167 Walderslade – Lordswood – Princes Park – Capstone – Hempstead Valley

The 167 is a useful local circular operated by Nu-Venture that stitches together the hilltop estates south of Chatham. It begins at Walderslade Village Centre, where the parade of shops sits on the high ground between the wooded combes of Walderslade Woods and Boxley Warren. The bus picks its way along Tunbury Avenue, past Catkin Close and Oaks Dene, with glimpses of mature beech and oak between the houses that mark this as one of the greener corners of Medway.

From Podkin Wood and Spenlow Drive, the route slips down past Alexandra Hospital and into Lordswood. This is classic post-war Medway suburbia, neat closes named after warships and Greek heroes, with the Kestrel Shopping Centre at its heart. The bus pauses outside the parade before climbing again past Achilles Road and Ballens Road, the rooftops opening up briefly to give long views north towards the Medway estuary.

Swinging into Princes Park, the 167 threads a careful course through the estate, calling at Maundene School, the petrol station and Morrisons, then weaving between Kingfisher Drive, Illustrious Close and Resolution Close. The road names are a small naval history lesson in themselves, a nod to Chatham's dockyard heritage just down the hill. Between the houses there are flashes of green space and the wooded fringe of Capstone Farm Country Park, the big open patchwork of meadow, lake and woodland that sits just to the east.

Past Lordswood North Dane Way the bus rolls down into Luton, calling at the Recreation Ground and the Waggon at Hale, a familiar local pub stop. The road then drops gently towards Hempstead, where closes named for trees and dells (Hickory Dell, Green Bank Close, Glenwood Close) lead to the main destination of the route: Hempstead Valley Shopping Centre. This covered mall, set in its own landscaped bowl, is the retail anchor for the surrounding estates.

After a layover at Stop B, the 167 retraces the loop in reverse, swapping the running order of opposite-side stops so passengers from the return leg get their own door-to-door service. On the way back it adds a small extension through Davis Estate and past the Asda at Chatham before pulling up at Bridgewood Manor, the country-house hotel on the ridge, and finally returning to Walderslade Village Centre. It is not a tourist showpiece, but for a half-day's pottering between hilltop villages, woods and the bustle of Hempstead Valley, the 167 quietly does the job.