream is the same as the one followed earlier on the way out of Sevenoaks). On the far side, turn left up a short climb. Before the top, fork right onto a narrow path which soon joins a wider track. Follow this through mixed woodland, eventually descending to Dibden Lane.

Directions

Join the lane and turn right to follow the road under the bypass, soon reaching a path entrance initially heading sharp left. This leads to a junction at the entrance to Great Brittain’s Wood. The main route turns right to run along the southern edge of the wood. It then makes a total of four road crossings as it comes into Sevenoaks, eventually passing above the entrance to the Sevenoaks tunnel (though fencing means the railway is not visible from the path.

Directions

On the far side of the railway, the path climbs up to join Granville Road. Turn left and follow the road downhill to London Road where Sevenoaks station is on the left.