8:07 pm - October 23, 2025
Listen to the article
THERE are lots of wacky clubs around the UK, and a few of the very best are the ones that take you by surprise.
I just recently discovered among the most remarkable clubs I have actually ever remained in– just to find it’s not likely to be around for quite longer.
We had actually chosen a walk on a great fall day on the North Kent Downs, that ridge of hills which runs along the southern edge of the M25 and are crisscrossed by ancient paths.
There’s the Green Sand Ridge Course and The Pilgrims Method which was utilized by those strolling to Canterbury Cathedral from London and beyond because the time of Chaucer and his tales.
Our beginning point was Kemsing, a quite town of historical redbrick homes sitting at the foot of those hills.
Our walk was expected to begin with the Wheatsheaf club– just for us to find it closed in 2011. However Kemsing’s other club, The Bell, is still going and looked rather good
ALL EARS
I have actually gone to Disney World 50 times: here’s what I considered Legoland Windsor
YULE DO
Travel professional exposes low-cost UK vacation parks with Xmas breaks from ₤ 9pp a night
From there, the walk was rather a reach get up to the top of the Downs, however when you arrive you are rewarded with the most amazing and significant views throughout the Weald of Kent.
You can view as far as the counterpoint South Down hills numerous miles away by the coast.
As Soon As up there, our path was to take us along a number of those old courses in a loop throughout the hill top and pull back once again– about 5 miles in overall.
As we strolled, I was taking a look at the map on my phone to inspect we were on the right lines.
Many checked out in Best of British
On Google Maps, I saw the words “The Increasing Sun” without any additional description– as if a landmark simply off the course we were on.
Could this show a still-functioning club? Our walk manual had not pointed out one however the name recommended ‘club,’ and after climbing up that hill the concept of a saucy mid-walk pint was ending up being progressively enticing.
If it was open, it had no site or social networks footprint– however there were a couple of reports of ‘a time warp club’ and ‘eccentric’ that sounded motivating.
And After That there it was, an old flint structure, with a painted indication actually revealing the sun increasing, a somewhat thick garden and no lights on within.
We increased to the door and turned the manage with some uneasiness … and it opened onto a dim space with simply an older girl and her feline inside.
It was practically scary, in a haunted pub type of method, to be in this dark and somewhat chaotic space that needs to be 400 years of ages– or it would have been scary if landlady Michelle Hunter wasn’t so chatty.
However she was, so we spoke to her at some length. She was really amusing business, loaded with stories as a landlady ought to be.
Michelle serves regional beers from neighboring Westerham, ciders too. She does have a card maker however it’s on the blink, so money is a good idea. They utilized to do food however not for years.
She has actually been residing in and running The Increasing Sun for over thirty years, typically solitarily as when we satisfied her.
And this isn’t her very first look in The Sun: there’s a paper cutting on the wall above the fire about the unusual death of family pet bird Charlie in the club several years back, headlined “Hercule Parrot”.
Her feline has a story too– it simply showed up one night when she resumed after lockdown and remained, then kept returning for opening time, like a routine now it never ever leaves. It still has no name, simply “feline”.
She likewise has other animals– consisting of 20 cows. Rather the menagerie.
However there was an unfortunate end to Michelle’s story. It’s effort keeping the location going on her own and she hardly recovers cost.
Her state pension comes through in 3 months and after that she plans to offer the club another year, however if company does not get significantly she’s going to stop opening at all.
She’ll simply live there with her animals in what will end up being yet another ‘previous club’.
I reckon this strategy offers The Rising Sun about 15 months more of opening. So I highly advise you to go while you still can.
There’s great deals of things in your area to integrate with a check out. It’s simply around the corner from among the finest manor houses in the South East for instance– Knole Park, with its splendid deer park.
Kemsing, where we began with, down the hill, is simply a brief hop from the appealing commuter belt town of Sevenoaks. However it seems like a completely more old made location– and The Increasing Sun is its secret gem.
The Bell isn’t bad either we found on our method back however it’s this wacky gem that will reside on in memory.
The CAMRA Good Pub Guide calls it ‘a remote hill club that is hard to discover without the aid of a map’. However even with one you might not discover it open a lot longer.
NOT KIDDING
Tutoring task with ₤ 180k income for 1-year-old identified a ‘headache’ by moms and dads
HEATING UP
The swirling rumours about James Martin and his sensational PT sweetheart, 39
For more fantastic clubs, here are the leading 35 finest clubs in London– by the residents who consume in them.
Plus, found out more on the one club you need to go to if you just go to one boozer in the entire of the capital.
Read the full article here
Fact Checker
Verify the accuracy of this article using AI-powered analysis and real-time sources.