A small but select group of five walkers started our walk on a warm muggy day from Hever Station. We soon reached Hever Castle which was built in 1453 by the Mayor of London, Jeffrey Boleigne. How things have changed, now we are having modular homes built! We walked through the beautiful Kent countryside through fields and some woodland until we arrived at our second castle of the day, Chiddingstone Castle near Edenbridge, the ancestral home of the Streetfield family. The castle itself dates back from the early 19th century incorporating elements of earlier buildings on the same site.
We arrived at the quaint village of Penshurst for our lunch stop where we enjoyed refreshments at an excellent pub before stopping to look at Penshurst Place, built in 1552 and home to the Sydney family. The present house incorporates five centuries of architectural styles. We went into St John the Baptist Church situated nearby, sections of the church dating back to the 12th century. We continued our walk following the banks of the river Eden and Medway before arriving at our destination at Tonbridge where we enjoyed tea and cakes before boarding our train back to London Bridge. The walk had taken us passed two castles, a stately home, alongside rivers, ponds, woods and three lovely villages following the Eden Valley walk Trail