We love walking and we do as much of it as we can. For me, that means three or four long walks a week on my own. Unlike me, my wife still has to go to work and so we can only go walking together at weekends and during the school holidays. This Easter, we managed to fit eight walks into the two weeks - not bad considering it was my younger daughter's wedding last week and we also looked after the grandkids on three days!
We had something of a theme for the holiday. We love the North Downs Way - a National Trail that spends a lot of its time in Kent and is only a few miles from us at the nearest point. For every walk but one, we included a section of the Trail - and we've decided to try to complete the entire walk before too long. We always plan circular walks so the NDW section is usually about a third of the whole walk with the rest being footpaths and single-track lanes. Working out a route can take a very long time!
Doing so many walks makes any kind of regular 'review' unrealistic so I'll post just one photo from each of our Easter walks...
Walk 1: The Wye Downs, Brabourne and Brook.
Wonderful views from the high path, then down to Brook (where Fred once lived) and a very steep climb back to the car park above the Devil's Kneading Trough.
Walk 2: Challock, Boughton Aluph and other small villages.
Lovely villages and hamlets with one highlight being a medieval manor by a lake.
Walk 3: Blean Woods and Harbledown.
After several miles of walking through Blean Woods we ate lunch in the rather amazing No Man's Orchard near Chartham Hatch. Another highlight was Bigbury Camp - the site of an Anglo Saxon fort where (probably) the first battle against the Romans took place.
Walk 4: Samphire Hoe, the Warren and Folkestone.
An absolutely spectacular walk along the top of the cliffs between Dover and Folkestone. That's a part of Samphire Hoe below us and I can see our car. We also explored The Warren at Folkestone - a wild nature reserve at the foot of the cliffs that feels almost prehistoric.
Walk 5: Sandwich, Deal and golf courses!
The previous walk involved a lot of very steep climbs so we did a totally flat walk for the next (nowhere near the North Downs). We came along the coast from Sandwich to Deal, and returned inland. There's a very exclusive housing estate here which is surrounded by three golf courses. We enjoy looking at how the other half lives and this property would suit us nicely!
Walk 6: The Downs near Hythe and the Elham Valley.
Fantastic views across idyllic countryside. This walk included a short section of the Elham Valley Way, which we intend to see more of soon.
Walk 7: The Downs overlooking Folkestone and the Channel.
In two weeks of wonderful views, this walk probably topped the lot. And in addition to the fantastic countryside, one section of the walk gave us a bird's eye view of the entire Channel Tunnel complex - fascinating!
Walk 8: Westwell, Charing and Little Chart (first photo above!).
We've seen a great many lovely hamlets in Kent, but we think that Westwell is probably the most lovely we've seen so far.
So... why have I bothered to post all this? (I hear you ask!). Well, I think it's fair to say that our interest in cruising has waned somewhat recently. We've got a cruise booked for this Christmas and we'll probably continue to enjoy Caribbean sun on future Christmas cruises, but we love hiking and we plan to do as much as we can during our holidays. So we're off to the Cotswolds at Whitsun and the Outer Hebrides in the summer, and we're planning a full-blown walking holiday for the summer too. Of course I intend to keep this forum going for as long as members want it, but at the same time I can post bits and pieces about walking and hiking in this little corner...
(We take this all very seriously. 
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