3 Men on a walk 2017: Another North Downs Walk

Downe - Biggin Hill Loop

We really felt that Spring had arrived today as we walked in 17 deg Temperatures by the end of the walk and only one layer of clothing. Not wall to wall sunshine but breaks in the high cloud did give us a bathing in the golden stuff from time to time.

We have walked via Downe before but this trail was in a sector not trodden before and it turned out to be very pleasant with good paths and good signage. The North Downs are very different in topography to the South Downs and we found ourselves walking through woodland and open fields as well as steep valleys so this turned out to be a very good work-out.

We parked up at Cuckoo Wood, just north of Downe and set off on our anticlockwise route. It wasn't long before we reached the northern end of the Biggin Hill Airport runway and our path then led us south around and along the perimeter of the airport for about 2 miles. We then turned north to reach the village of Downe where we had a choice of two pubs for lunch! We chose the George & Dragon, a hostelry we have used before but not for a couple of years. It didn't disappoint.

After lunch was a bit of a roller coaster as we crossed a couple of very steep valleys. We knew it was coming as we have walked this section before but it still makes the heart pound struggling up the hills. We convinced ourselves that this is good for us old men but it was nice to eventually reach the car again.