Charity Walk -

Week 75 – Boston, Lincolnshire to Blakeney, Norfolk

Posted on March 11, 2020 by Beth

Wednesday 4th to Tuesday 10th March 2020

Boston to Fosdyke 12.67 miles
Fosdyke to Spalding 10.29 miles
Walpole Cross Keys to King’s Lynn 12.98 miles
Heacham to Titchwell 11.67 miles
Brancaster Staithe to Wells-Next-The-Sea 11.20 miles
Wells-Next-The-Sea to Blakeney 8.14 miles

Total miles this week 66.95

Total miles to date 3040.94

Friendly sheep, Walpole Cross Keys to King’s Lynn

Very free ranging chickens, Walpole Cross Keys to King’s Lynn

View of King’s Lynn from West Lynn along the Lynn Channel/River Great Ouse on the Peter Scott Walk

The Lynn Channel/River Great Ouse , King’s Lynn

Hunstanton cliffs, a combination of red-brown carstone with a layer of white chalk above. Heacham to Titchwell.

Hunstanton lighthouse, Heacham to Titchwell

Brancaster Staithe to Wells-Next-The-Sea

Burnham Overy mill, Brancaster Staithe to Wells-Next-The-Sea

Week 74 – North Somercotes to Benington

Posted on March 7, 2020 by Beth

Wednesday 26th February to Tuesday 3rd March 2020

North Somercotes to Mablethorpe 12.26 miles
Mablethorpe to Skegness 12.08 miles
Wrangle to Benington 4.66 miles

Total miles this week 29

Total miles to date 2973.99

Saltmarsh, North Somercotes to Mablethorpe. The sea is out there somewhere!

Disused windmill, North Somercotes to Mablethorpe

Approaching Anderby Creek, Mablethorpe to Skegness

View out to sea from the base of the “Round House” bird hide, Mablethorpe to Skegness

North Sea Observatory at Chapel Point, Mablethorpe to Skegness

Week 73 – Chertsey to Windsor, then back to the coast to North Somercotes

Posted on March 7, 2020 by Beth

Wednesday 19th to Tuesday 25th February 2020

Chertsey to Windsor 12.08 miles
Cleethorpes to North Somercotes 14.28 miles

Total miles this week 26.36

Total miles to date 2943.99

Flooded Thames Path National Trail, Chertsey to Windsor

Flooded Thames Path National Trail, Old Windsor

The Grenwich Meridian line in Cleethorpes is marked by a stainless steel plate which was set into the path in 1933. The granite globe alongside the marker weighs two tons and was designed to be more vandal-proof than previous sculptures.

Week 72 – Thurnham to Chertsey

Posted on February 21, 2020 by Beth

Wednesday 12th to Tuesday 18th February 2020

Thurnham to Lenham 9.58 miles
Lenham to Wye 11.38 miles
Wye to Canterbury 13.01 miles
Kingston upon Thames to Chertsey 11.96 miles

Total miles this week 45.93 miles

Total miles to date 2917.63

A stairway to nothing. Thurnham to Lenham

A wood carving of a shepherd with lamb, symbolising the influence of people on the landscape. For thousands of years people have made their homes on the spring-line at the foot of the scarp and their livestock, especially sheep, grazing the chalk hills has kept it free of scrub and led to the mix of grassland and woodland we see today. Thurnham to Lenham.

On the edge of Lenham was a chalk cross on the hill which commemorates the dead of 2 world wars.

This tiny old building in Lenham was built in the mid 18th century as the workhouse mortuary. It was then used as the parish gaol in the late 19th century, and finally as an air raid shelter (suitably reinforced) in the mid 20th century.

Unidentified sunken object. Lenham to Wye.

Wye to Canterbury. This old phone box in Chartham is now a village book swap.

Rustic bench on cycle route 18 alongside the Great Stour river, Wye to Canterbury

Whitehall Meadows nature reserve, Canterbury.

Carved picnic area. I love the territorial Coots and the water vole on the table 🙂

Viaduct at Whitehall Meadows nature reserve, Canterbury

Westgate Gardens, Canterbury, with the site of the Roman Watling Street

Tower House, a medieval bastion constructed to defend Canterbury’s city wall.

Statue of Geoffrey Chaucer at Canterbury.

Old building in Canterbury. The lower section is dated AD 1573 and the upper was added in 1698.

Flooded Thames Path National Trail, Kingston upon Thames to Chertsey

Detail of Hampton Court Palace gate, Kingston upon Thames to Chertsey

Hampton Court Palace, Kingston upon Thames to Chertsey

Week 71 – Great Buckland to Thurnham

Posted on February 16, 2020 by Beth

Wednesday 5th to Tuesday 11th February 2020

Great Buckland/Holly Hill to Rochester 9.47 miles
Rochester to Thurnham 10.4 miles

Total miles this week 19.87 miles

Total miles to date 2871.7 miles

Upper Bush, Great Buckland/Holly Hill to Rochester

Way marker at Upper Bush. Great Buckland/Holly Hill to Rochester

Marker outside English Heritage’s 13th century Temple Manor (which was built by the Knights Templar) in Strood near Rochester

The Catalpa tree outside Rochester cathedral. It’s over 100 years old.

