Robust Rambles

Section 16 (Out)

Five Oak Green to Tonbridge

Walk Details

Walk Instructions

From the village shop at Five Oak Green, cross the little green and turn right up a side road signed to ‘Whetsted’. Soon cross a humpback bridge over a railway. Immediately over the bridge, turn left along the drive to Moat Farm. Keep along for some way. Just before the farm buildings turn left alongside a brick outbuilding (the path has been diverted along this route avoiding passing through the farm buildings).

Go forward, past the farm on your right to soon reach a field. Go straight across towards trees at the far side. Having crossed the field, bear right along the field edge. Look for a footbridge in the treeline on your left over a stream. Cross this and keep forward to a gap in the hedge ahead. Cross to another footbridge. Enter a large field and bear slightly right to a gap in the hedge at the far side with a pylon and power lines ahead.

Go through this gap into a very large field. Again bear right to pass two wooden poles on your left and on under power lines. Just after the power lines reach a ditch. Cross a plank bridge and go forward towards a distant farm and a pylon.

At a second ditch, bear left then right to continue towards the farm. The grassy track becomes a rough gravel track and passes the pylon and under power lines. Soon reach a country road at Sherenden Farm. Keep straight ahead on the road for some way to reach a T-junction at the end. (Turn left here for ‘The Poacher’ pub).

Turn right on the main road for a few paces, passing a pair of houses on your left. Turn left off the road onto a footpath going down the back of the houses. On reaching a pair of poles carrying power lines, turn right and cross a field to a corner of trees. On reaching them, keep on along the field edge with a ditch on the right.

At the hedge ahead, cross a footbridge in a gap in the hedge, and cross the next field to a line of trees. Turn left down to the corner by power lines. Here turn right over a bridge. Ignore a footpath off left and go straight ahead, past a wooden pole, and on with a hedge on the left and orchard on the right.

Leave the orchard and keep on in the same direction up the top edge of a field, passing Postern Park down on the right. At a hedge ahead, bear left over a broken stile, up a bank into a field. Bear right to continue in the same direction as before with the hedge now on your right. On reaching a corner, go ahead through a gate into an orchard. At the next corner, go through another gate and drop down to a lane. Turn left down to a T-junction.

Turn right on a narrow country road (Postern Lane) and follow it for nearly a mile until it reaches a T-junction with a busy road in a business park. Cross the road with great care and go forward on a path with a river on your right (ignore signs going off right over the road bridge). Eventually reach Town Lock. The path turns left to meet a road. Turn right on the road and follow it to Tonbridge High Street. Turn right over the river a short distance to The Chequers Inn in the shadow of Tonbridge Castle and the end of this section. (To reach Tonbridge Station turn left down the High Street to a roundabout at the foot and go on a short distance to the station).