Author Topic: Weekend walking - out of the way!  (Read 538 times)

WhitstableDave

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Weekend walking - out of the way!
« on: 12:43:40, 22/03/20 »
It's amazing how quickly things change. Last weekend, my wife and I were conscious of not getting too close to other people we might pass, whereas this weekend we tried to do our walks where we wouldn't see anyone at all if possible - and that's been quite a challenge! The problem has been (and I've particularly noticed this on my weekday walks) is that there are many more people out and about than usual.

Yesterday, we decided to do a walk from home to our local woods and to get there by going across fields instead of by the main farm track we'd usually take.

As I mentioned a few days ago, there's no sign on the ground of the footpath across this field so it needs to be established...  :)



As soon as we emerged onto a main track in the woods we could see lots more dog-walkers than usual, even for a Saturday. So we immediately took lesser-used (and occasionally very muddy) paths and managed to avoid passing anyone until the farm track leading back to the road.



We do things a bit differently on a Sunday morning. My wife runs and I walk briskly on a there-and-back route and we time our turnarounds so as to finish at the same time. I came up with a route that I hoped would be people-free! Basically, we would follow a cycle route along which I've walked several times before and never passed anyone...

We parked in a deserted car park. (That's my wife's new car, which she loves - her previous five were all Fiat 500s of varying kinds.)



We went along an extremely quiet road through the hamlet of Potten Street, which is somewhere between Herne Bay and Margate.



The lane on the other side of Potten Street. The land is reclaimed marshland so it's very flat here (which is why I chose it for my wife's run). The downside of this landscape is that it's very exposed and we ran/walked into a cold, brisk wind on the return leg.



This is the point where I turned back. The waterway is the Wantsum Channel, which separates the Isle of Thanet from mainland Kent.



On the way back, I took a selfie that makes me look very short!  :)



The route was a success because neither of us passed a single walker or runner. Four individual cyclists passed us though, but that's less of a concern and probably only to be expected on a cycle route on a Sunday.

My wife had done several runs already this week, so today's outing was shorter than usual at just over 6/5 miles. Even so, my total for the week is a pleasing 81.3 miles.  :)
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SteamyTea

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Re: Weekend walking - out of the way!
« Reply #1 on: 14:09:19, 22/03/20 »
Whenever I read your posts it reminds me of school.  I was at school in Harbledown.
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WhitstableDave

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Re: Weekend walking - out of the way!
« Reply #2 on: 15:01:17, 22/03/20 »
Whenever I read your posts it reminds me of school.  I was at school in Harbledown.
:) I know Harbledown well and walk through it often... which school?
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SteamyTea

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Re: Weekend walking - out of the way!
« Reply #3 on: 15:45:37, 22/03/20 »
:) I know Harbledown well and walk through it often... which school?
Not there anymore, was up Mill Lane.  Was called Torrens.
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WhitstableDave

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Re: Weekend walking - out of the way!
« Reply #4 on: 16:12:32, 22/03/20 »
Not there anymore, was up Mill Lane.  Was called Torrens.
Thanks. You probably already know that the North Downs Way goes along Mill Lane on its way into the centre of Canterbury.  :)
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SteamyTea

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Re: Weekend walking - out of the way!
« Reply #5 on: 16:23:03, 22/03/20 »
Thanks. You probably already know that the North Downs Way goes along Mill Lane on its way into the centre of Canterbury.  :)
I didn't, as I was there nearly 50 years ago.  But does it take in the Black Princes Well?
« Last Edit: 16:29:37, 22/03/20 by SteamyTea »
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WhitstableDave

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Re: Weekend walking - out of the way!
« Reply #6 on: 17:01:16, 22/03/20 »
I didn't, as I was there nearly 50 years ago.  But does it take in the Black Princes Well?

The North Downs Way goes past the Black Prince's Well about 400m to the south.

For anyone else who might be reading, the well is in the grounds of an ancient hospital called St Nicholas' Hospital - now the site of a church and almshouses. The hospital was originally for lepers and it is said that Edward the Black Prince bathed in the well in the hope of treating his leprosy.

The public are permitted to walk through the grounds and because it's between Whitstable and the North Downs Way, I've been there many times. I thought I had a photo of the well, but I can't find one, so instead here are some photos of the church, almshouses and (bottom-left) the hospital...



Walk, Jog, Run : our YouTube video channel.

Lee R

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Re: Weekend walking - out of the way!
« Reply #7 on: 17:26:29, 22/03/20 »
We went to a local walking spot today & it was a bit busier than normal. We kept out of the way of people as much as we could & walked off of the main paths often too.


5¾ miles in about 5 hours - Lots of photo stops (I took my film camera too) & we had a disused quarry to ourselves for about 45 minutes for lunch :)

Bigfoot_Mike

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Re: Weekend walking - out of the way!
« Reply #8 on: 17:49:13, 22/03/20 »
That looks like a good day out.


I went for a 6+ mile walk today and saw very few people - probably not more than a dozen. The closest I got to any of them was about 20 feet.

gunwharfman

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Re: Weekend walking - out of the way!
« Reply #9 on: 18:21:38, 22/03/20 »
When I first looked at the title, I read it as 'Weekend walking - GET out of the way! I then put my glasses on.

 

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