Me signing off

I am no longer able to continue organising the WWINK group and am unsure at this stage in what form it will continue.

10 May 2008 Charing Walk

This was a 9 mile walk entitled "To the very top" and was taken from the "Train Rides to Ramble" series of books from the Kentish Stour Countryside Project. Nine of us set off from Charing train station and headed through the village and past the 14th century Archbishop's Palace and the church, both of which are situated on the Market Square. We went in an easterly direction across fields until we reached the Pilgrims Way at Burnt House Farm and then began a steady uphill climb along an ancient sunken trackway through woods. We went on past The Kent Gliding Club where we saw a few gliders being launched on a winch and later one or two passed low overhead as they came in to land.

Last weekend when I pre-walked part of the route, there were bluebells in the woods in this area but today they were faded and were well past their best.

We then reached one of the highest points in the area at over 190m above sea level before heading down towards Westwell. We stopped for lunch before reaching the village and sat in a spot where we could just about make out the Crown on the Downs above Wye. We also had a hazy view over Ashford.

After lunch we went along a section of the Pilgrim's Way before taking a road south into Westwell, the furthest point from the start of the walk. The route back to Charing was firstly across a large arable field and by this time the sun was probably at it's hottest and we were glad to get into the shade of a wood known as Charing Beech Hangers. The wood is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) because of the diverse flora that occurs on the chalky soil. Unfortunately, many of the old Beech trees were lost in the Great Storm of 1987.

We then took the Pilgrims Way, which thankfully was a shady woodland path, to Burnt House Farm again before retracing our steps back into Charing.

The walk took approx 4 hours and we reckoned the temperature reached about 25 degrees. We had a quick drink in the newly refurbished Royal Oak in Charing before they chucked us out.

Charing and the Archbishop's Palace

A sunken lane and one of the gliders

Lunch and the view

"It's this way".... "No the map's upside down!"

Heading back from Westwell

Me on the phone!

Karen rushing off after the walk

After the bluebell walk - Goodbye Suz!

Once we had changed out of our boots back at the car park we went to the White Lion pub a short distance up the road in Selling to say our goodbyes to Suz. She had brought cakes and other goodies. WWINK members had signed a card and we presented it to her along with a Walking Women Buff (type of scarf). Suz then demonstrated some of the many different ways in which it can be worn, much to the amusement of everyone else. We also gave Suz a carrot cake decorated with icing ladybirds, carrots and lettering saying "Good Luck Suz".

I think I speak for everyone in WWINK who knows her, when I say "we'll miss you Suz but hope you have a fantastic time in New Zealand".

Walk - Saturday 26 April at Selling - The Bluebell Walk

The weather forecast said that it was to be the hottest day of the year so far and I think that was probably right. It was a perfect spring day for walking - bright, warm sunshine but with a bit of a breeze. This walk was led by Jayne and Mary and was an adapted version of the route they did for WWINK last year. Sixteen of us met at Selling school car park and set off towards Perry Wood. Unfortunately by the time we got to the Pulpit - the viewing platform on a hill known as The Mount, our numbers were depleted as we had managed to lose a few on the way!! They were soon found without the need to alert the search and rescue helicopters. The Mount is apparently the highest point in East Kent at 540ft above sea level.

We stopped a while on The Mount before descending through the woods and across an orchard to the village of Shottenden. There were lambs in one of the fields and a bit further on, llamas! Soon afterwards the track took us into the first bluebell wood. The timing of this walk was perfect as the bluebells were everywhere and looked stunning. We then crossed the main road between Chilham and Challock and headed into Kings Wood. Again there were bluebells everywhere. Deep in Kings Wood we stopped in a sunny spot for lunch. Most of us sat on a small dry bank of earth but others chose to sit in a puddle!

Small sections of the paths through both Perry Wood and Kings Wood were very muddy and wet but we were able to avoid the worst of it.

The route back to Selling via Molash was then mainly across fields before retracing our steps through some of Perry Wood. We had walked the 10.5 miles in around 5.5 hours with several stops to take photos etc. We all made it back slightly more sunburned and muddy than when we set off.

Sat 26 April - Steps to the Mount, The Pulpit and its view

Sat 26 April - more bluebell walk photos

Sat 26 April - A couple more bluebell walk photos

Walk- Saturday 12 April Bough Beech Reservoir

Carole led this walk around Bough Beech Reservoir which is situated between Tonbridge, Sevenoaks and Edenbridge in the west of the county. The walk was about 5.5 - 6 miles long and Carole says the "walk went well with 12 people (including a new group member) and friendly atmosphere. Lovely views of Bough Beech Reservoir from some parts of the route. Mostly good weather until showers at the end. Muddy everywhere! Kent Wildlife Trust Visitors Centre was open when we got back and so we had our picnic on benches in the barn with hot drinks. One highlight was seeing two new-born lambs being cleaned by their mother and starting to stagger about in their new field environment."

Walk - Saturday 5 April, Doddington

I took this walk route from a new series of published walks in the Faversham Area. They have been produced by the Faversham Enterprise Partnership and further information can be found at www.faversham.org/walking. This one is called the Syndale Valley Walk and we did a 8.6 mile loop through woodland, arable fields, parkland and pastureland.

There were seven of us for this walk and we set off from the village hall in Doddington. The weather forecast was for showers but the sun shone on us most of the time and we stayed dry. We headed towards Seed and Eastling and then on to Stalisfield Green. It was a great route for a spring walk as the woods were full of primroses, wood anemones and bluebells. There were also plenty of lambs in the fields plus a farm with free range pigs and hens. The paths across arable fields were well defined and luckily fairly dry. Several new kissing gates had been installed replacing the stiles making the route more accessible than we would normally expect.

We stopped for our packed lunches in an area of woodland in a valley which provided shelter from the wind. We then headed on to the magnificent Otterden Place where in 1725 the Revd Granville Wheler proved the existence of electric current! The route then took us back across fields and through more woodland to Doddington where we had a quick drink at the Chequers Inn before heading home.

Two more walks for April

Two more dates for walks have now been added to the calendar:

Sat 5 April - Doddington, near Sittingbourne (8ish miles)

Sat 12 April - Bough Beech Reservoir (5.5 - 6 miles)

(this is Carole's rescheduled walk)

Additional walk dates

More walk dates have been added and the latest list looks like this:

26 April – Selling near Faversham (11ish miles)
10 May – Charing near Ashford (8 ish miles)
24 May – Cranbrook / Sissinghust (6.5 miles)
14 June – Hythe (walk length to be confirmed)
5 July – Hollingbourne near Maidstone (8 miles)

The Bough Beech Reservoir walk on 22 March had to be cancelled because of the awful Easter weather. It will be rearanged - date to be confirmed.

Dates for the next few walks

The dates for our next few walks in early 2008 are as follows:

Sat 22 March – Bough Beech Reservoir
Sat 26 April – Selling, near Faversham
Sat 24 May – Cranbrook / Sissinghust
Sat 14 June - Hythe area

Introduction to WWINK

WWINK is a lesbian walking group that I started in February 2004. We meet about every 4 weeks for walks of between 6 and 12 miles long at various locations around Kent. Members of the group are women of all ages and come from Kent and parts of London too. It’s a great way to meet friends, keep fit and enjoy Kent’s countryside and coast.

Our first walk was at Wye near Ashford where there are far reaching views from the top of the North Downs. Each year in February we have a anniversary walk in the same area and stop for champagne at the Devil's Kneading Trough - a steep sided dry valley with fine views.