Kensel one

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Kensel (Kenley - Selsdon (reversed))
Distance: 4.46km
Time taken: 1 hour
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Comments: N.B. Route followed in reverse order.
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This route is an unfortunate victim of geography, whereby much of it is dominated by road walking, although I can see that the original plotter had no viable alternative. I appreciate that effort was taken to divert from the main busy roads where possible, going through adjacent wood plantations and parks.
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The second half of the walk is much more suitable, with footpaths leading across recreation grounds and open meadows, albeit with a narrow passage through hedgerow to link up with the road at TQ 33844 60730.
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A brief climb through Mitchley Wood takes you away from the roads before weaving behind a school and a residential street. In places, the track becomes very narrow, lined with barbed wire and holly, presenting limited opportunities to pass by and potential discomfort for disabled users. N.B. The official route goes through a field which avoids the narrow track, but requires crossing stiles at TQ 33479 60493 and TQ 33383 60415. The perimeter track is a good way to avoid this (only a 200m diversion), but is very narrow, as previously mentioned.
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Eventually, the route takes you through Riddlesdown, one side of a semi-wooded/meadow adorned, steep, dry valley which runs from Caterham to Purley, transecting the North Downs. At this point, there is some confusion with the official route, as the green dotted footpath which goes in a straight line to the bottom of the valley doesn’t actually exist/is blocked by impenetrable woodland. It is better to follow one of the two black dotted paths which go through the clearing in the woods, but this requires going through at least one kissing gate. This takes you through a sheep grazing enclosure which is often active, so be mindful if you are walking with a dog.
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At the bottom, you can cross the A22, before crossing a railway bridge to Kenley station, the endpoint, with easy public transport access to London, Croydon and Caterham.
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This route, while direct, lacks the scenic value of others in the local area, contains a lot of (unavoidable) road walking near Selsdon, features kissing gates which could impede disabled users, and most significantly of all, features a footpath which is unusable. I will tweak the route and upload an alternative when possible, but I cannot recommend it in its present form.
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Standard (easily accessible) gate count: 1
Kissing gate count: 2-3
Stile count: 2 (both avoidable).

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