Good morning from a grey overcast Dover, Kent, England, UK ðŽð§ ð ð
Geez, I do wish this weather pattern would move on over now and we can finally get going with summer. It’s still very chilly with a sharp wind blowing, and feels more like autumn than spring/summer!
Last night, after my client had gone to bed, I watched a TV programme – for the first time in months!! ‘The World’s Most Scenic Railway Journeys’ on Channel 5. Its narrated by Bill Nighy who has such a beautiful voice.
I was so excited to see the route; the train left from Yorkshire and travelled through Durham and into Northumberland!!! It called in at some of the places where I stopped on my jaunt along the Northumberland Coast Path in 2021, albeit going from south to north, via Newcastle, Berwick-upon-Tweed and into Scotland and ending in Edinburgh.
It stopped in Craster and near Lindisfarne, and into Berwick-upon-Tweed.
I love the little snippets of history that they talk about and learned something last night….the expression ‘on tenterhooks’ comes from the fish industry and making kippers. The fish, crasters, are filleted and hung up on hooks before being hung up in a shed for smoking, and producing smoked kippers. Pretty neat eh! Never too old to learn something new ð
It was thrilling to see all the places I had visited during my walk. Happy memories
I’ve taken to getting up at 6am after my last booking where I was required to be on duty by 7am. I’m not an early morning person, but it’s been quite useful for getting my kms in.
I reset my 2021 goal to 3200kms from 2600kms at the end of September in a moment of sheer insanity.
Walking for 2021
I reached my original goal a few days ago, 7 weeks ahead of schedule.
So now I’m walking my feet off to reach my new goal by 31st December.
The benefit, besides keeping walking fit, is that occasionally I see a stunning sunrise
Ramsgate Harbour Ramsgate beach
Not all mornings are as glorious, but when they are, it’s a real treat
Yes, unbelievably it’s Day 17 of my walking adventure and Day 8 of my jaunt along Hadrian’s Wall, so I thought I’d pop in and give a quick update.
I had hoped to update you on a daily basis as mentioned before, but oh my gosh, the most I could manage was to eat (not even every night), shower, repack Pepe, and then bed. And repeat.
As per the title, I’m now starting Day 17 of my adventure, and Day 8 of my walk across country from North Shields; Segedunum Fort to Bowness-On-Solway, along Hadrian’s Wall. What an experience it has been. I’ve taken hundreds of photos and will share some of them in due course when I get the time, and energy to write â ðð….so….here I am
Relaxing in bed in Brampton, watching a stunning sunrise and thinking back over the last 16 days.. it’s been a truly epic journey.
When I first planned on adding the Northumberland Coast Path to my Hadrian’s Wall adventure, I never for one minute doubted I’d be able to do it. But I also had no idea of what lay ahead. If I had, I might not have been quite so confident. But now that I’m near the end, and with the easy stretches ahead, I’m astounded I managed to get this far, and certainly amazed I’m still standing…well at the moment I’m lying down ððð
But, geez, I never imagined I would do quite as much walking as what I have. It’s been epic. Every day has brought its own joy, and pain, and laughter, and lots of “OMG that’s amazing” moments; reaching the border with Scotland, the dolphins off Farne Islands, seeing that bridge in Berwick Upon Tweed, traversing the bloody Blythe River estuary ðĪŠðĪŠ, visiting St Mary’s Lighthouse, the wonderful beaches of Northumberland, the many castles – all different and unique in their own way, reaching Tynemouth, the bridges of Newcastle, visiting Arbeia Roman Fort, discovering the first section of the Wall at Heddon on the Wall, seeing the ascent and then descent as I climbed the first ridge on Hadrian’s Wall (I truly do not know how I did all those), seeing the tree at Sycamore Gap from the top of the ridge and suddenly realising what it was ðð, exploring the forts and carrying my backpack for 32kms on what was the hottest day of my whole journey…unreal.
