Marden Walking Group
Marden Walking Group was established in February 2005 and is affiliated to the Marden Society. Its original aim was to update the “Walks around Marden” leaflets originally published by the Marden Society in the 1970s. Our first set of “Six Walks Around Marden” was published in 2006, followed by a second set of “Six More Walks Around Marden” in 2009. When these ran out in 2016, the Group decided to revise the routes as they were 10 years old and many had changed significantly, due to all the recent development in Marden. The new set of “Six New Walks Around Marden” was published in January 2019 and updated in March 2021. These are available from “No 47 High St.” for £5 per set. These walks are:
Walk 1: Circular walk starting and ending at the Unicorn. 2¾ miles/4½ km
Walk 2: Circular walk along the River Beult from the Stilebridge Inn. 4¾ miles/7½ km or 3½ miles/5½ km
Walk 3: Circular walk to Marden Meadow to view the flowers. 4½ miles/7 km
Walk 4: Marden Diamond Jubilee Walk. 6 miles/9½ km
Walk 5: West End Wander. 6½ miles/10½ km.
Walk 6: Circular walk to Turkey Farm. 4 miles/6½ km or 2¼ miles/3½ km
A further set of Historic Walks was published in March 2022, cost £6 also available from No 47 and The Library. Details as follows:
Walk 1 Trees of Marden 3 or 4 miles
Walk 2 Historic Farmhouses around Marden 6¼ or 9 miles
Walk 3 Hops and grapes in Marden 5½ miles
Walk 4 The PLUTO Walk 6½ miles
Walk 5 Marden’s Aviation History – East 5½ miles or 7 miles
Walk 6 Marden’s Aviation History – West 7 miles
The Walking Group helps to maintain the many footpaths within Marden Parish (the largest in Kent!). All paths have official KCC numbers which are displayed on the Fingerposts where footpaths intersect with roads (e.g. KM240) which are referenced in our walks leaflets. It is important that walkers should ONLY use these footpaths which are Public Rights of Way (PROWs), unless there is a specific Permissive path, to respect the farming community.
We normally organise three series of regular walks:
Saturday Strolls: These are held on Saturday afternoons for 1 – 1½ hours around Marden with no stiles. Routes depend on the weather and conditions underfoot. Meet at 2 p.m. outside the Library.
Sunday Walks: These are generally held on the first Sunday of each month and are usually 5-6 miles over paths around Marden (or other local villages) including stiles. Meet at 10.00 in the village car park unless informed otherwise.
Long distance walks: These are long distance trail, such as the Saxon Shore Way which are walked in sections of 8-10 miles over a period of time.
We are aware that the dog population has increased significantly since lockdown, and the Parish Council have increased the number of dog litter bins in the village, so please do use them. We do not normally invite dogs on our scheduled walks but we do urge dog walkers to use the correct PROWs as shown in our leaflets.
Our current programme of Walks is given below, If you would like further information, or would like to be put on an e-mail list to receive information on future walks, please contact Steve McArragher (steve.mcarragher@btinternet.com).
Programme for March 2026
Long- distance walks
These are still on hold over the winter but will continue along the North Downs way on Tuesdays, hopefully from the end of March. Each section walked is approximately 8 miles. If you are interested please contact Ian Balmer on 07528 801306 or igbalmer@gmail.com.
Sunday Walks
The next Sunday walk will be on March 1st starting from the Library at 10.am and will be led by Ian. The route will be decided nearer the day as at present the fields are waterlogged in parts. We are hopeful a walk of approximately six miles will be possible with reasonable terrain.
Weekly Saturday walks start at the Library at 2.pm. The proposed walks for March are:
March 7th Turkey farm via Wheelbarrow estate
March 14th Cemetery via Community Orchard
March 21st Plain Road through orchards and vineyards
March 28th Car Share to East Peckham
Train Trek March 23rd, East Farleigh to Yalding. Approx 6.2 miles