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.

I was lucky enough to recently pick up a pilgrim's ampulla dating back to the 15th century.  These were small
phials made of lead that pilgrims carried with them to a saint's shrine whereupon they would be filled with a small
amount of holy water, oil or often what was claimed to be the blood of the saint. Ampulla worn around the neck became a recognised badge or sign of a Canterbury pilgrim.

Jonathan Sumption in his book 'Pilgrimage' explains that at Canterbury pilgrims would take home the 'water of St.Thomas'in samll phials.  It is said that the monks wiped the floor of Becket's blood following his death and kept it diluted in a large cistern of water.
Apparently the water was continually diluted so as to meet the demand of pilgrims and Christ Church Priory charged the monks with 'preparing and pouring it into little ampullae for the use of the sick' - Sumption  2002 p.83.

Find out more about the Pilgrims' Way and walking the 'old road' to Canterbury at Walk Awhile's walking holidays website http://www.walkawhile.co.uk

The Coldrum Stones - Pilgrims Way / North Downs Way
This really is a picture taken in Kent  and not Wiltshire- looking due east towards the Medway Gap with the sun setting behind.
These wonderful sarsen stone megaliths were once thought to be part of a closed burial chamber set inside a square of smaller stones, which enclosed a burial mound. 

Jacquetta Hawkes 'A Guide to prehistoric and Roman Monuments in England and Wales' p. 68  1978, informs the reader that the chamber was re-excavated in 1910 and the bones found within were the only surviving relics from any of the Kentish neolithic graves.
The capstone is missing but visitors to Kits Koty House, another neolithic burial chamber to be found on the Pilgrims Way just above Aylesford still has the capstone in place.  Kits Coty House and other Medway megaliths can be seen on day one of Walk Awhile's 'Walking the Pilgrims Way' walking holiday that takes visitors 45 miles from the cathedral at Rochester along the North Downs Way National Trail to Canterbury.

Visitors from the USA  - Is that the Great Dog of Trottiscliffe

Last Friday I visited the Centre for Kentish Studies at County Hall Maidstone.  It was well worth the visit and is staffed by extremely helpful librarians on hand to assist those using the archive service.  I was hoping to track down the source or  reference to two letters dated 1654 and 1745, regarding attacks by a so called Great Dog of Trottiscliffe that were said to have occurred on the Pilgrims Road between Trottiscliffe and Medway.  The Great Dog is refrerred to in Fran and Geoff Doel's 'Folklore of Kent', which cites Igglesden's 'Saunters through Kent'.  Unfortunately Igglesden's Saunters through Kent covers 34 volumes and despite having now spent many hours over the last couple of years searching and seeking advice, I have failed to find any reference by Igglesden.  My interest is purely  in seeking a reference in these cited letters to the Pilgrims' Road dating from 1654 as this would be quite significant.

However I did find two useful articles in The Archeologia Cantinana referring to the origins of the Pilgrims Way.  The most interesting article was one wrtten by F C Elliston Erwood entitled The Pilgrims Way, Its Antiquity and its Alleged Mediaeval Use' 1925.  He quotes from a letter sent to him by Capt. H. W. Knocker that summerises research undertaken of West Kent Parish tithe apportionments.  This research showed that landlords argued that land which supported livestock (in this case hogs) paid no tithes (the tithe was collectced on the animal and not the pasture).   As such in the tithe apportionments of West Kent Parishes you find 'woodlands south of the Pilgrims Road pay no tithe'.  This is important for as Elliston Erwood states 'evidently there was in Kent a well recognised continuous track on the chalk hills, and that later this was known as the Pilgrims Road'.

On a lighter note I recieved a surprise this morning in the post.  Richard and Reyna, two customers from the USA who walked the Pilgrims Way early in the year  with Walk Awhile walking holidays.   Richard sent me a disc with pictures of their walk.  Here is one of Richard and Reyna descending from Kings Wood into Godmersham Park.  Is that the Great Dog of Trottiscliffe following them?

The Canterbury Pilgrim Exhibition
A new exhibition has opened in Canterbury called the 'The Canterbury Pilgrim'.  It can be found at 19 St Peters Street Canterbury, which is on the left hand side of the High Street as you walk into Canterbury from the West Gate Towers.  Downstairs is a small cafe and upstairs there is an interesting exhibition of old artefacts connected with medieaval pilgrimage to Beckett's shrine.  Pride of place in the exhibition is an ampula that was carried by Pilgrims on their journey to Canterbury. 