I just wish I hadn’t been so tired at the end of each day, I’d have liked to write down the daily experiences…but it was all I could do just to upload some photos before crashing. I’m looking forward to calculating my distances. But one of the best aspects of this journey has been the many, many lovely people I have met along the way, especially on Hadrian’s Way…truly epic.
I finished my latest booking today, so from 3.30pm my time is once again my own – for 6 days ðĪŠ
When I got home, after unpacking my suitcase I had a quick sleep and then I popped Pepe onto my back and took us for a practice walk.
We need to start becoming seriously reacquainted now coz it’s less than 3 weeks till we do some serious walking. It’s good from a few aspects; I test all the pressure points from the weight, I test the pressure points of my feet…where does it hurt? What needs strapping up – like my little dislocated toe on my right foot…I’ll have to strap that. Where on my heels? Etc. And testing my distance vs time.
I walked via the harbour, then up the hill…immensely pleased to not even break stride, or huff and puff.
Ramsgate Royal Harbour
Pushing myself the last 16 days has paid off big time ððððð From there I walked along the clifftop past the fairy woods where I saw an orange egg with feathers and a funny face, to my favourite sunset spot overlooking Pegwell Bay.
Fairy woods English Coast Path above Pegwell Bay
I was too early for the fireworks, but it was still beautiful.
Pegwell BayLooking back towards Pegwell Bay
Then back down via the harbour again and past ASDA where I bought myself a packet of my favourite crisps…which I haven’t had for 16 days and I think after all my hard work I deserve it ðð
I just got home and my stats are 7.83kms 2 hours 4 minutes at just over 13 minutes per km. I’m on track ðððð
Pressure points: right hip – on checking Pepe I found one of the smaller shoulder straps had worked loose, so the backpack was unbalanced (note to self…check the straps every morning before walking).
Left foot – I have very high arches, and the top of my foot on the bony area is painful from rubbing against the tongue and laces of my shoe, so that needs looking at, albeit not a new problem, walking for 26 kms is going to make it a real problem, so I must sort that before I go.
The little dislocated toe is not happy. So that will definitely need looking at.
Other than that, just my right knee was complaining, but I think that’s from the pressure of the unbalanced backpack pressing on my hip.
I’ll go out for another test run tomorrow night and see if the tightened strap makes any difference.
The bonus is that I’m still very comfortable with my gorgeous ‘Osprey Mystic Magenta Tempest 40’, and it’s like we’ve never been parted…it’s so comfortable on my back that I forget it’s there.
I’m walking another section of the Saxon Shore Way on Monday from Rainham to Rochester; approximately 16-20 kms, so that will be another good test.
Tomorrow I’m taking my grandson out for the day, and on Sunday it’s my daughter’s birthday so we’ll be going out for an early supper.
Onwards…the seagull says I did good ðð
And now I’m off to bed. Already missing the peace and quiet of the countryside…
When I was planning the next stage of my Saxon Shore Way jaunt I noticed that the Isle of Sheppey was very close to the route. And so, since I’m still working on Project 101, I decided to keep this particular stage short, and visit the island while I was there.
The Isle of Sheppey
So to that end, I planned to walk from Sittingbourne to Swale then hop on the train to Queenborough Station and spend some time walking around the island and exploring.
I’m not going to write about the actual walk at this stage because I want to write up the other stages from when I started, so instead I’ll share my brief excursion to my 20th island and 66th bridge of some note.
I got a little more than I bargained for; a very hot day and a very well timed, albeit coincidental event.
I really wasn’t sure about visiting the island coz of reports I’d had from previous visitors, but an opportunity is to taken up at the time. I was pleasantly surprised.
Like most of the south east seaside towns, the spirit of the High Street has been lost and its mostly charity shops and cafÃĐs and adhoc shops with a few interesting independent shops interspersed. But I wasn’t here for the shopping…so onwards
Sheerness-on-Sea High Street
The clock tower is very pretty and I enjoyed a lot of the architecture.
The Clock Tower A church Some lovely housesLoved these
A bonus windmill
After a short excursion through Sheerness-on-Sea, I headed for the beach planning on first cooling my feet in the sea (my daughter suggested I strip down to my underwear and go for a swim ðĪĢðĪĢðĪĢðĪĢðĪŠðĪŠ Don’t want to scare the locals!! Instead I just stood with my feet in the water…bliss!
