Walking in Kent

The Horseshoe reach crossing point for travellers at Burham / Snodland

Yesterday I took the dogs to Trottiscliffe Country Park and walked the six miles to the west bank of the Medway at Snodland.  This is the favoured crossing point for ancient travellers as suggested in Belloc's 'Old Road'.  He discounts Aylesford  and Cuxton as common points of passage for wayfarers using the ancient trackway and argues that Lower Halling or Snodland are the most likely crossing points - with Snodalnd on balance coming out top.

My interest was to leave the North Downs Way National Trail and walk the route to the crossing point at Snodland following the route description outlined by Belloc.  See pages 253 and 236 (map) in The Old Road , Constable and Co 1921 edition.

The walk is magnificent and I recommend it to anyone with a full afternoon to spare. Classic ancient trackway raised above the fields of the vale below; the Coldrum stones neolithic burial site, St Benedicts chapel at Paddlesworth and the farm itself is in an idylic setting  and then one single country lane all the way into Snodland, which still has the feel of an old riverside village with the medieval church at Snodland situated on the horseshoe reach with St Marys at Burham within a stones throw on the opposite bank of the river.

More details about the Pilgrims Way and other self-led and guided walking holidays with luggage transfer can be found at www.walkawhile.co.uk

Hillfort and Horses on the North Downs Way
The Kent Wildlife Trust organised a great day out at Bigbury hill fort today.  Through the work of Kathryn Barton and many others, visitors to the Blean were treated to the spectacle of woodland management being undertaken by working horses. Part of this work will include opening up the ancient iron-age hill camp and its earthworks and ramparts that for far to long have been left exposed to the ravages of visitors and users of the site, many of whom have been completely unaware of the historic significance of Bigbury Camp.

It was pointed out to me at the Hillfort and Horse open day that within  the distance of a mile the ancient woodland of the Blean contains the sites of what might be one of the first documented battles to take place in Britain when the camp was overun by the Roman' 7th Legion in 54 BC as well the site of the last armed uprising on the British mainland in May 1838.  All this history and right on the North Downs' Way National Trail only two miles from Canterbury.

More can be found out about the work of the Kent Wildlife Trust on 01227 719506.

A short history brief about Bigbury Camp can be found on the Walk Awhile site at  http://www.walkawhile.co.uk/ancestural-vacation.html

Bigbury Camp and the Kent Wildlife Trust

For the last eight years Walk Awhile has been taking walkers to Bigbury iron-age camp on the last day of a four day walk from Rochester to Canterbury following the route of the Pilgrims Way / North Downs Way National Trail.  Over that period hundreds of walkers have enjoyed exploring the ancient site but we have always been surprised that this historic Belgae camp -  thought by many to be the site of the battle between Julius Caesar's Seventh Legion and the British tribes and documented in the Gallic Wars Book Five - has suffererd somewhat from neglect despite three archeological investigations being made in the last century.  One of these digs found a slave gang chain measuring 18 feet in length.  Many people enjoying the final stretch of the North Downs Way National Trail will actually walk through the earthworks surrounding the camp's cattle annex without being aware of the significance of the site.

Fortunately Kent Wildlife Trust have purchased the South Blean woodland in which the fort is situated.  Kathryn Barton of the Kent Wildlife Trust informs me that plans are in hand to preserve the site as part of its Conservation Management Plan.  The plan includes better access and interpretation boards.  This is very welcome news and I for one look forward to this important site enjoying the recognition and protection it deserves.  Walk Awhile's brief regarding Bigbury Camp in pdf format can be found on the resources section at the Walk Awhile walking holidays web site at http://www.walkawhile.co.uk

PETRONEL MALAN - PIANO RECITAL AT THE BARN - JULY 25th 2009
Over the last few years Martin Porter, the owner of Lenham's tithe barn has been kind enough to allow Walk Awhile's walkers access to the barn on their way to Canterbury. This is always an uplifting start to the day for those embarking on the 11 mile Lenham to Wye stretch of the Pilgrims Way / North Downs Way National Trail. Yesterday Martin emailed me and informed me that I had mistakenly decreased the date of the barn in one of my blog's by nearly a hundred years.

