[Transcript of original web page. Last updated August 2023]
The B2067 is a rambling, cross-country route across an unspoiled corner of Southeast Kent, which was used for the Tour of Britain cycle race in September 2006. This is not a road for anybody who wants to get anywhere fast; however the Sunday afternoon driver should find it a great route, should they wish to experience the true rural nature of Kent. In fact, save the climate, leave the car at home and watch the video here.
1) Tenterden to Woodchurch
0m Tenterden is the quintessential wealden town. Situated on the A28 between Hastings and Ashford, it would be impossible to do it justice in this small paragraph. The wide, tree-lined High Street is over-shadowed by the square tower of St Mildred’s church. Tenterden has all the local shopper could require – historic pubs, a leisure centre, schools and a full range of shops, including two supermarkets. For the tourist there is the steam railway, which trundles slowly up to the town from Bodiam, ten miles to the southwest. The town also has historic links with William Caxton (of printing press fame) and the actress Ellen Terry.
The B2067 leaves the town centre at a junction by the recreation ground. This road used to be signed 'Hamstreet' but is now signed 'Woodchurch' only, with Hythe-bound traffic encouraged to use the B2080 instead. The B2067 always used to take a left turn into Golden Square a couple of hundred yards later, but now the motorist is encouraged to continue to the B2080 and turn left and then right to bypass this pinch-point. As we leave the town on Woodchurch Road the transition from town to country is instant, with a comforting line of cat's eyes leading down through a long tunnel of trees, winding past the golf course and descending from the ridge of hills.
2m Brook Street. This is an open and fairly straight section, crossing farmland to Woodchurch. You will notice several converted oast houses at various points to the left, their white 'cowls' and conical roofs serving as a reminder of Kent's hop-picking past.
4m Entering Woodchurch, one encounters two ninety-degree bends, so the 30 limit introduced in 2007 seems appropriate. You will pass the site of the former Stonebridge Inn to the right (now a care home). The village itself is well worth a quick detour left, with two public houses (Six Bells and Bonny Cravat) sited opposite the large parish church - three of the aforementioned bells are still in use today. You will also find a range of shops and services including a coffee shop, a butcher's store, a garage, a school and a surgery. Woodchurch has a large green at its centre, which is regularly used for cricket matches. On the hillside above the village is its most striking feature – the white painted 'smock' windmill. Also worth a visit, a further half a mile out of the village, is the museum of village life.
2) Woodchurch to Hamstreet
Back on the B2067, our route splits off of itself again with a turn to the left.
6m Kenardington. Having passed the South of England Rare Breeds Centre and undulated gently for a couple of miles in and out of woodland, one reaches this small village with a brief 40 limit. It has its own church, located upon the site of an old Saxon fort that was stormed by the Danes in the ninth century. From here onward, our route bumps its way up and down the ridge of hills that surrounds the totally flat expanse of Romney Marsh to the right.
7m Warehorne. The next mile of the route was improved in the sixties. You will notice traces of the original route that are now laybys to the left and right. We pass the site of the former World's Wonder pub and then make a sweeping climb to Warehorne, another tiny village noteworthy for its smuggling connections. An underground tunnel used to connect the church (1/3 mile to the south of the B2067) with the Woolpack Inn.
8m Hamstreet. We descend to the 'gateway to the marsh', which makes a great base for ramblers, with three long distance paths: the Greensand Way, the Saxon Shore Way and the Royal Military Canal Path. Hamstreet has a church which was formerly a chapel, as well as a range of shops and services, a railway station, public house (Duke's Head), Indian restaurant, fish and chip shop, cafe, garage, school, surgery and dentist. Public woodland covers the hills that surround the village.
The village is famous for its appearance in map-form on a set of postage stamps marking the bicentenary of the Ordnance Survey. As you enter Hamstreet (cue 30 limit), you will pass under two bridges, the A2070 bypass and the Ashford to Hastings railway line. A pedestrian crossing with lights was introduced in 2023 and the road narrows into a small street as it winds to the crossroads.
3) Hamstreet to Postling Green
Beyond Hamstreet crossroads you will enter a one-way street. A few hundred yards later is a T-junction beside the village green. The B2067 turns left and proceeds to leave the village, climbing Cotton Hill. The next section is narrow, winding and undulating, with many locations where the road surrenders its white lines due to lack of width.
10m Ruckinge. Half way to Ruckinge, you will pass a small industrial estate. Ruckinge itself is a small village with big signs and a long 30 limit. The headquarters of the lively Ruckinge and Hamstreet Scout and Guide movements can be found here. The Blue Anchor pub is sadly no more, but a different kind of spiritual matter can be appreciated at the church of St Mary Magdalene. It is believed that the Ransley Brothers, notorious smugglers, are buried in the churchyard.
