Pete's Walks- Hawridge, Chartridge End, Great Hivings (page 2 of 4)
If you are considering walking this route yourself, please see my disclaimer. You may also like to see these notes about the maps and GPX files.
At the top of the hill I reached a junction with a minor road on the edge of Chartridge. I turned left and followed the road past a few houses and a couple of farms - I assume this hamlet is called Chartridge End, as that is the name of one of the farms and it is at the north-western end of Chartridge, about a mile from the main part of the village. After following the road for about half a mile, just before reaching a large white house called Chartridge Lodge, I turned left onto a public bridleway running along a track called Ashotts Lane. To begin with there were hedges either side, but after some distance, as I passed a white house on my right, the view opened up on my left. I could see along a valley to where I'd crossed it a short while before, and on towards some large farm buildings back at Dundridge Manor. The bridleway now dropped downhill into the valley
The minor road through Chartridge
The minor road through Chartridge
Ashotts Lane
Rhododendron, near the start of Ashotts Lane
Ashotts Lane
Ashotts Lane continuing down into the valley
The bridleway continued up the opposite side of the valley, still following a hedgerow on my right. I then passed a small wood on my right. Where it ended, the bridleway turned slightly left but I chose to take a footpath going straight on (another went right). This ran through a rather overgrown meadow with a mature hedgerow on my left, then continued through a couple of paddocks to reach a minor road. Here I went left, following the road as it soon turned right. When the road then turned left, I went straight on along another minor road. At the top of a small slope I then turned right along a footpath starting near Bank Farm.
Ashotts Lane continuing up the other side of the valley
Ashotts Lane continuing up the other side of the valley
The start of the footpath that continues almost parallel to Ashotts Lane
The footpath that continues almost parallel to Ashotts Lane
The start of the short road section
The road after I went straight on where the first road turned left
I would now be following field paths south-eastwards for over a mile and a half to reach Captain's Wood I started by following a tall hedge on my left past some stable or farm buildings. Beyond this I passed a 'manège'. The path passed through a paddock or meadow, then crossed a field, passing a lone tree in the middle of the field. It then continued along the left edge of a larger field, with pleasant views of the valley on my right. After a while the path turned left into a corner where it turned right. On reaching another corner it turned right for a few yards before turning left to continue southeastwards.
The start of the footpath from Bank Farm southeast towards Captain's Wood
The footpath from Bank Farm southeast towards Captain's Wood
The footpath from Bank Farm southeast towards Captain's Wood
The path continuing southeast
The path continuing southeast