Ide Hill to Toys Hilll and Emmetts Garden  | - Click on the image above to view gallery
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 St Mary's Church Ide Hill Once in Ide Hill we took a closer look at St Mary's Church, which was built in 1865 and "has the distinction of being the highest church in Kent". We followed a footpath which took us to the National Trust-owned Ide Hill and discovered a rather nice viewpoint and a bench dedicated to Octavia Hill, one of the National Trust’s founders. The area we would walk today was severely affected by the “Great Storm” in 1987 when large areas of woodland were destroyed. It is estimated that a staggering 15 million trees in the south of England were uprooted on that night, some of them up to 400 years old. The landscape was changed forever. However, the storm did serve to open up some of the panoramic views over the Weald of Kent that we got to see on this walk. It has also meant that many woodland plants have been able to colonise and survive due to the increase in light levels on the woodland floor.  Fallen tree regrows at Ide Hill  Bough Beech Resevoir
We often find that following footpaths through woodland can be a bit confusing, as it’s very easy to get sidetracked on what looks like a likely path to follow, but we were careful to stick to the planned route and soon found ourselves at Hanging Bank. There is no record of anyone being hanged here; the name probably derives from the wooded “scarp” hanging onto the hillside.
A bit further on and we were definitely feeling like it was time for lunch so we started to look for a likely spot. The spot soon became obvious when we got a great view across the Weald of Kent towards Bough Beech Reservoir a couple of miles away. Our walk continued after lunch through either open pasture or woodland paths passing by the spectacular Hendon Manor. In 1516 Henry VIII gifted Hendon Manor to Sir Thomas Boleyn, father of his future Queen Anne. I managed to get a quick glimpse of the 16th century house, which did look very nice.  Emmett's Garden  Agapanthus
Approaching the eponymous hamlet of Toys Hill we could see the path ahead took us through more open fields. The woodland is managed by the National Trust and designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Rather than go into these woods on this occasion we carried along the Greensand Way footpath and were soon back in Ide Hill. It was only a fairly short walk of about 5 miles so we had plenty of time to visit the nearby Emmetts Garden, also looked after by the National Trust, where a visit to the tea rooms was very welcome.
The Garden really is a plantsman’s paradise with many exotic plants and shrubs from all over the world. It’s well worth a visit and once more we had great views across the Weald of Kent from the garden, Altogether a really nice day.
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Regards,
Dave