Detail on the door of Rochester cathedral

Where the channel tunnel line briefly emerges. Rochester to Thurnham.

Wood carved figure. Rochester to Thurnham

At Detling I crossed the busy A249 using Jade’s Crossing. This bridge is named after 8 year old Jade Hobbs who, along with her grandmother Margaret Kuwertz, was killed attempting to cross the road in December 2000. It’s a busy dual carriageway which divides Detling and has very few safe places to cross; numerous people had been killed or injured on this road over the years. After this tragedy, the Hobbs family set up a charity for donations, raising £75,000 towards constructing the footbridge, which was opened in August 2002.

Rochester to Thurnham.

Week 70 – Caterham to Great Buckland

Posted on February 5, 2020February 16, 2020 by Beth

Wednesday 29th January to Tuesday 4th February 2020

Caterham to Westerham 7.9 miles
Westerham to Otford Manor, Sevenoaks 10.46 miles
Otford Manor, Sevenoaks to Great Buckland 11.31 miles

Total miles this week 29.67 miles

Total miles to date 2851.83

Rather muddy from Caterham to Westerham. Spot the deer tracks.

The Otford millennium mosaic by Oliver Budd

Otford Manor, Sevenoaks to Great Buckland

Trosley Country Park. Otford Manor, Sevenoaks to Great Buckland

Week 69 – Merstham to Caterham

Posted on February 3, 2020February 5, 2020 by Beth

Wednesday 22nd to Tuesday 28th January 2020

Merstham to Caterham 4.94 miles

Total miles this week 4.94

Total miles to date 2822.16

The ruins of Whitehill Tower in the grounds of Tower Farm. “It was built in 1862 by local man Jeremiah Long, supposedly (according to one source) because he wanted to see the sea from the top if it”. I wonder if he ever did. Maybe, as it’s 750ft above sea level.

Week 68 – Dorking to Merstham

Posted on February 3, 2020 by Beth

Wednesday 15th to Tuesday 21st January 2020

Dorking to Betchworth 5.39 miles
Betchworth to Merstham 7.19 miles

Total miles this week 12.58

Total miles to date 2817.22

St Barnabas Church, AKA “The Church on the North Downs Way”. It was erected in 1859 in Gothic revival style, 700ft up on Ranmore Common, Dorking, and was the estate church for Denbies.

Denbies vineyard (the largest in England), Dorking

The Inglis Memorial on Colley Hill, Reigate. It was donated to the Borough of Reigate in 1909 by Lieutenant Colonel Sir Robert William Inglis. Originally a drinking fountain for horses at the top of the original main route over Reigate Hill. Now a scenic place for ramblers to rest. Betchworth to Merstham.

View from the Inglis Memorial, Colley Hill, Reigate

A memorial for a World War Two American aircraft crew who died when their B17(G) aircraft, a “flying fortress”, crashed 70 years ago on Reigate Hill. The memorial consists of 2 oak benches carved to resemble the wing tips and placed exactly the distance apart that they would’ve been on the plane.

Reigate Fort, built in 1898 as part of an effort to defend the approaches to London from the perceived threat of a French invasion. It was intended as a “Mobilisation Centre” to gather troops and supplies for the defence of the North Downs, rather than a regular defensive structure, and by 1906 the Government felt it was no longer needed.
https://www.britainexpress.com/attractions.htm?attraction=3686&fbclid=IwAR0QLNDg_xmif7-EmP2eDqhqd9ovWYFFwr3bdd7N69r2Bb9fltXm8pq1Zy8

Week 67 – Guildford to Dorking

Posted on January 19, 2020 by Beth

Wednesday 8th to Tuesday 14th January 2020
Due to having a cold I took things easy and kept my mileage low to not stress my body further

Guildford to Shere 5.84 miles
Shere to Dorking 7.5 miles

Total miles this period 13.34

Total miles to date 2804.64

Top of the hill on the North Downs Way National Trail. Guildford.

Beggars Lane, Abinger Hammer. Shere to Dorking.

One of 3 old fence posts with a decorative top along the North Downs Way. Shere to Dorking.

The 2 fibreglass, painted cows at Denbies vineyard Dorking. Originally from the Surrey Hills Cow Parade, a collection of 60 sited across the Surrey Hills AONB in the summer of 2016 and subsequently auctioned off for charity.

Week 63 to 66 – Christmas and New Year break

Posted on January 8, 2020 by Beth

During my R&R break I spent 2 days in the Lake DIstrict before heading back to Surrey

Week 63 – Wednesday 11th to Tuesday 17th December 2019
Week 64 – Wednesday 18th to Tuesday 24th December 2019
Week 65 – Wednesday 25th to Tuesday 31st December 2019
Week 66 – Wednesday 1st to Tuesday 7th January 2020