Thurnham to Boughton Lees – 17 miles.
Almost all of the trail so far has been designated walking paths with very few roads to walk on. I was watered and fed and on my merry way by 8am. The morning was sunny, the fields grassy and full of graffitied lambs, spring was in the air and so was the air. The wind picked up to 30mph today which moved rain clouds on quickly so I was only moderately damp by the time I stopped for lunch.
Unlike the day before, I had planned in a lunch stop and arrived into Lenham around 12.30pm for a coronation chicken sandwich on white bread at the Bowcafe.
After lunch I was passing more people going in the opposite direction than I had the previous day, which was 1 person.
By the afternoon on the second day as the trail swept West, I could look back and see the ridge of The Downs and appreciate how far I’d come just by putting one foot in front of the other.
I was surprised to see that so much of the Kentish landscape had been turned over to vines. Vinyards in England? Commence the influx of overpriced bad tasting boutique wine.
The afternoon of the 2nd day was a slog, 5 hours of afternoon walking in high winds broken up only by rain. There’s only so much exposure to nature I can take before the headphones came out and my podcasts got me through the afternoon.
On my approach to Boughton the sky cleared and my evening accommodation was in sight and a welcome reprieve. The Flying Horse was everything you want at the end of a 17 mile hike.
End.
majorloveme 