Information about Walk Awhile's walking holiday's to Canterbury can be found at http://www.walkawhile.co.uk

Foot and Mouth - Third (Temporary Control) Zone  Declared - Footpaths in Dorking Temporary Control Zone remain open

This morning DEFRA  declared a third Protection Zone, defined as a Temporary Control Zone, relating to a suspected outbreak of foot and mouth (FMD).  This is around a farm in the Dorking and Westcott area of Surrey and is outside of the existing survielance zone already declared. The North Downs Way National Trail / Pilgrims Way runs through the latest Control Zone.  Speaking to the DEFRA helpline at lunchtime they advised me that footpaths through this thrid zone remain open at present.  However the footpaths in the first declared zone remain closed - see DEFRA web-site. (link below)

I am getting emails from walkers seeking information about the situation as many are actually or about to be in transit to the UK and plan to walk in Surrey and Kent along the Pilgrims Way ' North Downs Way National Trail.  At present this does not impact upon Walk Awhile's walking holidays, which are in the Kent stretch of the North Downs Way but we are continually monitoring with the  agencies responsible for the situation and are in contact with the Mangager with Responsibility for the North Downs Way National Trail. 

The DEFRA map showing the surveilance, proptection and temporary contral zones can be found at
http://http://www.gisdiseasemap.defra.gov.uk/intmaps/FMD/map.jsp?bbox=446826.34546863,131321.311895689,506357.714531369,171008.891270848&action=panEast&label=&xylabel=&mapsize=&zoomOrID=zoom&advancedSearch=

For up to date information and advice visit the DEFRA web site at http://http://www.defra.gov.uk/

For walking holidays visit: http://www.walkawhile.co

Latest Foot and Mouth Outbreak - Access to the Countryside

This week we've been getting phone calls from customers concerned about the latest outbreak of foot and mouth (FMD) that has occurred on a beef farm near Guildford in Surrey.  The North Downs Way runs quite close to the affected area.  However I spoke to the Manager with responsiblity for the North Downs Way (NDW) yesterday and he informed me that the NDW National Trail remains open throughout its full length.  If there are any changes to this we will post the advice on this web-site.

The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has posted the following statement on its web-site:

Despite the outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) on a farm in Surrey, the countryside remains open. There is no need for people to stop visiting the countryside and, at the present time, the only impacts on visitor attractions are those which result from the restrictions on animal movements and animal gatherings.

However, footpaths and bridleways on infected premises are closed and the Chief Veterinary Officer has taken a decision to close the footpaths and bridleways in the first Protection Zone. This decision is based on the latest veterinary risk analysis and is in light of the number of cases in PZ 1 and the proximity to the main area under investigation. Also, a number of footpaths directly around infected holdings have also been closed to ensure that operations at the sites can continue. The situation will be kept under review.

More information about the current situation can be found at the DEFRA website, which can be found at http://www.defra.gov.uk/footandmouth/latest-situation/index.htm

Stour Valley Walk

This week-end we had a couple of walkers from London who had booked a week-end break walking tour along the Stour Valley Trail.  They were really great fun and are in training for a charity walk next year.  Without a doubt they had chosen the hottest week-end of the year to undertake the long walk to Wye along the east bank of the Stour Valley and then back along its west bank via the picturesque village of Chilham and then on to Canterbury.  More details about Walk Awhile's walking holidays can be found at http://www.walkawhile.co.uk  We wish them well with their preparation and hope that they choose a slightly cooler week-end for their next walk.

Two friends from the past came down to visit this week-end.  Roger and Vee Darlington also braved the hottest week-end of the year so far and came to down to Oversland and spend Sunday in the Kent countryside.   Roger has a well established web site that can be found at http://www.rogerdarlington.co.uk/ . The site has over 5000 indivual visits a day and features news and views form Roger's long career in the field of politics, trade unionism, communications and the information society.  Roger's site also is well known for its film reviews as well commentary on current affairs and travel.  He has recently introduced a new series of pages on political systems.  A memorable evening to the end of a lovely day was had sitting on the balcony with Mandy, Roger and Vee watching the sun set over the Kent countryside mulling over 'if God can be proved does science depend on faith? - discuss'