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There were three of us, Joan (my wife) and I, and our friend Veronica. We all lived near Canterbury wrote Alan Ure, and it was the beginning of the 1990's.
At the age of 60 (more or less) we wanted a later-life challenge before settling down to a less active retirement. So we decided to walk the whole of the North Downs Way (opened in 1978) from Farnham, Surrey into Kent and Dover, about 140 miles.
Our aim was to walk it in roughly 10-mile stints, which was within the limitations of our physical capabilities, daylight hours and the public transport system. There were to be no overnight stops and carry our lunches etc with us. Our walk frequency was to be once a week, or as our fancy took us.
Obviously to give all the details of this 140-mile walk would fill a book and several books have already been written on it. So these memories will cover only the highlights etc of our walk as I remember them a decade later. These will be given in a consecutive manner, even though we did not always adhere to this sequence.
Our walk started from Farnham, Surrey, reached by going into London and out again. After a quick cup of tea at the local bric-a-brac market we found the North Downs Way signpost off the A31 and were soon alongside the river Wey. (Most of the North Downs is quite well signposted). That day we reached Guildford via Puttenham.
The next stage was from Guildford to Dorking via Newlands Corner, a popular beauty spot with views over Surrey and the Weald. It was very hot that day so near Ranmore Common we stopped and had an ice-cream. Nearby we saw the church of St. Barnabas with the sub-title 'The Church of the North Downs Way'. We then dropped down into Dorking at the end of another day's walk.
At Dorking we crossed the river Mole using the stepping stones and walked up a steep path, coming out at the top of Box Hill. This is probably the most popular beauty spot in Surrey.
The next remembered place is Reigate Hill, above the M25 that we crossed at Merstham and then on to Caterham. The Surrey/Kent border was then reached. This is marked by a change from wooden to concrete sign stones.
At Otford, the Way crosses the line at the railway station, convenient for Maidstone etc so we chose this as one of our stopping/starting points.
At Kemsing, with its crinkle-crankle wall, the Way passes Hildenborough Hall (a Christian Conference Centre) below which a wooden cross has been erected. Here I took a photo of Joan and Veronica.
At Wrotham we crossed the A20 and made a diversion to Trottiscliffe (pronounced Trosley) church with its carved pulpit from Westminster Abbey. Then onto the Coldrum Stones (a burial chamber) above the Medway valley.
After this came Holly Hill with its Armada Beacon and the Wealden House at Upper Bush. At Cuxton we could see the M2 bridge over the river Medway. The North Downs Way passes over the Medway via the M2 bridge and to Borstal (the origin of the name for juvenile reformatories).
Joan was now on familiar ground. At Wouldham, where she lived as a child, in the local church lies Walter Burke (the purser on the Victory) 'In whose arms the immortal Nelson died.'
At Blue Bell Hill we made another diversion to Kit's Coty (another burial chamber) and the Countless Stones. Halfway down Blue Bell Hill we crossed under the A229 and stopped at the White Horse Stone for our picnic lunch. For some reason we had a bottle of wine with us that day which we drank, followed by Joan taking a photo of Veronica and Alan leaning against the stone in a slightly inebriated state.
After Boxley woods (with a very steep uphill path) we reached Detling (with its Cock Horse Inn) and Thurnham, the site of a motte and bailey castle. We were now above the A20 and on home ground. We passed the Marley factories and on to Lenham with its war memorial and a huge cross cut into the turf above it.
At Charing we passed the remains of an Archbishop's Palace and pressed on to Eastwell Park with its ruined church and reputed grave of Richard Plantagenet. At Boughton Aluph we called it a day and returned home.
The following week we returned to Boughton Aluph where the Way divides. We took the left fork and passed above Godmersham Park, where Jane Austen stayed, and plodded on above Chilham through Old Wives Lees and down into Chartham, the village where we lived.
For the next lap we bypassed Canterbury, where there is no trace of the Way, and picked it up near St. Martin's Church, the oldest surviving church in England. We were now above the A2 (the main road to Dover).
At Patrixbourne Church we took a photo of the Norman doorway. After this we passed near Womenswold and the front of Waldershare House. On our right was a huge brick summerhouse built in 1725. We were now nearly within sight of Dover.
The Way runs along a Roman road, over the A2, and then leads into a track and a road, and downhill to Charlton Cemetery where a signpost indicates the end of the North Downs Way.
We had achieved our goal of walking the North Downs Way from Farnham to Dover. With grateful thanks for the company of Joan, my caring wife, and Veronica, my intellectual challenger.
Alan Ure, Leicestershire, 2002
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