Round off a tasty pub meal with a circular countryside walk
Enjoying a big hearty meal in a country pub is one of the great joys of British summertime, but it can leave you sat feeling weighed down by all that good food! In these situations what you need is a scenic countryside walk filled with fresh air and natural beauty. To fit this bill, the team at The Pepperbox Inn, a Kentish pub and restaurant, are sharing just such a route that begins and ends at their door. They have a classic British pub menu with European & Asian influences, and they are dog friendly in the main bar, lower bar and patio, so you can bring your four legged friends along on your walk!
The 30 minute route
- From the car park at the rear of the pub, follow the farm track to the right and walk along the hedgerow roughly 200 yards until you pick up a footpath.
- To your right, at a signpost for the Greensand Way, turn left and follow the footpath that runs along the edge of the poplar trees to the end of the field where you come to a gap in the hedge.
- Cross over the narrow lane and the footpath cuts diagonally across the next field or you can turn left and follow the perimeter for a longer walk.
- Cut through some old hazel coppice, interspersed with cobnuts and apple trees. Through the spring the ground here is a carpet of bluebells.
- At the stile at the end of the path, cross the road diagonally and into the next field. There is game cover to your left and hazel to your right.
- At the next row of trees, pass into an orchard. From here you can follow the field’s perimeter and retrace your steps back to the pub for a gentle walk or…
Add an extra 30 minutes
- Following the hedge line, on your right you’ll come to a stile set in the hedge that takes you on to a narrow lane. Turn right and double back along this lane, following it down the winding hill to Elmstone Farm.
- Turning right at Elmstone, follow the drive to the gate ahead, passing through the gate along the track into a field that slopes upwards.
- Follow the posts across the field to a stile in the hedge signposted as a footpath. This leads on to a path through the woods and to another field.
- Walking up the slope with woodland on your right, turn right into the woods and up along the top of a wooded ridge. You’ll come out on a corner of a field near Green Hill Farm, turn left and go along the headland to the south western left hand corner of the field.
- Pass through the gap in the hedge, picking up the track that leads to an open field. Following the track around a curve, another track joins from the slope on your left and there are amazing views south from this point.
- Go straight along the farm track and, at the end, follow the road straight ahead past Knowle Hill. From the T junction at the end of the road, turn right to head back up Windmill Hill, past Upper Hill Farm to the pub.
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