My turn again.
As you already know, I’m the men’s cross country captain but my current races are virtual and only where I can take some kudos from my road-racing equivalent Mike. Healthy competition and all that.
Under normal circumstances we would be doing some interesting summer routes with the additional light and around this time last year we did a route from the Red Lion in Rusthall.
This is almost all trail and you’ll either need a keen eye on the map or some technology to help you out, details lower down.
For those that want to drive, there is ample parking available either at the top of Lower Green Road or nearby to the pub.
Its ~7.6m and hilly, but there are some bits I’ve never covered in years of running the area. The paths are still very much dry out there along the entire route, so go with whatever shoe you prefer.
It would be nice to see some photos from along the route as there’s loads of things to see.
Here are a multitude of ways to try and not get lost
GPX FILE (sorry, didn’t realise you needed a premium subscription to download from OS maps)
dwMap for most Garmin GPS devices (works on my simple 235)
Goto https://dynamic.watch/ and using Garmin Connect you can install the ‘dwMap’ application on your watch.
Its simple and just shows the GPX route you imported on a white screen on your watch and where you are on it. I’ve found it invaluable for staying on routes I’m not 100% familiar with and without needing to stop and check where I am on my phone.
It’s also free to register and use! You don’t need the premium features for simple route following. Takes a little getting used to, but easy enough to import GPX files and it does the rest for you. You can use all your other Garmin features like route recording at the same time.
Written Instructions (from memory!)
- Keep the pub on your right and head over the road before quickly turning into Greenfield Close
- Up the short hill take the right fork and follow this past the goose-filled allotments to a stile, down an open field and into some woods
- Turn right shortly after this and take the upper path which will eventually lead you back onto Lower Green Road
- Turn left and left again onto Speldhurst Hill
- Look out for a footpath sign on your right and take this turning. Follow the path by a lovely new house and down to the new development by the old mill, keep right to stay on the footpath
- This footpath heads up steeply and through a driveway and some gates onto Stockland Green Road
- Head Left and then the next road on your left to Birchwood House Rest Home. Stay on this road for ~100m then there is a sudden footpath on your right
- This quirky path snakes around onto Frank’s Hollow Road, turn Left and follow this down and very shortly you’ll see another stile on your left
- Follow this path and through the fields and a few more stiles until you reach a farm and a stone stile. Head over this and go down the concrete track (there is apparently a footpath here but I’ve never found it). This track will snake around a while following the river on your right until it heads left, over a stile and onto Barden Road
- Turn Left on the road then immediately Right and stay on the footpath with a nice field of daffodils on your right in front of the farm
- Keep following this path and keep all the ponds and the woods just on your left, don’t deviate off from this track as there are a few other footpaths
- Eventually you’ll read the lovely yellow Poundsbridge house with ‘1593’ on the front. Keep this on your left as you head up the road and you’ll see a stile and footpath sign on your right
- Head up this path which goes through a hedge then suddenly turns left, follow the hedge until you pass through a stile/gate and you’ll see a big tree to your right as the paths open up. Head past this tree and down to another gate
- You’ll see the river crossing in the distance, head over to this and don’t cross, head left and follow the river through a couple of stiles. After the second stile/bridge and a small wooded clump, you can see some farms to the left, head left towards these. There’s a gate and a small canopy of trees before you end up back on Coopers Lane.
- Head right past all the lovely houses and look out for a footpath sign on your left. There is a big hill with an easily marked path between the crops to head up here that just cuts out running along Cooper’s Lane. Eventually it comes to a gate and back onto the lane past a farm on your left.
- At the junction head over and into the woods. This path will follow over a couple stiles and into the woods where you need to keep left as much as you can until you reach a lovely new bridge over the stream
- Keep left, up a short hill then at the junction on the footpath, do not head onto Bullingstone lane but keep going through the woods, this time keeping right where you can until you exit the woods after a short hill (this is basically the longest day route now)
- Head over the 2 stiles on the private road and follow the path until it reaches Legg’s Lane, head left and left again at the Junction, crossing over to the house on your right and the footpath
- There is then a stile on your right and a path that works its way down to a small bridge, a short uphill, a junction with Farnham Lane where you cross up to ‘Old Bull House’ and pop out over a stile to the back of Langton Green and some horse paddocks
- Follow the path down through the field with the fence immediately on your right until you reach a stile in the woods, head into the woods and squeeze through the gap on your right. Follow the path left (don’t take any other turnings) until you reach some steps on your left which you can head up and onto the Rusthall High Street
- Head along the High Street as normal to the small common and the church on your left and you’re back onto Lower Green Road. If you parked at the pub just head left down this road, otherwise find wherever you parked!
Ed Steele