11m Bilsington. Another small village that, like Ruckinge, joined the 30 limit club in 2005. The public house is the White Horse, and there is a monument near the cricket pitch dedicated to Sir William Richard Cosway, a local landlord, famed for his generosity to his staff. He died tragically in a riding accident. This obelisk was partially rebuilt as a millennium project.
12m Bonnington. The tiniest of all the villages. The former B2069 leaves for Aldington opposite the former school. All the villages from Kenardington to Bonnington are spring-line settlements, situated on the slopes of the ridge of clay hills. As one descends past the scattered houses of Bonnington, the wooded greensand escarpment looms ahead. Before this climb the B2067 gives way to the Aldington to Dymchurch road, with a turn to the right, and another to the left a hundred yards later. Next comes the long, twisty climb up out of the woodlands where the road surrenders it's central white lines temporarily.
Upon reaching the top, one encounters splendid views to the coast on the right-hand-side, before arriving at Postling Green, where the final turning for Aldington branches left. The church tower of St Martin's can be seen from here, as can the ridge of the North Downs. Aldington has shops, a fire station, a school, a surgery and a public house (Walnut Tree). It used to have a prison too. Noel Coward's former abode is also nearby, and a number of more recent celebrities including Julian Clary, Paul O'Grady and Vic Reeves have graced the area too.
4) Postling Green to Sellindge or Pedlinge
This final section is part of the original Roman road, which ran from Lympne to Aldington, Cheesemans Green, Park Farm (Ashford) and beyond. It is therefore much straighter than the preceding section, but it still surrenders its white line on occasion due to lack of width. As the route is now running along the top of the Greensand Ridge, there are no further significant climbs and the scenery consists of flatter open farmland.
14.5m Court-at-Street (pictured above). A mere hamlet, which once boasted its own pub called the Welcome Stranger, but has swapped it for a 40 limit, added in 2020. 'Street' in a place-name often indicates a location along a Roman road.
15.5m Otterpool Lane. After passing Port Lympne Zoo to the right, the official route of the B2067 branches left. Confusingly, Hythe is no longer signed at this junction, and both Hamstreet and Tenterden have been given the heave-ho too, with only Aldington signed westbound. The B2067 runs northward for a mile along a straight section of road, passing Lympne Industrial Estate (the site of a former airport) and the entrance to the zoo. The road then descends gently from the ridge, with pleasant views of the North Downs, to meet the A20 at a rural T-junction with over-the-top traffic lights and a 50 limit near Sellindge.
The original route of the B2067 (now declassified) continues eastward from the Otterpool Lane T-junction, to Lympne and beyond.
16m Lympne (promounced 'Lim') is a large village with a few local shops, the County Members pub, a school and the all-essential 30 limit. Modern suburban housing, (built presumably because Westenhanger station isn't too far away), has been added to this historic village, which was once an important Roman settlement. The ruined Roman castle at the bottom of the hillside is overlooked by the more recent castle, now a popular venue for weddings. Romney Marsh was once covered by water, hence this was an important landing place. Roman roads radiate from Lympne, the most noteworthy being Stone Street (B2068) to Canterbury.
18m Pedlinge. As we leave Lympne, the '30' briefly becomes a '40' until just beyond the turning for the steeply descending lane to West Hythe, beyond which the former B2067 meanders to its conclusion along the top of The Roughs; an open and barren stretch of land. From Romney Marsh below, a 'listening ear' dish can be seen upon this ridge of hills. This was constructed to detect incoming aircraft in the days before RADAR.
Our road is just a single-track lane with passing places for the remainder of its course. After a mile and a half It bends sharply to the left, leaving the byway of Old London Road to pursue the direct course ahead into Hythe. A few hundred yards later, the now northbound former B2067 meets its demise at the A261 in the hamlet of Pedlinge.
Hythe
It is worth making the mile-long descent into Hythe. The town has many pubs, a well-endowed traffic-free High Street, a pleasant beach and a quaint steam railway - this time built on one-third scale. The town is sandwiched between the sea and the greensand escarpment, upon which the tower of St Leonard's church proudly stands.
The Royal Military Canal passes through the town. This stretch of the canal is famed for the annual Venetian fete and a seven-mile section of it is now adorned with a cycle-way. One can only hope that eventually this surfaced section will be extended westward, as it currently abandons its course in the middle of nowhere - a bit like the B2067 really!
