Month: February 2020

Week 72 – Thurnham to Chertsey

Posted on 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

 

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.

 

Thurnham to Lenham

 

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.

 

Lenham

 

Lenham to Wye

 

Lenham to Wye

 

Unidentified sunken object. Lenham to Wye.

 

Lenham to Wye

 

Lenham to Wye

 

Lenham to Wye

 

Orchard. Lenham to Wye.

 

St Gregory and St Martin’s church, Wye

 

Wye to Canterbury

 

Wye to Canterbury

 

Wye to Canterbury

 

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

 

Storm damaged trees. 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

 

Beneath a road bridge, Canterbury

 

Canterbury

 

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

 

Westgate Gardens, Canterbury

 

Westgate Gardens, Canterbury

 

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

 

Westgate, Canterbury

 

Statue of Geoffrey Chaucer at Canterbury.

 

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

 

Canterbury cathedral

 

Ceiling detail, Canterbury cathedral

 

Window detail, Canterbury cathedral

 

Flooded Thames Path National Trail, Kingston upon Thames to Chertsey

 

Kingston upon Thames to Chertsey

 

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

 

Hampton Court Palace, Kingston upon Thames to Chertsey

 

Hampton Court Palace, Kingston upon Thames to Chertsey

 

Kingston upon Thames to Chertsey

 

Kingston upon Thames to Chertsey

 

Kingston upon Thames to Chertsey

 

 

Week 71 – Great Buckland to Thurnham

Posted on 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

 

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

 

Rochester Bridge

 

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

 

Detail on the door of Rochester cathedral

 

Rochester cathedral

 

Entrance to Rochester castle gardens

 

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

 

Wood carved figure. Rochester to Thurnham

 

Lunch stop on a carved bench overlooking a vineyard. 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.

 

Rochester to Thurnham

 

Week 70 – Caterham to Great Buckland

Posted on 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

 

Caterham to Westerham

 

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

 

Caterham to Westerham

 

Caterham to Westerham

 

Caterham to Westerham

 

Caterham to Westerham

 

Westerham to Otford Manor

 

Westerham to Otford Manor

 

Westerham to Otford Manor

 

The Otford millennium mosaic by Oliver Budd

 

The Otford millennium mosaic by Oliver Budd

 

Otford duck pond

 

Otford Manor, Sevenoaks to Great Buckland

 

Otford Manor, Sevenoaks to Great Buckland

 

Otford Manor, Sevenoaks to Great Buckland

 

Otford Manor, Sevenoaks to Great Buckland

 

Trosley Country Park. Otford Manor, Sevenoaks to Great Buckland

 

Otford Manor, Sevenoaks to Great Buckland

Week 69 – Merstham to Caterham

Posted on 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

Oh no!

 

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 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

 

Dorking to Betchworth

 

Dorking to Betchworth

 

Dorking to Betchworth

 

Brockham Limeworks near Betchworth

 

Betchworth to Merstham

 

Betchworth to Merstham

 

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.

 

The ceiling of the Inglis Memorial

 

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

 

Betchworth to Merstham