Weekend Tours

After a very successful outing along the Downs Link Railway Path from Guildford to Shoreham-by-Sea, we met to plan another ride. Keith suggested we head for Rye in Sussex - it had romantic connotions for him. He mentioned a route he'd used before, but Bob and I objected. We had no intention of spending a weekend riding on main roads. I offered to draw up a route, but now it was Keith's turn to object. "I know what your routes are like, it'll go miles out of our way." "No it won't" I retorted, and I drew a straight line across the map. And that was how I came to pick this route.

Although it follows very closely the direct line between Woking and Rye, for most of the way it uses quiet country lanes, avoiding main roads and passing through some spectacular scenery. The first stage crosses over the North Downs near Polesden Lacey and then heads down into the Mole Gap at Dorking. From there it crosses the level countryside of the Mole Valley before climbing over the windmill-topped hill at Outwood and then passing through the isolated hamlet of Horne on the way to Lingfield.

From Lingfield the route heads for the point where three counties meet – Surrey, Kent, and East Sussex – and then takes a quiet lane beside the appropriately-named Kent Water to Holtye before joining the A264 which takes us to Groombridge, crossing the River Medway at Ashurst. Passing to the south of Tunbridge Wells, the ride begins a long succession of climbs into and through the area of countryside known as the High Weald. For a mile or so through Frant (54 miles), the highest point on the ride, the route is on the A267 before turning off onto the B2099 to Wadhurst. From Wadhurst it drops down into the valley of the little River Limden to avoid some unnecessary climbing. A short ride along the A21 through Hurst Green brings us back onto country lanes to reach Bodiam, with its castle and preserved railway beside the River Rother. It then continues south to Cripps Corner to join the B2089, which it follows all the way to Rye. (83 miles)

For the second day there is a choice of returning by the same route, or, which is what we did, heading out on a 40 mile ride over the fascinating level countryside of the Romney Marsh. The ride loops round the coast through Camber to Lydd, before taking an inland route through Old Romney and St Mary in the Marsh to Dymchurch. It then heads back inland through Newchurch and Ham Street to Ashford, from where we caught a train home. For those who want a slightly longer second day there are plenty of marsh lanes and villages to explore.

Updated: 29 May 2004