Rye Harbour Nature Reserve
Country House(boat)
On Saturday I took a walk along the Thames Creek in Essex with a photography group. Leaving Benfleet we walked along the creek and then up to Hadleigh Castle and down to Leigh on Sea.
One Tree Hill
This week I took another long walk through the spectacular Kent countryside. The walk started at Lullingstone and went up a hill, one tree hill by my reckoning, through the wheat fields smothered in poppies, across a fairway on a golf course, dodging golf balls and getting lost, along the ridge high above Shoreham and back along the Darent River to Eynsford. All on a most spectacular summery day.
View Across the Canal
This week’s walk through the Kent countryside involved a three mile stretch along the Royal Military Canal built at the beginning of the 19th century as a defence against possible invasion. However, the threat from Napoleon and his armies had subsided by the time the canal was actually completed in 1808.
Orchard in Spring
On Saturday some friends and I joined the Greensand Way for a 4 mile walk near the village of Pluckley in Kent. Pluckley is said to be the most haunted village in Britain although I think you’d have to spend a bit more time there than we did to experience that pleasure. Our walk took us through blossoming orchards and woods carpeted with bluebells to the ruins of St Mary’s church, a perfect spot for lunch.
Church Ruins Photo
On Saturday’s walk through the Kent countryside we stopped at the ruins of St Mary’s church at Little Chart for lunch. The original structure was built around 1200 and added to over the next couple of hundred years. It was finally reduced to rubble by a German Doodlebug in 1944.
Kent Apples
This week I went for an autumn walk in the Kent countryside with friends. We passed several apple orchards, some still working and some past their prime. It was a beautiful afternoon with spectacular views over the misty countryside dotted with oast houses and autumnal trees.