Sole Street and Luddesdown sit in a notable 134 km route connecting 3 National Landscapes called the ‘Wealdway’. It is a long-distance public footpath that runs from Gravesend, Kent to Eastbourne, East Sussex. The route passes through the Weald of Kent and Sussex, connecting the Thames Estuary to the English Channel - from Gravesend and all the way to the white cliffs of Beachy Head.

The route is described by the Ramblers Association thus, “This is quintessentially English countryside with rolling downs, archetypal village greens on which cricket has been played for centuries, deep wooded valleys and traditional pubs.  History abounds with numerous furnace and hammer ponds reminding us of the iron industry that characterised the Weald in the times of the Tudors and Stuarts and many fine old houses constructed of materials that vary along the route with the underlying geology.  Despite its proximity to many towns and with London not far away, much of the route has a surprisingly remote feel to it.”

Learn more about the Wealdway here:

40th Anniversary of the Wealdway
Explore Kent
Kent Walks - The Wealdway
Rated Trips - The Wealdway
Walking Englishman - The Wealdway

The walks around Luddedown and Cobham were frequented by Sir Robert Pocock, the notable historian, botanist and publisher, Charles Dickens of course, and more recently, Sir Michael Gambon, who, it is said, was fond of wandering down from his fine Grade II listed house in Camer Park to the Golden Lion in Luddesdown for lunch while also savouring the views on the way.

The Cobham and Sole Street Historical Society record the story of how when the station master, John Biles, lived at Sole Street station, commuters walked across the fields from Henley Street, changed from their wellingtons to their City shoes, and then the station master would clean their wellingtons in time for their return.'