A piece of mis-information at a crucial junction (from a local) meant some (unintended) off road from the golf club at Lullingstone to descend to the River Darent and the Visitor's Centre.
I can't remember the last time we were here but it looked different,certainly a new toilet block and a more spacious cafe.
Matt returned home but Dave with his brother (Duncan) joined us for a 12 mile ride south east to Plaxtol going through Shoreham,Otford,Seal & Ivy Hatch.
Plaxtol is a small village of about 1,000 residents in Kent. The River Bourne flows through the parish, and formerly powered three watermills in Plaxtol - Winfield Mill (corn), Longmill (corn) and Roughway Paper Mill.
Although there is no longer a bakery in the village, there is a primary school, a Cromwellian church, a grocer, a butcher and a pub.
The name Plaxtol is rumoured to be derived from "Plax" meaning 'play' and "tol" meaning 'area'; there used to be a large green in the middle of the village where children would play after attending church on a Sunday.
The 1,000-acre Fairlawne Estate adjoining the village of Plaxton was owned by Sir Henry Vane the Elder, in the 17th century, and was owned by the Cazalet family in the 19th century. Major Peter Cazalet was a trainer of horses owned by the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. Elizabeth was an occassional guest of Cazalet on the estate. The estate is currently owned by the Saudi Arabian Prince and horsebreeder Khalid ibn Abdullah.[1][2]
No sandwiches on offer at the Papermakers Arms....... "not on Sundays".........it's a familiar story nowadays.
That said, they did bring out a jug of iced water and seemed to be very friendly.
Tripadvisor rate them highly too :
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g3451189-d2414462-Reviews-The_Papermakers_Arms-Plaxtol_Kent_England.html
Pint of orange squash £1.
2pm departure and the real hills were just a few miles away.
I chose to go south of Sevenoaks eventually to reach Ide Hill but not before a humungous hill from Sevenoaks Weald over the A21 to Sevenoaks Common (Hubbards Hill).
The church at Tatsfield was a welcome sight on this the hottest of days and such was the heat we chose to stay indoors (no shade to be found).A shame because it affords great views of the weald.
Pot of tea and a piece of lemon drizzle £2.50.
78.3 miles from Ewell (but probably nearer 75 due to suspected inaccuracy).
Very warm/hot indeed just shy of 30 degrees.
GOOD LUCK to CF in the TDF for Sunday. :-)
 |
| Outside the (new) cafe at Lullingstone |
 |
| One of two guinea pigs.Must be same sex or else "they'd be at it" according to GH |
 |
| New guy Gary applying factor "£$%^ |
 |
| Tatsfield church teas |
No comments:
Post a Comment