Medway

Walk Details:
Date: 22/10/2004
Total ascent: 94m/309ft
Total distance walked: 2.96miles
Walk difficulty: 4/10
Enjoyment rating: 3.5/10
Best bits: Fly agaric, valley of Great Buckland, trig point
Worst bits: The county top itself is unremarkable
Car Parking: Holly Hill public car park (TQ 670 629)

Top details:
Name: Holly Hill
County top number: 20 of 207
Grid reference: TQ 67165 63400 MAP
Height above sea level: 170m/558ft (not at the top of Holly Hill
How nice was it?: 0.5/10 for the top, 1.5/10 for the ascent
Description/Notes: Highest point in the unitary authority of Medway. Indeterminate point in woodland on the unitary authority boundary half a mile from the trig point at the hill summit.

The Walk:

This was our fifth and final county top of the day and we knew that at least it couldn't be worse than the previous two - the godawful Westerham Heights and Betsom's Hill. It was set in woodland, and was one of those annoying tops set where the county boundary crosses the slopes of a hill, rather than at the hill summit itself. In addition to visiting the county top we also wanted to walk to the hill top (mainly because it had a trig poin). As the hill top was in the opposite direction from the county top, we planned a circular (or rather, wiggly rectangular) walk to take them both in.

So from the car park we joined the North Downs Way for the second time today and headed north along a minor road which, passing a huge house decayed into a track and entered Greatpark Wood. From the OS map we knew that the Medway boundary lay a few metres to the right of the path. Heading off into the woods we found one of the heaps of grit that seem to feature at so many of the lower county tops, and used that as the site of our obligatory photo.

Returning to the North Downs Way we were delighted to find a cluster of five bright red fly agaric to one side of the path. Where the North Downs Way turned off to the right, we turned right and descended very steeply into the hamlet of Great Buckland, and, emerging from the woods turned left again to follow a narrow and quiet road. This hamlet was actually in danger of becoming a village. The yuppies had arrived and new large houses were starting to spread up what was a very pretty valley, looking more like a northern dale than the North Downs.

This road also quickly turned into to a track, and started a long and wearying ascent, passing in and out of woodland on the way. We were a little worried about this section of the walk as, according to the OS map, what started out as a public byway ended up as a private path. However, the obviously well-used track conveyed us all the way through to a public road, and was obviously open to the public - whether this a legal or permissive footpath is something that we were unable to determine, but the ascent certainly wore me out.

We turned left on the road, and then after a couple of hundred yards took the second footpath left, which headed across a field and then ran around the edge of Holly Hill woods until it entered them via a broken stile. A quick ascent through the woods bought us to the hill summit and the trig point - for once this was easy to find, being at the side of the path with a handy picnic table nearby.

It was a surprisingly short walk down from the trig point to the car, and, pleased to have "bagged" five tops in one day, we jumped in the car and headed home.

Conclusion:
The highest point in Medway isn't spectacular, not even being at the top of the hill. It's close enough to the car park to bag this one in passing. However, it's well worth spending a bit of time turning it into a pleasant walk - I rather enjoyed the surrounding countryside!