I started this blog almost a year ago. Intended to write of the joy of walking, based on my work as a countryside access warden and walks with Datrows and my son. Expected to ramble off on byways of thought, inspired by nature and my fellow walkers.
Thanks to covid and decrepitude my walks have been short and mostly solo. So why not write about Kent’s notable footpaths? The North Downs Way is a national trail from Farnham in Surrey to Dover. I walked the section from Canterbury to Dover on Thursday August 19th 1982. Refreshed my memory with “The North Downs Way” by Dennis Herbstein (1982) though if you’re walking get a newer guide as the Way has changed in several places. I like to use Ordnance Survey explorer maps and a guidebook full of information on history and nature. Younger walkers may do things differently.
That Thursday i took a half day off work intending to take the early train to Dover and walk back. That train was cancelled. Quickly reversed my plan. The walk took six hours and a quarter for about twenty miles. A long half day.
Not the most scenic part of the Way but it passes, or is close to, several places of interest. Canterbury Cathedral. St Martins Church. Canterbury gaol and house of correction. Highland Court. Barham Downs. (the guide thinks this is dreary) Snowdown colliery. Bronze Age roundbarrows. A former Roman Road. Dover Castle. Dover Beach. Readers should note that much has changed since 1982.
A long time ago. A sense of achievement. A connection with Kent’s landscape and history.
February 18th 2021
Rambling Brummie 