After the success of our summer Wingham walk from our Year Round Walks book by Michael Easterbrook, we determined that we would try and do one new walk from the book each season. The walk that we selected from the Autumn section was a 4 mile circular in Headcorn, a village in the Low Weald of Kent, between Maidstone and Tenterden. I only knew of it as a stop on the Charing Cross train line, and that it had an aerodrome and a nearby big cat sanctuary. I assumed, based on absolutely nothing, that it was just a commuter village with not much to it. I was pleasantly surprised.

After leaving the train station, we headed up the picturesque and very thriving high street, although being a major through road, it was rather too busy with traffic. We passed some beautiful timber framed houses on our way to the church which stood at the end. We would have popped inside for a look but it was locked up, although the churchyard was busy with people tending the grounds.

Instead we found our footpath, carefully crossing the railway line and then a bridge over the River Beult. A random interesting fact is that in 1865, Charles Dickens was travelling on a train which derailed whilst crossing a viaduct over the Beult between Headcorn and Staplehurst (the next village along) with seven carriages falling into the river bed, leaving ten people dead and forty injured. Dickens was in one of the carriages which did not completely fall, and after climbing out through the window, helped with the rescue operation. Before leaving the scene he remembered that his manuscript of Our Mutual Friend was still in the carriage, and had to go back in to retrieve it, and he added a postscript referring to the incident when the novel was published. Although he was awarded a silver plate for his work in the rescue, Dickens never fully recovered from the accident, remaining nervous of train travel thereafter.

But back to our walk. Being highlighted as an autumn one, I had expected us to be ambling through woodland, but in fact it was mostly across fields and along quiet country lines. It was very peaceful, and the only sounds came from bird song and the occasional whirr of a light aircraft engine as they took off and landed at the nearby aerodrome.

We did pass along the edge of a copse, where we perched amongst the branches of a fallen oak tree to enjoy a flask of drink,

and although the leaves hadn’t reached their full autumnal splendour, there were scarlet berries in abundance, which looked glorious against the blue sky.

We were also rewarded with distant views across to the Greensand Ridge as we crossed a field of very fine looking sheep, bringing back happy memories of our Weald of Kent road trip

although I wasn’t feeling so happy when I had to face my cow phobia shortly after. It was difficult to tell how close to them we would have to go to find the stile to take us out of their field, but luckily they were busy eating, so we crept along stealthily, hoping that they wouldn’t notice us!

Back in Headcorn, we strolled around the churchyard, admiring the gorgeous houses that bordered it, before heading back to the high street in search of sustenance.

We do enjoy a drink stop at the end of a walk, and will always support an independent cafe/coffee shop. In fact, part of my walk preparation is often to check out the options beforehand! We’d learnt from google that the recommended Village Tea Rooms were closed following a fire in the summer, and not having selected an alternative, we ended up at the Home and Hardware Shop, which sold a lovely range of home/giftware, and also had a small cafe area, selling drinks and cakes. A pumpkin spice chai latte and a maple and pecan bar (so delicious that I had to research recipes online in order to try and replicate them at home – with some success I am pleased to say!) made a very fitting end to our autumnal trip. We were pleasantly surprised by what Headcorn and its surroundings had to offer, and I am sure we will be back to do the walk again in the future.