The tithe barn was actually built in 1342. This means in was built during the reign of Edward III and at the time of Geoffrey Chaucer's birth, which is believed to fall somewhere between 1340 and 1345 and also just six years before the Black Death arrived in England.

Martin also informs me that a piano recital on July 25th is to be given by the internationally famous South African pianist Petronel Malan. It starts with a champagne reception in the Barn at 6.15pm before the performance at 7.00pm. This is the third annual recital to be held and the others were very well received. Tickets cost £26/head and anyone interested can contact Martin Porter on 01622 858788 or e-mail him at martinhporter@tiscali.co.uk.

The recital provides a great opportunity to soak up an evening of internationally renowned music in the historic setting of Lenham's tithe barn that has been described as a rural cathedral.

More information about walking the Pilgrims' Way and other walking holidays in Kent can be found at Walk Awhile.

19th and 20th century books about the Pilgrims Way

A couple of weeks ago Walk Awhile had two walkers from California walking the Pilgrims Way.  As usual we sent them a reading list prior to their holiday, thereby enabling them to do some background reading about the trackway prior to their walk to Canterbury.   When I met Ann and her husband at Rochester they informed me that Hillaire Belloc's 'The Old Road' and Julia Cartwright's 'The Pilgrims Way' can now be found on line in digitised versions.  Belloc's work, first published in 1904 can be found on the Berkeley University web site at  'The Old Road' and Mrs Ady or Julia Cartwright's work can be found at 'The Pilgrims Way' thanks to American Libraries.

Belloc states in his introduction to 'The Old Road' entitled 'On the Road and the Fascination of Antiquity' that 'of these primal things the least obvious but the most important is The Road.''  He adds that 'But for the mass the Road is silent; it is the humblest and the most subtle, but, as I have said, the greatest and the most original of the spells we inherit from the pioneers of our race.'  Sentiments that anyone who has walked in the footsteps of ancient travellers along the chalk ridges of southern England will understand.

More infromation about  walking holidays in Kent can be found at Walk Awhile.

The Ancient Road to Canterbury (the Pilgrims' Porch at Boughton Aluph church)

For some time I've been picking up Goodsall's book on the Pilgrims Way and this spring eventually got around to ordering a copy from a second hand book-shop.  I should have doe this sooner as it provides an excellent overview of the old road's history covering the Kent stretch between Westerham and Canterbury.

Robert Goodsall lived in the village of Harritesham and his house was situated just above the Pilgrims' Way.  His book entitled 'The Ancient Road to Canterbury' published in 1959 is full of useful cross references to other published articles and books dealing with the old road.   Furthermore the book includes 58 illustrations of sites along the the Kent section of the trail as well a fold out map in the rear cover.  The only problem with the book is that it has so many references that I've orderd anothe threee books since reading it.  For anyone walking the North Downs Way in Kent a copy of Goodsall is well worth the expense.

At Walk Awhile we try and extend our library of Pilgrims Way books and essays for our walkers so that they can explore the history of the old road as they make their way along the trail to Canterbury.  Interestingly Goodsall doesn't mention the pilgrims porch at Boughton Aluph church - a picture of it with two of Walk Awhile's walkers is shown above.  However Goodsall does include a lovely quote from from Elliston Erwood that states 'There is probably no other road or trackway in the whole of England that can boast such a literature as does this path, around which myth, legand,history, enthusiasm and tradition have combined to weave a very tangled web' Archeologia Cantiana Vol XXXVII.

More details about Walk Awhile, the history of the Pilgrims Way and 5 day holiday along the Pilgrims Way can be found at
http://www.walkawhile.co.uk 

The North Downs Way is 30 years old this year and to celebrate there is to be a great aniversary party at Withersdane Hall, Wye on Saturday 13th September commencing at 12.30 - All Are Welcome
 To celebrate the 30th aniversary of the North Downs Way National Trail all are invited to come to Withersdane Hall at Wye and join in the festivities this Saturday.  Two world record attempts will be made involving simultaneous cartwheeling and snails on the face.  Seasoned walkers using the Charing to Lenham stretch of the NDW will understand the significance of snails and the National Trail.

From 2.30pm onwards there will be a number of guided walks.  A number of stalls will be at the party to visit including the Walk Awhile stall with information about its walking holidays and plenty of history about the Pilgrims Way.

