Sustainable Tourism Guided Walk, Charing to Harrietsham, Friday 21 March 2025
Working in collaboration with Visit Maidstone, Explore Kent and with funding from Farming in Protected Landscapes, Kent CRP guided this walk on the North Downs Way. Together we aim to bring more sustainable tourism to the area and extend the typical summer tourist season to all year round.
31 walkers, 2 walk leaders, 2 walk assistants and 5 dogs left Charing station for a 8 mile guided walk along the Pilgrims Way/North Downs Way to Harrietsham station. 42 walkers had booked via Visit Maidstone’s Beyonk booking system however, 9 pulled out the night before after receiving a reminder email and 2 didn’t arrive for the walk without any notice.
The weather was bright and warm between 15 and 17 degrees, just perfect walking conditions for the whole route which began with a slow wander through the historic village of Charing before the pavement climb to join the byway along the North Downs Way. Impressive sweeping vistas of the Downs were seen from the trail. The gentle route took in many places of interest including the Lenham chalk cross, a photo opportunity with Percival the Pilgrim (locally known as Percy!) and Stede House.
Dr Simon Drake (geologist lecturer) spoke about the unique geology of the area, Therese spoke about farming techniques, history of pilgrims and the fauna and flora along the route.
The route descended into Harrietsham village where around half the walkers caught the train home and half joined us for refreshments at Percival’s Rest in Harrietsham village.
Before the walk began, two ladies came to Therese to tell her they had met on the last walk she led in September and had been walking together regularly since. This is the second time Therese has heard this after leading walks on the North Downs Way, demonstrating that our taster walks are giving people the confidence to explore the Kent Downs independently.
All said they would like to join another walk, when asked for ideas for improving the walk one person who said they would prefer the dogs didn’t come so close to them, another had booked without reading the details and didn’t know that it was a linear walk!
We hope our walk will inspire you to explore the Kent countryside by train, participants will receive a survey shortly seeking their feedback.
