East Peckham to Little Mill
Route facts
Waterways:
River Medway »
Distance: 3 miles / 4.8km
Duration: 2 hours
Circular route from: At the Cross Roads in the village centre of East Peckham
A circular walk from the once thriving industrial village of East Peckham, through a rural landscape across farmland, via the Man of Kent pub and Sluice Weir on the River Medway. It takes in just over a mile of the Medway Valley Walk route which follows a quiet (apart from the birdsong), rural section of the riverside footpath, before returning to the industrial landscape.
There are public toilets at East Peckham, close to the telephone box where the route begins. If you would like refreshments along the route, you will pass a number of places to purchasefood and drink, including Merry Boys Inn, Rose & Crown, Man of Kent and Snack Wagon.
For more information on the River Medway, visit www.environment-agency.gov.uk.
En route you can expect to see kingfishers fishing for sticklebacks, dragonflies and damselflies. In Springtime you may hear warblers, woodpeckers and cuckoos in the woods nearby. Close to the riverside footpath the walk passes through areas of a variety of wild flowers, with views of traditional Kentish Oasts.
Getting there
Parking: Free car parking - drive between the Merry Boys Inn and the Methodist Church.
Waypoints
1. East Peckham
The route begins at the cross roads in the village centre of East Peckham. Set off down Snoll Hatch Road to stretch your legs. At the sudden sharp bend in the road, you will see the Merry Boys Cottage on the left, which was one of fourteen Victorian public houses in the village in those days, originally built in 1850. Resist the temptation to take the track alongside the cottage. That is, unless you wish to shorten the walk by following this footpath to a footbridge over the River Medway, after which you turn left and rejoin the main walk back to the village.
2. Snoll Hatch
Take the footpath which is signposted to Little Mill on the left hand side of the road, in the hamlet of Snoll Hatch. The name Snoll Hatch is over a thousand years old and means 'the entry to the King’s Forest which lay across the river'. Follow the footpath over a stile, across fields and leaving the footbridge over the river Bourne (a tributary of the Medway) on your left to join a track leading into Little Mill. The road here was forded until a bridge was built in the reign of Queen Elizabeth the first. From the bridge you can look upstream and see where the old mill ground corn, until around 1914 at the start of the first world war.
3. Man of Kent Public House
At Little Mill, turn left onto the lane to reach the Man of Kent public house, where refreshment and traditional Kentish fare can be sampled. Continue past the pub, past Muraspec works and a few houses, then take a straight footpath track on the left hand side of the road, towards Stilshead farm house. Keep straight on past the house, across two fields and take in fine views over the gentle countryside to the River Medway. Keep straight ahead and do not be tempted to follow the farm track as it bears away to the left. A small copse concealing a war time pill box on your left appears shortly before reaching a bridge over the river Medway to the south bank, to join the official Medway Valley Walk.
4. Hop Farm Country Park
Turn left on the path along the riverside, keeping the river on your left as you pass by the Hop Farm Country Park, in the heart of Kent’s hop picking country. To the right you can see the largest collection of Oast Houses remaining in Europe. The route is undemanding and there is time to watch out for kingfishers and other birds, or stop to pass the time of day with fishermen along the way. Take time to enjoy the wild flowers and the perhaps unexpected peacefulness of Kent’s Low Weald. As you meander along the footpath you will see at least two more war time pill boxes on the far bank of the river. Cross a small footbridge over a stream and you are passing Bullen Island, a small nature reserve rich in wildlife.
5. River Bourne
You will soon see a substantial iron footbridge over the River Medway where those who took the shorter option from Snoll Hatch will appear and turn left to rejoin the main walk. It is an option to cross the footbridge, stop and see where the Bourne and the Medway converge and then follow the River Bourne back to Snoll Hatch, from where it is an easy and shorter walk along the road back to East Peckham.
6. Sluice weir
To continue the walk follow the riverside path, with the river Medway on your left, to come upon a Lock and Weir. This is sluice weir, one of the ten locks along the navigation between Allington and Tonbridge. In the 1740s, Branbridges and East Peckham were transformed into a thriving industrial area, with cotton, timber for boat building, hops for brewing and fruit being transported along the waterway. When railways developed, the river traffic declined and the Medway Navigation Company closed down in 1909. Sluice Weir in the 2000s incorporates a canoe pass and a fish pass to enable canoeists and fish to move more freely without negotiating the lock.
7. East Peckham
To return directly to East Peckham, cross the lock and head on away from the river, along a broad track. When you see the war time pill box on your right hand side, turn left to a footbridge, which is quite step up, and Pinkhams Lane back to the village opposite Woks Cooking. Turn left and a short way along the road takes you back to your start point.
8. Branbridges Industrial Estate
By following the path onwards to the main road, you will pass by a refreshment wagon at Branbridges Industrial Estate (up to 2pm weekdays) before turning left onto the main road. Left again at the Rose & Crown and you will return to your start point.
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