I learned something overnight. Something which was actually pretty obvious and staring me in the face the whole time. And it’s this….you really don’t need that much stuff to have an ok time. Let me elaborate…. Continue reading “North Downs Way 9: Dunn Street to Chilham”
Last week I was all packed and ready to go on this walk, but for one thing – my fitness. On the morning of the walk I realised my ribs were still not healed enough for it to be a sensible thing to do. So reluctantly, but in hindsight pleased with myself for making the right call, I changed my plans and hoped that the weather would hold for another attempt later in the month.
Now with another week of rest, I can feel my ribs getting better everyday, although they still hurt like hell when I first get out of bed in the morning. But yesterday I had to go to the post office in town, a round-trip of about 4 miles on foot, and felt good. In fact rib-wise I felt better after the walk than before. So I decided last night to risk the walk, Continue reading “North Downs Way 8: Detling to Dunn Street”
Dropped off at the picnic site, I started by walking back up the road to the exact spot where I’d stopped the day before and walked along again to the picnic site off-road. It was still a bit hazy over the Medway valley, but it was already warming up nicely. With legs still smarting Continue reading “North Downs Way 7: Blue Bell Hill to Detling”
I thought I wouldn’t get much more walking in this year, but with a delay in starting work (due to not having any yet!) and a spell of fine weather, the opportunity was too good to miss. Continue reading “North Downs Way 6: Wrotham to Blue Bell Hill”
5 years after I started the North Downs Way, I walked down the lane from the centre of Knockholt Pound, retracing my steps on my last day. We skirted around the edge of the Chevening estate and followed waymarkers through the woods.
Emerging at a stile liberally festooned with NDW arrows on every side we looked down into a grassy valley and tried to decipher which way to go – we couldn’t even use the trick of comparing the waymarkers from our approach side with those on the other side as they were everywhere. So we made an educated guess and followed the fence around the valley side heading in a roughly south-easterly direction. We got to the bottom and I realised that we weren’t on the NDW and I cursed aloud. A post has 8 NDW waymarkers on it, I follow the one going in about the right direction, and it’s still wrong. Continue reading “North Downs Way 5: Knockholt to Wrotham”
I rose early, for a Sunday, to make sure that I got to the start point in good time, as getting there involved a train into London, a walk across London and a train out the other side. But just … Continue reading North Downs Way 2: Guildford to Westhumble
With walking now firmly established as my main hobby, I wanted a project that could keep me ready for the hills inbetween trips, and I settled on the North Downs Way. It’s an obvious choice really as I live just over the Thames in Thurrock, and so is relatively easy to get to. Also having been brought up in the Gravesend area, I know part of the path between Wrotham and Cuxton, and it would be really good to join it all up. Having been to the east of Kent in the car, it’ll also be nice to understand the area better by walking through it. A walk every 2-4 weeks is the plan, and this will see the NDW comfortably completed before the end of the year.
Having waited until the worst of the winter weather has gone, it’s a good day for it. Continue reading “North Downs Way 1: Farnham to Guildford”
