Thursday 5 April 2012 – Canterbury, and a North Downs Way Bimble

Sue had never been to Canterbury.  Today’s overcast skies allowed her to remedy that omission.  She enjoyed the cathedral, and the walk through gardens by the River Stour was very pleasant, but much of the town resembled any other medium sized conurbation in the UK.

We adjourned to the nearby village of Wye, with its view towards the Millennium Crown on a nearby hillside, before parking at the top of the hill on the route taken by the Long Distance Path known as the North Downs Way, which in this area also bears the name of ‘European Route E2’.

I wonder whether we’ll find similar signs on the E5 route we plan to take in a few weeks time.  We certainly won’t be taking a laptop computer with us on that trip!

A brighter day would have shown the North Downs in a better light, but despite the chilly gloom, and a scarily vacant picnic table from the Marie Celeste, we enjoyed the empty countryside on this pleasant amble.

Those invisible skinny-legged picnickers need very long arms to reach the condiments, but from what were they hiding?

Here’s our route – 10 km, with 300 metres ascent, taking 2-3 hours – one of a plethora of walks you could devise in this well footpathed part of the world.

Sadly, that’s it for now as we imminently embark on a long journey northwards, so after any interlude that we may or may not report on, it’ll be back to the delights of the Lancashire Trail and the Bridgewater Canal next week…

Thanks go to Gemma and Ed, the owners of Waters Edge, for providing such a delightful abode, via English Country Cottages, for our week in Kent.