A262

Route

The A262 is a rural A-road in south Kent, forming the central section of the route from Ashford to Tunbridge Wells.

London Beach - Lamberhurst

The A262 leaves the A28 just north of Tenterden. This first section of the road is actually the former A2009; the A262 originally followed the now-unclassified north side of this triangle.

The scenery remains flat and fairly unremarkable for the first few miles to Biddenden, which is reached following a sharp bend to the right. It is in this picturesque village the road TOTSOs left, leaving the A274 to continue ahead to Maidstone. The A262 forms the restaurant-lined High Street and winds past the church back out to pastoral land. There are a few sharp bends and a short wooded section before we reach Sissinghurst, a smaller village comprising a single main street.

Towards Goudhurst

After a roundabout with the A229, the road is wider and straighter, becoming more hesitant before Goudhurst, a charming village which successfully contorts the road around its churchyard before narrowing it to single-file to descend as the High Street. The view across the rolling Wealden Hills dotted with oast-houses is stunning.

From the dip at the bottom, the road climbs steadily and purposefully for another few miles until meeting the A21 Lamberhurst bypass, a couple of miles south of Pembury. The A21 to the right is actually the original western end of the A262.

Original Author(s): Adam Colton