Cool water blissful
And then because I’m insane and generally like punishing myself, I decided to walk along the promenade till it ran out and then walk inland to Minster-on-Sea. Why? Seriously. I do have some daft ideas. It was 25degrees and blazing hot, but I may never visit again, so….
The coastline is absolutely gorgeous, albeit mostly stones and little beach – ouch!!
I had planned on walking to that little promontory in the distance Getting closer But ultimately I walked much further. Was delighted to see this That water was ever so inviting. I could quite easily have gone for a swim Facing out to sea, in case the Vikings decide to invade the east coast again, they’ll be welcome ðSome pretty artwork where I turned inland
The bonus surprise came just before I left the Saxon Shore Way for the train station ð to Sheppey. I was sitting on a lovely bench eating my lunch when I heard the warning signal and looked behind me. I noticed a section of the bridge being raised and then I saw the tanker making its way upstream…
The bonus
It reminded me of how Tower Bridge lifts when large vessels enter London Pool. Ever so exciting to watch these innovative feats of engineering. Lucky me.
My thoughts on the Isle of Sheppey? I loved it, and will return another day and spend more time walking, especially through the nature reserve.
LOL I couldn’t resist the title. Inspired by my walk the night before, last night (Monday) I decided to make the most of the glorious summer evening weather we’re having at the moment and walk to Dumpton Gap and back.
The harbour looked absolutely stunning, the water like a mill pond with the boats reflected in the still water.
Ramsgate Royal Harbourlike a mill pond
There were few people on the beach which was surprising considering the weather, but hey…I’m not complaining. I love it when the sea is so still. When it’s like this I’m almost tempted to go out swimming…but looks are deceiving.
the endless sea
We are located on what is known as the Isle of Thanet. Harking back to a time approximately 500 years ago when we were in fact still an island, separated from the mainland by the River Wantsum.
The Isle is formed almost wholly of chalk, a soft pure white limestone of Cretaceous age, specifically the Margate Chalk Member (Santonian to Campanian) traditionally referred to simply as the ‘Margate Chalk’, and sometimes as the âMargate Memberâ. The Isle of Thanet first came into being when sea levels rose after the last glacial period, around 5000 BC. The North Sea encroached on the land which is now the estuary of the River Thames, and southwards to reach the higher land of the North Downs, leaving behind an island composed of chalk in its wake. Eventually the sea broke through river valleys in the North Downs to the south (Middle Chalk) and finally today’s English Channel was opened up. Archaeological evidence shows that the area now known as the Isle of Thanet was one of the major areas of Stone Age settlement. A large hoard of Bronze Age implements has been found at Minster-in-Thanet; and several Iron Age settlements have also come to light.
Right along our coastline, whole swathes of the island face the North Sea, and like Dover we have our own white cliffs. Every time I walk past these cliffs between here and Margate, I marvel at how they were made…..millions and millions of marine life over aeons of time have built up into what we can see today. Most of the fossil debris in chalk consists of the microscopic plates, which are called coccoliths, of microscopic green algae known as coccolithophores. In addition to the coccoliths, the fossil debris includes a variable, but minor, percentage of the fragments of foraminifera, ostracods and mollusks. The coccolithophores lived in the upper part of the water column. When they died, the microscopic calcium carbonate plates, which formed their shells settled downward through the ocean water and accumulated on the ocean bottom to form a thick layer of calcareous ooze, which eventually became the Chalk Group. I mean seriously…isn’t that just awesome!!! For more about this marvellous stuff we call chalk…. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chalk_Group
chalk cliffs on the Isle of Thanet
The tide was on the way in as I left, but still a fair way out. It wasn’t on the way back LOL I was trying to walk as far along the beach as possible before the waves came right up the beach, but the tide caught me out. I thought I would be clever (?) and walk along the edge of the promenade…not bright, it was a slippery as all hell, and when I got to the end, it was the end…and besides that the water was already well in, the ‘path’ didn’t continue, ssssssso I had to turn around and navigate my way back across the slippery seaweed. I eventually made it back onto the beach.
deciding to be brave or stupid?caught out by the tide
By the time I got back at 9pm the sun had set and the sky was ablaze.
