Day 35 Eyhorne Street to Boughton Lees: Resting Pilgrims

Other than Ken's cold, a fine day on the Pilgrims' Way

Pondering with Percival

For an OS map of today's walk click here.

Today's walk was a long, fairly straightforward one from Eyehorne Street to Boughton (pronounced Borton) Lees. Coming after an even longer walk the day before, it was tough to get going in the morning. It was made more difficult for Ken because his cold affected his energy, and so we didn't depart until nearly 10:00 a.m. Our route consisted almost entirely of following the Pilgrim's Way, which was pleasant as it mostly contoured the lower slopes of the downs, with few climbs of any note and good views ahead to the southeast along the gently declining ridge.

Three miles along we rested on Brother Percival' s bench, north of Harrietsham. We later rested below a large chalk cross cut into the hillside, which was a war memorial. There were beautiful poppy fields nearby, and we saw a woman galloping her horse back and forth a few times along the gravel track.

"Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by?"

Today's nature report includes tidings of Roman snails, kidney vetch (prettier than it sounds), and a shrew scurrying across the path in front of us.

Charing Castle and Church

Our afternoon break was at the pretty village of Charing, where we had tea and looked around at the many interesting old buildings. We did get in to the church, and with Ken's cold managed to sing one slightly nasal verse of "Amazing Grace." [We were also brought up short by the carved wooden crucifix outside at the west end of the church under the tower: "Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by?" Sadly, it apparently did mean nothing to the vandal who defaced the sign. It means everything to us—Ken].

Upon leaving Charing we reconnected with the North Downs Way/Pilgrim's Way and had good paths, making excellent progress even though we were tired. We arrived at our B & B around 6:20 p.m., where we received a warm welcome from our hosts Tania and Nigel. We stayed in a very comfy self-catering suite, with a kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and living room. It was wonderfully relaxing, and we had a good night's rest.

On the Home Stretch to Boughton Lees

40,000 steps, 30 km, 1264.6 cal
OS getamap measured distance: 14.68 mi (23.63 km)