Hollingbourne Byways and Bridleways off-road ride

A short but hilly and mostly off-road route which heads up onto the steep North Downs escarpment, provides an entertaining ride along some challenging tracks. With fun, twisty narrow bridleways between the trees to rough and rutted byways, be warned, this can become even harder work when conditions are wet. 

The byways lead you further afield, delivering you to the lovely Bredgar & Wormshill Light Railway, where as well as a train ride around the grounds, you can also enjoy some refreshments from the café. Afterwards you’ll continue your ride through huge orchards and pretty woodlands, which at the right time of year can provide beautiful blossom and bright colours from the wildflowers, before an adrenaline-fuelled descent delivers you back down to the valley bottom to finish.

Starting out

Starting from Hollingbourne train station car park you go back to the road and turn left, under the railway bridge. Riding past some houses and a school, you follow the road to the left, out of the village, beside the park, and shortly join a quiet road to the right, called Greenway Court Road, staying beside the park. 

It’s not far down here until you bear left off the road, into the trees, along a rutted track, bursting with golden colours in autumn or luscious greens in spring and summer. Some deep ruts require careful navigation as you make your way along this pretty tree-lined avenue, delivering you to the long-distance North Downs Way/Pilgrim’s Way path.  

There is an optional little (1.6m/2.5km) loop to include here, if you are fond of singletrack. If so, follow the North Downs Way trail right, heading eastwards for just 0.6m/1km and then take a right, over some wooden barriers laid across the track (to stop motor vehicles). 

The tree-lined trail soon starts to head downwards, getting narrower and twisty as it goes, for an entertaining ride. Be careful, though, as there is another wooden barrier to protect access at the other end of this trail. At the bottom turn right, following along the hillside to where the byway joins a better track, and follow the byway to the right, heading up the hillside.  

Back at the North Downs Way, ignore the bridle path straight ahead, across the field. Instead turn left and then shortly right, staying on a byway, for a better climb within the trees and into the woods.

The byway track continues out the back of the woodland to meet a minor road, which you quickly dogleg over, with a left then right turn, to deliver you back into the trees and off road once more. This byway track, known as Drake Lane, has a rutted track that can become muddy in wet conditions.

When dry it offers a fun track that wiggles its way across this popular old medieval mining area and the remains of Deneholes (or Dane Holes). 

These medieval underground structures were small chalk caves which would be entered via a vertical shaft and were thought to have been created by the Danes, or other invaders, for extracting chalk or possibly used as storerooms.

Dane Holes

These caves usually have a vertical shaft as the entrance, around 1 metre in diameter, descending to a depth of around 20 metres, with footholds cut into the sides of the shaft to allow people to climb in and out. 

When the shaft reaches the chalk it widens out into a dome-shaped chamber with a height of around 6 metres and a roof of chalk of around 1 metre thick. They would usually have two to four further sub-chambers, excavated laterally from the floor level, with the roof supported by pillars of chalk which were left standing. 

Emerging from the trees to a quiet valley, you’ll meet a little singletrack road, which you follow left and then right up an incline, to emerge at a road junction. Opposite lies a huge orchard and poly tunnels, and a reminder of the wonderful growing conditions that this area of the UK provides – there’s a reason Kent has been referred to as ‘The Garden of England’ for many hundreds of years. 

You will be riding between the crops soon, but first a short out-and-back along the road to the right takes you to a welcome break, with refreshments, and interest, at the Bredgar & Wormshill Light Railway. 

This railway is not a preserved line, but was started in 1975 from scratch by a group of friends. They initially bought a small industrial diesel locomotive, which was soon joined by others, including their first steam train, the ‘Bronhilde’ in 1979. 

It continued to grow, with sheds, track laid and carriages constructed and more locomotives, followed by a proper station, a turntable and boogie coaches. It now represents narrow gauge systems from many parts of the world. 

The main objective of the railway is the preservation of steam locomotives in a form which enables railway enthusiasts, the general public and children to appreciate how important this type of energy was to industry for more than 100 years. However, over time other attractions have also been added to the site to broaden the appeal and interest, such as traction engines, a steam roller, vintage cars, miniature locos and a model railway. You will also find a nice tearoom (and toilets) here which makes a great little diversion and point of interest to visit along the ride.

 
After you’ve had your fill of tea and trains, head back down the road the way you came in. Just past the junction where you joined this road earlier, you turn right, signed ‘Bicknor’, on a narrow, hedge-lined road that travels between the orchard and poly tunnels. 

Going to church

Keep an eye and ear out for cars and farm vehicles as you go, passing Swanton Farm and then along Bicknor Lane. Head past a few houses, turning left after the last one, onto a bridleway that delivers you to the lovely, quiet Church of St James. 

Set back from the road, surrounded by trees and wildflowers it’s a lovely idyllic location, set deep in among the acres of orchards that surround it. A short stint along this narrow backroad, which weaves between the fruits to a road junction by a lone house, where you pick up a byway again, passing beside the house and entering the shelter of the trees as you venture into the woodland.  

These woods are part of the Hucking Estate, managed by the Woodland Trust Group. The area supports 10 threatened bird species, is home to more than 20 species of butterfly, and species of bat such as Daubenton’s, brown long-eared and Natterer’s, which use the old disused chalk pits to roost. 

An injection of colour is introduced to the woods in spring when the woodland floor is transformed into a carpet of blue as bluebells bloom. In late summer it is the turn of the purple-pink foxglove flowers which stand some 2 metres high. Overhead you may be lucky enough to spot the burst of brightness offered by the shy but striking bullfinch, with its colourful pink-red breast, darting through the air.

The byway passes through the wood, delivering you back to the steep escarpment, where a fun but challenging track descends the hillside. Take care on the chalky surface here if it’s wet! 

After the adrenaline-fuelled descent delivers you to the bottom, past the farm, you briefly join the tarmac road, before peeling back off, onto a byway track which guides you into the back of Hollingbourne village, past a manor house. 

Turning right onto the road here leads you past the parish All Saints Church, along an unbuilt-up area, eventually arriving back at the park from earlier in the day. Staying with this road you weave around the bends and back under the railway bridge, to turn back to the train station car park to finish the ride. 

Please note the wonderful Dirty Habit pub at the northern edge of Hollingbourne village is closed for refurbishments until the winter 2023, when it will re-open and once again be offering an excellent place to finish your ride with refreshments.