October Half Term Tunbridge Wells: Dates and 10 Things On

October half term in Tunbridge Wells is one week for county schools and anything up to two for the others, and this year it comes with no trains. Below are the dates school by school, the rail closure, and the things that organisers have actually listed for the week, each with its price.

The quick answer

Updated 13 October: The Amelia Scott has published its full half-term list (free Discovery Days on 24, 26, 28 and 30 October, plus a Halloween Silent Disco on 31 October), Trinity Theatre has added two children’s workshops, and Leigh Academy Mascalls is now in the school table.

Updated 3 October: Spa Valley Railway has corrected its Model Brick Show page to Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 October, settling the date clash we flagged.

Kent County Council schools are off Monday 26 to Friday 30 October 2026 (Kent County Council). No trains run between Tonbridge and Wadhurst from Saturday 24 October to Sunday 1 November, so every rail journey from Tunbridge Wells that week starts on a bus. The two biggest free things are Scotney Castle’s Halloween trail (with admission) and the Amelia Scott’s Spook-Tober Discovery Days; the Model Brick Show at Spa Valley Railway is the ticketed one.

When each school breaks up

The county week is 26 to 30 October, but most of the borough’s secondaries start earlier or finish later. From each school’s own calendar (full term dates page):

No trains all week

Network Rail is renewing the slab track in Grove Hill Tunnel, just south of the station. Buses replace trains between Tonbridge and Wadhurst from Saturday 24 October to Sunday 1 November, which takes in Tunbridge Wells and High Brooms for the whole of the county half term. Trains from Charing Cross terminate at Sevenoaks on some days, and the station car park loses spaces to the works. The full arrangements, the other route changes and the ticket acceptance are on our Grove Hill Tunnel closure page, from Southeastern’s announcement of 8 September. If a day out depends on a train, plan it as a bus-then-train journey or drive: see parking and roadworks.

Ten things that are actually on

Everything below is taken from the organiser’s own listing on 25 September, rechecked on 13 October for The Amelia Scott and Trinity. Where a price is not published, it says so.

1. Monsters around the Moat, Scotney Castle, Lamberhurst. The National Trust’s Halloween half-term trail runs 17 October to 1 November, 10am to 4pm. The trail is included with admission: adult £20, child 5 to 17 £10, under 5s free, family £50 (Gift Aid prices £22, £11 and £55). Postcode TN3 8JN (National Trust: Scotney events; prices from the property page). Scotney’s winter opening and its Christmas trail are on our Scotney Castle in winter page.
2. Model Brick Show, Spa Valley Railway, Tunbridge Wells West. LEGO displays in the engine shed, with a minifigure hunt. Admission is included in a standard travel ticket: adult £18, senior £17, child 2 to 15 free, family of four £36, or brick show only £5 an adult and £10 a family, children free. The last train back leaves Tunbridge Wells West at 3.15pm. The show is on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 October, the weekend before the county half term week (Spa Valley Railway).
3. Spook-Tober Half Term Discovery Days, The Amelia Scott, Mount Pleasant Road. Free Halloween-themed drop-in activities for children, 10am to 4pm on Saturday 24, Monday 26, Wednesday 28 and Friday 30 October (The Amelia Scott calendar). The same calendar lists more around them:
   • a free Relaxed Opening for autistic and neurodiverse visitors and their families, Saturday 24 October, 2pm to 4pm
   • a free Story Time for 3 and 4 year olds at 11am on Monday 26 October
   • Messy Monday Halloween messy play for ages 2 to 4, Monday 26 October, 11am to 12pm or 1.30pm to 2.30pm, £7 a child or £10 for two (The Amelia Scott)
   • a Halloween Silent Disco, Saturday 31 October, 2.30pm to 4pm, £10, with a craft station and a trick or treat trail (The Amelia Scott)
   • for teenagers, a three-day Young Creatives documentary-making course, 26 to 28 October, £120
4. The Pantiles Ghost Walk. A one-hour walk from No. 4 The Pantiles (the Imperial Pharmacy, Nevill Street end) on Wednesday 28 and Friday 30 October, 7.30pm to 8.30pm, £15 a person. The 28 October date was already showing as sold out on 25 September (The Pantiles events).
5. Calverley Precinct Market, Sunday 25 October. The Pantiles’ market team runs its stalls in Calverley Precinct on the first Sunday of the break; free to attend (The Pantiles events).
6. Autumn Colour Walk, Bedgebury National Pinetum, Goudhurst. A guided walk from the visitor centre on Monday 26 October, 10am to 11.30am, ticketed through Forestry England; the parking charge applies on top (Forestry England: Bedgebury events). Bedgebury’s Christmas trail opens on 20 November: dates and prices are in our festive dates list.
7. Photography display and Flapper Fashion, Scotney Castle. Two exhibitions in the house, 11am to 4.30pm, the photographs to 31 October and the 1920s dresses to 1 November, both included with admission (National Trust: Scotney events).
8. Hop Farm car boot fairs, Paddock Wood. The season runs to 31 October (The Hop Farm); the Wealden Times Midwinter Fair follows there on 19 to 21 November.
9. Children’s workshops, Trinity Theatre, Church Road. Two booked sessions in the county half term week. Places are non-refundable, and Trinity says a session may be rescheduled a week before if too few book:
   • Introduction to Shadow Puppetry with artist Hannah Whittaker, Monday 26 October: 10am to 12pm for School Years 3 and 4, 1pm to 3pm for Years 5 and 6. £25, or £20 with a GO Card (Trinity Theatre).
   • Design a Halloween Mask Workshop, Tuesday 27 October, 11am to 2pm, for School Years 4 to 8. £35, or £28 with a GO Card (Trinity Theatre).
10. The Commons, free. Wellington Rocks, Happy Valley and the sandstone outcrops are the best free half-term ground in town. Everything else worth a day out, with prices, is on things to do in Tunbridge Wells.

Also that week: the Tunbridge Wells Puppetry Festival, 26 to 31 October. Free puppet shows on The Pantiles, at Royal Victoria Place and by the Millennium Clock Tower from Monday to Thursday, then two booked family shows at Southborough Civic Centre. The day-by-day programme is in our festival report.

What is not on

• Assembly Hall Theatre: nothing billed as a children’s show in the half-term week. After The Last Laugh ends on Saturday 24 October its listing has one-night bills: Emma Kenny: Killer Couples (25 October), All Star Wrestling (26), Two Mr Ps in a Podcast live (27), A Country Night in Nashville (30) and Drag Bingo UK: Halloween Edition (31) (Assembly Hall Theatre, read 13 October). The pantomime, Cinderella, opens on 12 December: pantomime page.
• Trinity Theatre: no half-term shows on stage; its listing has the two workshops above and the Clocktower Tours running to 31 October (Trinity Theatre, October 2026).
• Bedgebury and The Hop Farm have no Halloween events listed.
• The ice rink in Calverley Grounds is a December thing: Skate Tunbridge Wells.

After half term

Bonfire Night comes the Saturday after the children go back: Dunorlan Park and Benenden fireworks, 7 November. Remembrance Sunday is 8 November: the town’s service and road closures.

Sources

• Kent County Council, Term dates; the eight school calendars listed on our term dates page, all read 25 September 2026
• Southeastern media centre, Hastings line passengers advised to plan ahead this October school half term, 8 September 2026
• National Trust, Scotney Castle events and Scotney Castle; Spa Valley Railway, Model Brick Show; The Amelia Scott, What’s on calendar; The Pantiles, Events; Forestry England, Bedgebury events; The Hop Farm, Events; Assembly Hall Theatre; Trinity Theatre. All read 25 September 2026