Tonbridge circular via the old gun powder mills near Leigh

A flat walk along good paths and tracks.  Leaving Tonbridge, we will walk towards Powder Mills where there will be an opportunity to read the information board at the old Powder Mills site, now a housing estate.  The older houses were built to house employees of the mills by Curtis & Harvey and you will see C&H on the front of the houses and the date they were built. We will continue across fields, which may be muddy, to Haysden Country Park before returning to Tonbridge.

The Powder Mills were set up in 1811 by John Children and William Burton.  The site was close to the Medway which enabled transport of raw materials in and transport of manufactured goods out.  Waterways were dug and the gunpower was moved around by punts.  Fortunately, it was in a rural location in case of explosions.  Ownership of the site changed over the years, and after 60 years and several mergers, the site had become a major research centre for GlaxoSmithKline, employing 300 staff. GSK left in 2010 ending nearly 200 years of chemistry at Powder Mills, and the land was redeveloped for housing.