For more information about the party visit the North Downs web site at http://www.ndwcelebration.org.uk/

See you at the party.  More information about Walk Awhile's walking holidays can be found at http://www.walkawhile.co.uk.  Please come and visit the Walk Awhile stall.

 Jane and Deborah on their final day's walk to Canterbury Last week  Jane and Deborah walked the Pilgrims' Way between the Cathedral cities of Rochester and Canterbury.  Jane organised the walk as a gift for her friend Deborah from South Africa.  Along the trail they explored many of the village churches to be found  in the small villages that nestle under the North Down's escarpment .  I took this picture of Jane and Deborah at the end of a warm June morning as we walked through the grounds of Godmersham House, which was once home to
Edward Austen, the brother of Jane Austen. The Parish Church of St Lawrence the Martyr, Godmersham Kent

 Close to the grand paladian mansion can be found the church of St Lawrence the Martyr, parts of which date back to the late Saxon period between 900-1000 AD.  On the north wall of the nave can be found a large memorial to Edward and Elizabeth Knight (Edward Austen changed his name to Knight, the family name of his adopted family).   On the south wall of the chancel can be seen a bas-relief of what many believe to be a representaion of Beckett.  If this is so then this is extremely rare as so many representations of the saint were destroyed during the reformation. Following the interest shown by Jane and Deborah, Walk Awhile has now collected information about the small village churches situated along the Pilgrims Way.  During the winter period Walk Awhile will compile a brief giving details of the churches and their history to help walkers  enjoy many of the same historic churches visited by Jane and Deborah. More information about Walk Awhile walking holidays along the Pilgrims Way / North Downs Way National Trail; Elham Valley Trail and the White Cliffs County Trail can be found at http://www.walkawhile.co.uk  Walk Awhile is also a member of the Green Tourisim Business Scheme (GTBS) and is also a affilliated to Responsible Travel and is a member of Tourism Southeast.

Margaret's group of seven women on their Pilgrims Way walking holiday/ North Downs Way

Today is sadly quiet as Margaret's group of 7 women, who had all travelled from Australia for a European tour, completed the Pilgrims Way week of their holiday.   Joan, one of the senior members of the group at 68 relished the challenge of the 4 day trek.  Despite England's soaring temperatures they covered the 45 miles from Rochester Cathedral and reached Canterbury Cathedral on Sunday evening.  On their journey along the ancient trackway they visited the neolithic megaliths at Kits Coty, explored the ruins of Thurnham castle, detoured over to Leeds Castle, stoped at he tomb of the bastard son of Richard Plantagenet, walked through the earthworks of Bibury's Iron-age fort and visited the Black Princes Well and the village of Harbledown mentioned in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.

Everyone in the Inns along the trail enjoyed the company of Margarets group.  The picture above captures them at Thurnham Castle only a few minutes after having consumed one of Julie and John's wonderful full english breakfasts at the Black Horse Inn where they stayed the previous night.  I only hope they don't take the good weather back to Austarlia with them.

More information about Walk Awhile walking holidays can be found at - Walking the Pilgrims Way

Ashmore - Hand-made Kentish Cheese from Lamberhurst Farm - Faversham Dargate http://www.cheesemakersofcanterbury.co.uk

As a silver accredited member of the Green Tourism Business Scheme (GBTS), Walk Awhile walking holidays http://www.walkawhile.co.uk has been using a locally produced whole milk hard cheese for our walkers lunches.  This superb mature cheese has really gone down very well with our customers who come from all over the world to walk in the Kent Down's Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AON.  The cheese is made using a rennet suitable for vegetarians.

Having had great feedback from a couple of walkers from Cornwall about Ashmore cheese who had taken a Pilgrims' Way holiday two weeks ago , I decided to visit the old dairy at Lamberhurst Farm myself.  The old dairy is just a couple of miles from the Walk Awhile office.  At Lamberhurst Farm I met Teresa (and Jack an extremely friendly collie dog) who explained the story of how we now have our own local cheese makers so close to Canterbury.  The dairy also produce a smoked cheese and a blue veined cheese.  The dairy can be contacted on 01227 751741 or mobile 07970 681617 and they have a web-site at http://www.cheesemakersofcanterbury.co.uk.  They will deliver in the Kent area and the cheese is absolutely outstanding and very reasonably priced for such a good quality product.