Just 30 minutes from Chislehurst is Trosley Country Park which is in the village of Vigo, just off the M20 and not far from the M25. We timed the journey and it was only 25 minutes in the car from Chislehurst (from the High St).

Trosley Country Park is open daily (from 8.30am to Dusk) and covers 170 acres of beautiful woodland and chalk downland on the North Downs. The park is home to a rich variety of wildlife and the chalk grassland is a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

We’d been introduced to Trosley by friends and we know it is buggy friendly (very important when you have a lazy 2 year old!) plus our 4 year old was also able to scooter around some of the woodland trail which breaks up the walking! We also note from the information at the start of the trail that this particular trail is also suitable for wheelchair users.

There are four trails at the site which range from a 1.5 mile trail up to a 4 mile one. There is also a horse route for those who have one available to them!

We decided upon the Trosley Trail which is 1.5 miles, the buggy friendly trail plus it includes the “Trim Trail” which includes fitness equipment which although targeted at adults, it has play value for the children.

We arrive at around midday so decide to have a light lunch at the Bluebell café which is opposite the Car Park on arrival. It is a great cafe which has lots of outdoor picnic tables overlooking the trail itself but also a children’s play area. It was a lovely day so we could take advantage of the outdoor tables and tucked into their sausage sandwiches. These are the proper doorstep variety and got approval from our party. We didn’t sample the cake but it also looked good.

After lunch, we embark on the Trosley Trail which although shouldn’t take more than 30 minutes when you have two young kids in tow, it takes up to 90 minutes. We take our time at every point – the kids looking over the road bridge near the start, taking in the views across the North Downs but also playing on the trees, the mounds either side of the path and even on a handmade swing half way round. They love the wooden exercise areas throughout the trail and even us adults embarrass ourselves trying to leap frog far too high wooden totems! You will take note there are no pictures of this – we are clearly far too old.

This is not a hard trail at all and we hope in time to move up the trails as the kids are older and become hardier to either the Woodland Walk (2.5 miles) and the Downland Trail (up to 4 miles but with a short version too).

Some practical notes; the café is open from 9.30am to 4pm daily (10am – 3pm in Winter). There are toilets attached to the café and the car park is £2 per car for all day (at weekends) and £1.50 during the week. For more information including directions, please take a look at the Trosley Country Park website.

If you like getting out into the country and really feeling like you have left London, this is the perfect destination and all within 30 minutes from Chislehurst….

Written by Tamsyn Clark