First visit this year to one of my favourite places. Oare gunpowder works is just off Faversham’s Western Link Road. Gunpowder was made there until 1934. After seventy years of neglect major conservation work took place. Remaining structures were conserved and access paths made. The site is managed for nature and biodiversity. During lockdown theContinue reading “Oare gunpowder works country park”
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Father and son
Yesterday, June 21st, was Fathers’ Day. A walk with my oldest son seemed appropriate. Also the day after the summer solstice. My home for the past 45 years is about a kilometre from the centre of Canterbury and less from farmland and orchards. In light drizzle we first went to my allotment where i wateredContinue reading “Father and son”
Circuit of Canterbury
Before The Virus, Sunday mornings were for walking. Either with the Dover and Thanet Rights of Way Society or footpath work with my oldest son Joseph. Kent County Council has not yet authorised countryside access work to resume. But I can walk with my son, two metres apart because he’s a separate household. A favouriteContinue reading “Circuit of Canterbury”
Another Larkey Valley Sunday
The Larkey Valley Wood is about three kilometres southwest of Canterbury. Given to the city by Alderman Frank Hooker in 1932, it is 44 hectares of woodland. A Site of Special Scientific Interest and local Nature Reserve. Looked at another way, one of Canterbury’s public parks. I came here often in times past, walking withContinue reading “Another Larkey Valley Sunday”
Cricket or walking?
One of my interests is cricket. BBC Radio 5X have re-broadcast ball-by-ball commentary on the epic Edgbaston Test of 2005 between England and Australia. On Sunday August 7th Australia needed an unlikely 107 runs to win. England only needed to take two wickets. What’s this got to do with walking? In those fitter days iContinue reading “Cricket or walking?”
May is here
A curious May Day. No morris dancing, no political marches. Still, Sumer is icumen in. Today’s walk is three miles long, to the west of Canterbury. In normal times, i would walk three miles every Sunday, either with Datrows walking group or as a countryside access warden. This isn’t about my health, but i amContinue reading “May is here”
A symbolic trespass
On April 24th, 1932 the Kinder mass trespass took place. The Duke of Devonshire would not let walkers on his grouse moors between Manchester and Sheffield. Walkers and political activists challenged him with a deliberate trespass, battling with game keepers. Some were arrested and jailed. Folksinger and communist Ewan McColl wrote “The Manchester Rambler”, aContinue reading “A symbolic trespass”
The Rites of Spring
Spring is not a single event but a series. From maybe the first snowdrops to Morris dancing in the May. An important stage is visiting a bluebell wood. This lockdown year my challenge was to find one an easy walk from home. The nearest is on the large campus of the University of Kent, aboutContinue reading “The Rites of Spring”
Walking in sunshine
Would like to ignore politics, especially on a sunny day when walking is a pleasure. But. I can’t ignore Bloody Stupid Johnson (acknowledgment to Terry Pratchett for the name) I’ve been calling him that since his first televised address on The Virus. At the end of incoherent bluster he said that Britain led the worldContinue reading “Walking in sunshine”
Spring is here
Today’s Permitted Exercise was a two mile walk, more or less following the line of Canterbury’s medieval walls. On Roman foundations. Willows in leaf by the River Stour. Lots of mallards in the Westgate Gardens. Magnolias. A welcome takeaway coffee in the Dane John Gardens. My monthly climb of the Dane John Mound, surely anContinue reading “Spring is here”
Rambling Brummie 