[1] It was a heavily wooded and agricultural area with many small villages and hamlets; the three largest being Cranbrook, the former heart of the defunct Wealden cloth industry, Hawkhurst and Tenterden.

[6] The Cranbrook and Paddock Wood Railway obtained authorisation for a single track line to link the two towns from which the company took its name.

This arrangement kept branch services off the main line and avoided the cost of installing a signal box to control the junction.

[16] Leaving Horsmonden, the branch crossed Goudhurst Road by a plate girder bridge, running along the valley of the River Teise towards the Wealden hills.

[21] Cranbrook (9 miles 70 chains (9.88 mi; 15.89 km)[15]) was the line's third station and reached following a climb up the valley through woodland.

[23] Heading towards its southern terminus at Hawkhurst (11 miles 24 chains (11.30 mi; 18.19 km)[15]), the branch climbed again at 1 in 85 up to the 178-yard (163 m) Badger's Oak Tunnel, the line's summit, before dropping at 1 in 80.

[25] The single platform was on the down side of the line, with a passing loop opposite, which also gave access to the two road engine shed.

The second would see the Hawkhurst branch becoming part of the proposed Loose Valley Railway linking Maidstone with Dungeness via Headcorn, Tenterden and Appledore.

[29] The final proposal began with a junction at Cranbrook station, before running to Appledore via Sissinghurst, Biddenden, Tenterden and Reading Street.

[34] In 1899, Stephens obtained a light railway order authorising the Cranbrook and Tenterden Light Railway, which would run from Cranbrook station through a 40-foot (12 m) tunnel under Hartley Road[35] for a distance of 9+1⁄2 miles (15.29 km) to join the RVR at a triangular junction just beyond Rolvenden where it would join the proposed extension of the RVR to Headcorn.

[36] Due to the increase in the use of motor transport,[37] apart from the section between Rolvenden and Tenterden Town,[38] the line was never built although it continued to appear in Kent and East Sussex Railway reports until 1937.

[39] Following a satisfactory inspection carried out by Major Marindin of the Board of Trade on 3 September 1892, the line between Paddock Wood and Hope Mill, for Goudhurst and Lamberhurst was opened to passenger and goods traffic nine days later.

[39][51] Malaga was one of six twelve-wheel first-class kitchen cars which had been built in 1920–1;[52] and following an extensive refit in late 1949, was occasionally used in the Royal Train.

[55] Coal traffic remained constant as did the transport of pot plants from local nurseries at Flimwell and Wadhurst for F W Woolworth.

This was an important source of revenue for the line with one million pot plants a year being transported from Hawkhurst,[27] bringing in around £1,000 per week.

[Note 5] Up to four parcels and miscellaneous vans were loaded daily at Hawkhurst and attached to the last train to Tonbridge,[56] with further collections possibly being made at Horsmonden; special services were laid on in the busy period before Mothering Sunday.

[15] Pattenden Siding was located between Goudhurst and Cranbrook stations, just after milepost 42 and thus 7 miles 20 chains (7.25 mi; 11.67 km) from Paddock Wood.

These were loaded at Hawkhurst and Cranbrook, attached to the daily up goods working and forwarded to Paddock Wood by parcels train.

[54] The behaviour of pupils from both schools was described by one regular passenger as "hysterical", with the girls from Benenden being compared to those of the fictional St Trinian's.

[56] Even the school traffic was lost once the local authority hired the services of Maidstone & District Motor Company.

[56] In the evening, the 16:32 departed too early for many commuters while the eleven-coach 18:18 Ramsgate service was overcrowded and divided at Tonbridge where three coaches were detached for Ashford.

Hawkhurst-bound passengers had to change at Paddock Wood and cross over to the bay platform for the branch service which arrived in Hawkhurst at 19:58.

[71] Locals preferred the direct bus services to Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells over the indirect railway journey,[70] as shown by the fact that no more than 250 return tickets were sold from Hawkhurst in the final years of the line.

Bearing the nameplate "The South Eastern Limited", the train travelled the line as part of its "Farewell to Steam" tour.

[81] Elisabeth Beresford, who was subsequently well known as the creator of The Wombles, wrote a children's book Danger on the "Old Pull 'n Push" based on the Hawkhurst branch.

[90] Cranbrook station was used for many years as a pottery, and its stationmaster's house is now a private dwelling, with part of the goods yard also having survived.

The main station building was demolished in the 1960s but the engine and goods sheds, stationmaster's house and signal box are still extant.

[93] In September 2008 representatives from Hawkhurst, Goudhurst, Horsmonden and Paddock Wood Parish Councils met to discuss the possibility of converting all or part of the former line into a trail which could be used by cyclists and walkers.

[94] The proposal was supported by Kent County Council and a 2-mile (3.22 km) section between Hawkhurst and Goudhurst has been identified as being easily convertible into a trail.

[95] Horsmonden Parish Council has declined to participate in the scheme on the basis that any trail would not be able to follow the former railway alignment in its area due to private ownerships and in-filled sections.