It’s been quite a week. Firstly, thank you to everyone for your support and messages – they’ve been very much appreciated, particularly during some of the rather heavy and horizontal rain in Kent this week.
So, after tea and cake at St Wilfrid’s on Sunday, the walk began. It was a weirdly ordinary start, up past Lindfield, over the Haywards Heath golf course and through to Ardingly. By nightfall I’d reached the first overnight stop, in East Grinstead. I’d also managed to get my first blister (not the best of starts). Why East Grinstead? Because I planned on walking to Canterbury first, before heading to Rome, and so I intended to walk north-east to Maidstone to join the pilgrims way to Canterbury, on the North Downs.
By Tuesday, I’d joined the Pilgrims Way, having passed through Tunbridge Wells, Maidstone, and skirted past Ashford. The walk from Tonbridge to Maidstone was rather pleasant, with good weather and flowering trees on both sides of the Medway river. However, from Maidstone onwards there was a lot of mud trudging (the normal kind, and the claggy chalky grey stuff which sticks, and if you’re not careful, leaves you with a few extra kilos hanging off your boots). I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Pilgrims Way didn’t climb around the hills too much, particularly around Maidstone, where it didn’t stray far from feet of the hills. I suppose like me, the pilgrims of the past were not keen on climbing, particularly when all the rather fantastic pubs are at the base of the hills! That said, I’ve been viewing pubs more as loos, with entry fee of a pint.
At Canterbury (the Wednesday evening view from 7 miles away was just the morale boost I needed) I arranged to meet with a chaplain in the afternoon, before setting off (again). We met, but as the vergers were off at lunch he couldn’t get into the ‘pilgrim box’, as they seemed to have the key. So, we talked a while, and I then took a good look around the cathedral. As it happens, I’m rather glad the vergers were out at lunch, otherwise I probably wouldn’t have spent so long enjoying the cathedral, and talking to people. It seems that most of the people working there are not exactly fans of Henry VIII.
Eventually, the box was opened, we popped down to a quiet space downstairs, and said a few prayers, and then parted ways. The pilgrim welcome booket / (very small) order of service had sections for arriving pilgrims, and departing pilgrims. As I was both arriving and departing, we said the full thing. The chaplain was really very nice, and I hope I see him again at some point.
I left Canterbury that afternoon, and had made it down to Shepherd’s Well by the evening. The views over the undulating, sun-drenched North Downs were stunning, and perhaps more importantly required minimal effort; the steep gradients had melted away into the chalk long before, somewhere outside of Chilham, I think. In Shepard’s Well, the campsite was closed, so after finding a nice looking bench (with a roof, I might add – I’ve had worse) I went into the pub and naturally decided that out of options as I was, the time had come to get cracking on this academic paper I need to write (a penultimate tentacle of the degree). Despite my almost completely ignoring the accommodation problem, a very kind gentleman offered me a square of his garden, which I accepted gratefully – I was upgraded to a sofa bed in minutes, despite protesting that the garden was already very generous. The pub closed at 10, and I had a very sound sleep, despite a mastiff (I think, but I’m no dog expert) pawing at the door.
The lovely broad, open downs countryside between Canterbury and Shepherd’s Well continues down to Dover, but unfortunately, as I found out this morning, they offer exactly zero resistance to the racing winds, and no shelter for poor walkers in poor weather either. In short, I was soaked (not that it’s much consolation, but I was only three quarters soaked, on account of the horizontal rain).
In any case, I’m now writing in Dover, where all is well, because the sun has come out, now that I’m inside. I’ve a ferry booked for tomorrow morning that will see over the Channel, and from there I’ll walk to Guines, and camp there for the night.
When I was planning this trip, one of the reasons for walking from Haywards Heath, and not the start of the Via Francigena (the pilgrim route I’m following from Canterbury to Rome) was that the distance from Haywards Heath to Canterbury was almost a rounding error in the length of the pilgrimage, and so I thought “might as well”. I’ve definitely changed my mind on that rounding error thought! That said, the journey through England has been fantastic, despite some of the weather, and I only look forward to France, and beyond.
On the feet – well, they have remained for the most part, dry (indeed, the driest part of me this morning!). But, despite breaking my boots in well, and double-socking, I’ve managed to get some blisters. The heel ones are very much under control, but I also have one under the ball of each foot. They’re proving harder to deal with, and quite inconvenient for walking. Still, I think they’re slowly getting better. Hopefully the slightly lower milages in France help with that. I’m on the search for some sheepswool to help with those.
According to my GPS tracker, I’ve walked about 98 miles (157 km) since Sunday. That puts me at 7% of the total route length.
Distance Walked: 98 miles
No. Blisters: ~7