It was a lovely morning - blue sky, sun and only a gentle breeze - so I did an 18.8 mile local amble from home, taking in lots of my favourite places.
I began by heading down to the coast and walking to the Graveney Marshes. I hadn't intended to take photos today, and I'd gone about 5 miles before I looked back towards Whitstable and thought this was a view worth capturing...
The marshes are criss-crossed by drainage channels and a bit further on I passed the only red-coloured duck weed I've seen. I think it's also called Azolla:
The marshes gave way to farmland as I reached the village of Graveney, where I crossed one of my favourite fields. I like it because of the church and the old farmhouse, which I think make for a nice photo!
I passed through Goodnestone and headed towards Boughton-under-Blean. This is the area that I walked through for the next couple of hours...
Hop poles near Boughton:
A young orchard, an oast house and (in the far distance) a very posh house:
The main street at Boughton-under-Blean:
Leaving Boughton, I walked up Holly Hill and took this photo of my favourite oak tree!
A photo never does justice to the views from Holly Hill. I can see the church in the village of Hernhill below, the Isle of Sheppey and, a very long way off, the Isle Of Grain on the Hoo Peninsula where I walked yesterday:
The fields around here are dotted with oak trees:
I think of this as the heron pond because although it's very small, a heron usually flies away from it when I get near (although it wasn't there today). In the distance is a glimpse of Blean Woods - the large ancient woodland of these parts.
The waymarker on the stile is for the Big Blean Walk - a woodland walk of over 29 miles!
The view from near the top of Clay Hill, north towards the Isle of Sheppey:
My final photo was taken about a mile from home and shows what should be my alternative path to Blean Woods. I take a gravel track during the winter months because the fields here have soil of sticky, heavy clay that makes them tough to cross. The fact that no path is visible suggests that no one has attempted the crossing yet this year... I'll need to get on it asap!