Harbour entranceRamsgate HarbourRamsgate Harbour
Sadly I often see these lovely fish along the shore when I’m walking. It saddens me to think about how they met their fate and wonder if they’re not discarded by the many fishermen we see along these shores…
a dead dog fish
I managed a good 7.4 kms and thoroughly enjoyed being out walking again. I may just have found the ‘m’ in my mojo ð On the back of this I have decided to get my feet facing in the right direction and take up on the Saxon Shore Way where I left off in May. If I continue to dither and dilly dally, I will never get it finished and I still have a long way to go.
I’m also toying with the idea of picking up another 2 stages along the Thames Path this weekend.
I’ll say it right up front…I live in a stunning part of the world. The town itself is a bit of a rats ass and some days I despair at the human race, but the seashore….now that’s another story.
I set off quite early this morning to join my family for tea and buns and spend a few minutes with my BooBee before he went to school. I’m not sure it was such a good idea coz then he didn’t want to go ððð
The other reason for such an early visit is that my daughter, who is a photographer and videographer had arranged for me to be ‘interviewed’. She’s working on a project to record the grandparents life stories for posterity and so that future generations can know who we were.
It’s such a good idea. My Mum died when she was 52, I was just on 29 years old at the time, the oldest of her 4 daughters, the youngest just 13. Although we spoke a lot and she told us stories about her life, now that I’m older I have so many questions, that will never be answered.
My daughter is keen for us to leave a record of our lives, and so today we started what will be the first of I guess 6 interviews…1 for each decade.
The questions she asked were simple, but good and some of them really generated a lot of emotion… occasionally surprising even me. It took just on 2 hours and then I walked to Broadstairs to get my vaccine card laminated and some photos printed.
It was a sublime day…blues skies, fluffy white clouds, sunny but with a stiff breeze and warm. I was overdressed for a long walk.
Ramsgate beach looking towards Broadstairs Looking back from Dumpton Gap
The tide was still high when I left at just on 1pm, but receding. This meant I had to take the high road and walk across the clifftop to Broadstairs, but coming back I pushed the boundaries a little and walked along the beach to see how far I could get – I’m delighted to say that I managed to walk just about all the way back from Broadstairs to Ramsgate with just one tiny diversion to avoid some still high waves.
A new bench has been added on the cliffs near Dumpton Gap – a sad little memorial Broadstairs Beach Raided by the Vikings Viking Bay Milky white from the chalk Which country am I in??The tide was receding, so I pushed through from Dumpton GapLooking back from the promenade at Ramsgate A fishing boat returns to harbour trailing a swarm of seagulls
The walk was so beautiful and for all the world I could have been in the Caribbean. It took me just over 2 hours there and back and approximately 12kms.
I had a brief stop off at home for a cup of tea, and then I went to fetch my BooBee from the childminder and take him to the park. He rode the whole say up high on my shoulders, sat ever so still and chattered away about the day’s events.
Daddy met us at the park and took him home after some running about. I picked a few dandelions that had gone to seed and I showed him how to blow them so the ‘fairies’ could fly away. ðĨ°ðĨ°ðĨ° what a joy.
Now I’m preparing for tomorrow’s walk from Faversham to Sittingbourne along the Saxon Shore Way. I can’t pin the distance down and the sites I read had different distances….9 miles or 17 miles…take your pick??? so I’m just going to go and see how far I get. I’ve checked for railway stations in case I need to cut my walk short, and I’m hoping the tide isn’t too high along The Swale, or if the tide is high, that the pathway isn’t affected. If it is, I could have a repeat of my last walk along The Swale, albeit a different reason.
I was clean when I left home ððð
The weather forecast is good…hoorah.
