Westerham is a small Kent town of about three thousand people, tucked into the Darent valley under the escarpment of the North Downs, and it has a bigger history than its size suggests. General James Wolfe, who captured Quebec in 1759, was born here, and his statue stands on the green opposite a statue of Winston Churchill, who lived at Chartwell, a few kilometres to the south. Squerryes Court, a seventeenth-century manor house with gardens, stands on the edge of town and has been home to the same family for centuries.
Chartwell, a short ride away, is where Churchill lived from 1924 until his death, and the house, garden and studio, with its easel and brushes, are kept much as he left them. It is a National Trust property with a good café, and the view over the Weald from the terrace explains why he chose it. Biggin Hill, up on the Downs to the north, was one of the key fighter airfields in the Battle of Britain, and its history is commemorated with a chapel and a museum.
The lanes around Westerham are among the best in the Home Counties. The road climbs the escarpment in a series of bends through beech woods, with views south across the Weald, and the lanes beyond wind through farmland and small villages. The A25 runs through the town and carries much of the traffic, so the minor roads are quieter, and they are best on a weekday morning when the cyclists and weekend drivers have not yet arrived. The surface can be rough in places, with potholes and mud.
Fuel is available in Oxted, five kilometres away, with over thirteen thousand people, and at a few stations on the main road. Sundridge, a village nearby, has a church and a pub, and Westerham itself has several cafés and a good bakery. It is a fine place to finish a ride, with the light sinking behind the Downs, the old pubs glowing and the smell of woodsmoke on the evening air.