Incredible time-warp pub that’s so hidden it’s not even on the internet
THERE are plenty of quirky pubs around the UK, and some of the best are the ones that take you by surprise.
I recently stumbled on one of the most extraordinary pubs I’ve ever been in – only to discover it’s unlikely to be around for very much longer.
We had gone for a walk on a fine autumn day on the North Kent Downs, that ridge of hills which runs along the southern edge of the M25 and are crisscrossed by ancient pathways.
There’s the Green Sand Ridge Path and The Pilgrims Way which was used by those walking to Canterbury Cathedral from London and beyond since the time of Chaucer and his tales.
Our starting point was Kemsing, a pretty village of historic redbrick cottages sitting at the foot of those hills.
Our walk was supposed to start from the Wheatsheaf pub – only for us to discover it closed in 2011. But Kemsing’s other pub, The Bell, is still going and looked rather nice.
From there, the walk was quite a climb to get up to the top of the Downs, but when you get there you are rewarded with the most spectacular and far-reaching views across the Weald of Kent.
You can see as far as the counterpoint South Down hills many miles away by the coast.
Once up there, our route was to take us along a couple of those old paths in a loop across the hill top and back down again – about five miles in total.
As we walked, I was looking at the map on my phone to check we were on the right lines.
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On Google Maps, I noticed the words “The Rising Sun” with no further explanation – as if a landmark just off the path we were on.
Could this indicate a still-functioning pub? Our walk guidebook hadn’t mentioned one but the name suggested ‘pub,’ and after climbing that hill the idea of a cheeky mid-walk pint was becoming increasingly appealing.
If it was open, it had no website or social media footprint – but there were a few reports of ‘a time warp pub’ and ‘eccentric’ that sounded encouraging.
And then there it was, an old flint building, with a painted sign literally showing the sun rising, a slightly overgrown garden and no lights on inside.
We went up to the door and turned the handle with some trepidation… and it opened onto a dim room with just an older lady and her cat inside.
It was almost spooky, in a haunted public house kind of way, to be in this dark and slightly cluttered room that must be 400 years old – or it would have been spooky if landlady Michelle Hunter wasn’t so chatty.
But she was, so we talked to her at some length. She was very entertaining company, full of stories as a landlady should be.
Michelle serves local beers from nearby Westerham, ciders too. She does have a card machine but it’s on the blink, so cash is advisable. They used to do food but not for years.
She has been living in and running The Rising Sun for over 30 years, often single-handedly as when we met her.
And this isn’t her first appearance in The Sun: there’s a newspaper cutting on the wall above the fire about the unexplained death of pet bird Charlie in the pub many years ago, headlined “Hercule Parrot”.
Her cat has a story too – it just turned up one evening when she reopened after lockdown and stayed, then kept coming back for opening time, like a regular now it never leaves. It still has no name, just “cat”.
She also has other animals – including 20 cows. Quite the menagerie.
But there was a sad end to Michelle’s story. It’s hard work keeping the place going on her own and she barely breaks even.
Her state pension comes through in three months and after that she intends to give the pub another year, but if business doesn’t pick up dramatically she’s going to stop opening at all.
She’ll just live there with her animals in what will become yet another ‘former pub’.
I reckon this plan gives The Rising Sun about 15 months more of opening. So I strongly urge you to go while you still can.
There’s lots of stuff locally to combine with a visit. It’s just around the corner from one of the finest stately homes in the South East for example – Knole Park, with its magnificent deer park.
Kemsing, where we started from, down the hill, is just a short hop from the attractive commuter belt town of Sevenoaks. But it feels like an altogether more old fashioned place – and The Rising Sun is its secret gem.
The Bell isn’t bad either we discovered on our way back but it’s this quirky gem that will live on in memory.
The CAMRA Good Pub Guide calls it ‘a remote hilltop pub that is difficult to find without the help of a map’. But even with one you may not find it open much longer.
For more great pubs, here are the top 35 best pubs in London – by the locals who drink in them.
Plus, read more on the one pub you have to visit if you only go to one boozer in the whole of the capital.