I guess I’ll find out tomorrow ðĪŠðĪŠ
Oh, and I also started writing up another stage of my Thames Path walk…I’m getting there.
I had to go for my 2nd covid-19 inoculation today, so to give the parentals a break, and especially Mummy who is beyond tired but needs to work on her business, I asked if I could take the Jam with me to Deal….so straight after his gymnastics class, Mummy rushed us to the station. We cut it awfully close to the time and had to run like crazy through the station, down in the lift, raced along the tunnel where Granny yelled at someone at the top of the stairs to tell them to hold the train….up in the lift, onto the platform and onto the train…..10:25:10 – the train was due to leave at 10:25 and they held it for us LOL Thankfully I had bought the ticket in the morning or we would never had made it.
And we were on our way to Deal. He was ever so excited and talked non-stop about the beach and the castle.
Snacking on the train
When we got there I went for my jab first and he came in with me and watched them stick the needle in while I gritted my teeth and tried not to flinch LOL…..actually it was pretty painless, just a small pinch. But he got a sticker afterwards and when we got home later, the first thing he did was tell Mummy and Daddy all about ‘Anny having an injection, and that he got a sticker. His memory of events is amazing.
After the jab we walked to the seafront and stopped off on the beach. I think he was surprised that it was all stones. I think he was expecting sand like we have at home. But he loves stones and proceeded to collect as many as he could. My fault of course because I’m always picking stuff up on the beach and taking it home…like sea-glass and bits of wood for our future projects.
half of Deal beach in the bottom of the pram
Once the bottom of the pram was suitably filled with stones, we walked to the castle, but unfortunately it was still closed. We were both disappointed. I guess we have to wait till May?
the castle was closed!!
pikcing up stones on the beach
lunch at the beachfront
adventure in Deal
We stopped off for lunch which he enjoyed, and of course we had some seagulls hovering around, so he shouted “go away that one seagull”….and eventually it did….flew off and we never saw it again. ð
From there we took a stroll along the ECP towards Walmer. He ran along with wild abandon, and then got tired and insisted he wanted to ride on my shoulders. So there I was, pushing the pram with one hand and hanging onto his leg with the other. It was terribly windy and walking into the wind wasn’t much fun.
But then I spied a wooden boat on the beach so we went to have a look and that kept him occupied for a while. Of course he unpacked all the stones, which I then had to pack back again.
moving stones from one space to another
sailing over the deep blue sea
riding a rickshaw
Afterwards I took some photos then we strolled some more but the wind was so fierce it was knocking him off his feet and I couldn’t keep up with him running helter skelter, the pram going off with the wind, and his bag taking wings and flying off. So I made an executive decision, popped him back in his pram and we headed back towards the pier.
He got really excited when he saw the sculpture of the fisherman and the ‘big fish’ Anny!!! so we stopped to have a look at that. He spotted some people sitting on a bench with Costa cups in their hands and immediately ran over to a free bench and said “hot chocolate Anny” – hahahaha branding works!! How could I refuse.
a big fish Anny – look how tiny he is….hardly as big as the fish!!
hot chocolate – never say branding doesn’t work
But first we had a run along the pier, but not on the level like normal people, oh no, he wanted to run along the benches that line the pier; so there I was, holding his hand with one hand and running while pushing the pram with the other, which he thought was hilarious. Oh boy, the wind was so strong I could barely cope, so once again…into the pram and we strolled into the town centre for the hot chocolate. He was pretty much ready to go home by then and kept saying “Mamie home….Mummy Daddy home” – which is his signal to go home.
So we did. Took the earlier train and thanks very much Jamie, he delivered a massive poop!! As we got to the station he said “Mamie poop!” Nice one!!! He hadn’t pooped for the last 2 days, and voila….he saved it for me! So there we were, on the train, changing his nappy. Thankfully he lay still or we could have had a disaster LOL And just as well the carriage was empty on our side….I’m not sure the other passengers would have coped hahahaha.
All too soon we were back in Ramsgate and on our way home. When we got there, Daddy had just got back from his driving lesson, and the Jam wanted to go to the park, so off we went.
