Distance – 3 miles
OS Explorer 163 Gravesend and Rochester GR 695717
Easy walking
Start – The Copperfields – just under 3 miles from Gravesend on A226.
Customers can leave cars in car park or lay-by on main road approaching Higham.
1. Leaving The Copperfields, turn left and walk along pavement to the third traffic island,and then carefully cross A226. On the other side, turn right and backtrack a few yards, then take the signposted footpath (now on your left) into the field, following the footpath. Look back at view of River Thames. After crossing field, enter woodland and immediately bear left.
2. Descend steps where you find an intersection of footpaths. Ignore right turn. Go ahead, joining track that runs along the left side of treeline. On reaching the farm gate ahead enjoy the view over meadow.
3. Skirt hedgerow on right, bear left around it. Take the left fork of footpath alongside same field, now to the left. Continue through meadows, slightly uphill. Soon, enter copse and immediately climb old steps and go along the footpath ahead, skirting woods to left with wooden palings on right. Climb a stile into a field, keeping to the right alongside hedgerows on left. Climb the stile into Pear Tree Lane opposite pub the See Ho.
4. Turn right along Pear Tree Lane and as the lane becomes The Ridgeway, ignore first signposted footpath on right to Ifield and Thong. Take the second, wide public footpath right, by Hanbury Cottages. At end of footpath, turn right along the minor road looking out for traffic.
5. After a few yards cross road carefully and take footpath to left, adjacent to a white house. Follow this down hill path between gardens till reaching kissing gate. Pass through and go straught ahead, acroos meadow, to climb stile on far side.
6. Turn right, waymarked through the woods, to Shorne Hill. Continue to some wider open spaces between trees. Go ahead to level footpath running along the left side of large copsed mouns. Shortly right into Mill Hill Lane, watching for traffic, then after a few yards, take a right-hand fork along Butchers Hill, passing between two bollards. At the next set of bollards, ignore the cul-de-sac to a church on your right. Continue ahead and cross the road carefully, passing between The Old Vicarage and the Rose and Crown pub. Shortly turn left at Swillars Lane.
7. Continue along Swillers Lane until you reach a footpath ahead. Go straight on, ignoring a fork to the right. Ignore another fork to the right, keeping straight ahead to the first field you crossed at the beginning of the walk. Retrace your steps across this field, climb the stile and exit onto the A226. It would be safest to turn right, walk a few pacesand cross at the traffic island. Then turn left and make your way back to the pub.