He loves the park with all that lovely space to run around….swings, and the slide, the climbing frame, the climbing wall and the obstacle course. I taught him how to slide forwards…and smooossh face-plant LOL I refrained from walking along the chains this time LOL so he did the balancing and jumping and then home for bath and dinner. Thankfully Daddy carried him this time.
face-plant!!! LOL have to give him credit for picking up and carrying on…
I just got a whatsapp photo of him fast asleep….tired out after his big adventure.
Sunday I’m taking him to London to Spitalfields to see the bronze elephant sculptures; Herd of Hope – a family of 21 life-sized bronze elephants embarking on the journey of a lifetime as they migrate across London. Leading the herd is our matriarch, symbolic of the mother and family each of the infant elephants, in the care of the Sheldrick Trust, lost when they became orphaned. She represents our Keepers, our team and you, our wider family who help to give these elephants a second chance at life.Read more about the Sheldrick Trust and the Herd of Hope
Hello!!! ðð yes I’m still alive….and walking. What’s new?? ðð
Sorry I’ve been so quiet lately, my only excuse is that I have been working and walking and enjoying time with my grandson.
I had a super couple of weeks in Devon recently where I got to visit 5 new places, revisit 1 and do a lot of walking and exploring, and added another section of the English Coast Path to my collection.
I got back home last week and as is usual I’ve spent as much time as possible taking my grandson to the beach and the park.
And yes, I started my Thames Path adventure ððððððķðŧââïļðķðŧââïļ
although I can’t walk the whole route as I originally planned, I’ve completed 2 sections; Erith to Greenwich
Cutty Sark, Greenwich
And Greenwich to Battersea Park. Super awesome. Tomorrow I’ll be walking Stage 3 from Battersea Park to Richmond and on Friday, Stage 4, Richmond to Hampton Court. The 5th and final stage for now, I’ll be walking on Saturday from Hampton Court to Staines. The rest of the walk? Who knows??
Not the route I’m following, but the river certainly is long ðð
As a result I’ve only managed 1 sunset walk at home and a couple of other sunsets I saw from the train on my way home from London. Sunrises = 0. The sun gets out of bed too early for me in summer ðð
Seen from the train at Rochester station
So my blog has sadly been neglected. That’s not to say I haven’t been writing….I have quite a few posts sitting in drafts waiting to be completed, but I need to edit the photos that go with them.
I’ll get there.
Meanwhile, after taking my grandson to his 2nd gymnastics class yesterday I finally opened my computer again to update my budgets and plan my savings strategy for the next few years. Gosh I really do wish I had enough money to give me more time to do all the walks I’d like to do.
I completed the Giza Pyramids Conqueror Challenge while still in Stoke Gabriel so I should be seeing the medal in the mail soon.
I’ve started the Ring Road, Iceland challenge although that’s a long term challenge that I’ll flip in and out of over the next few months.
I’ve been dithering about which challenge to allocate the Thames Path walk ….Mt. Kilimanjaro (97.1kms) or The Cabot Trail (299.4kms)?? ðĪðĪðĪ
The Cabot Trail would have been perfect if I’d been able to walk the whole Thames Path route in one go and I’m reluctant to break it up…and Mt. Kilimanjaro will be completed in 4 days….or maybe 5 depending on my final tally on Saturday. See my quandary??
So anyway, now that I’ve blathered on for the last 10 minutes…here’s the promised sunset ðððķðŧââïļð
Interesting to note that the position of the sun set has changed in the last few weeks Sunset Pegwell Bay Hello ððAnd my favourite boat in the harbour
Just popping in quickly to share a photo from this morning’s sunrise.
I’m currently in South Devon, started a new booking today, but travelled here on Monday and spent 2 nights and a day in Paignton, with a visit to Torquay and Brixham and a walk along the South West Coast Path (more on that to come).
Meanwhile I went down to the seafront at 6am to watch the sunrise and I was not disappointed
You can just see the 2 cruise ships to the middle and far right
Not Just a Granny 
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