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The Wild Guide


yen_powell

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A few months ago I bought a book in Costco cos I liked the pictures. It's called WILD GUIDE (London and South East). It is basically a book of good places to visit, i.e. lakes/rivers to swim in, old ruins, caves, ancient trees, places to watch sunsets, places to eat, places to camp etc. The pictures are amazing and this one covers Suffolk, Essex, Kent, Sussex and London. I fancied a picnic today as it was supposed to be nice weather so I picked out an abandoned church and grave yard somewhere near Ashford in Kent and plotted out the narrowest windiest roads to get there after getting across the Thames. My mate and his other half, the poor man who bought my 103,000 miler Versys, decided to come with me. I think my mate was regretting it when some of the lanes were so narrow his left boot was in the grass at the side of the road and the centre of the road was deep gravel or grass where no one uses them.

On the way there we stopped for a drink at the Ringlestone pub which we all used to visit in the 80 and 90s (in the 70s for my mate who's almost a pensioner) when we would camp in a nearby farm and walk across the fields each lunchtime. I mentioned to the new landlady that it used to be owned by a mad woman who kept the front door locked and you had to knock to get in. If she didn't like the look of you she told you to sod off. If you didn't sod off she would pull out a shot gun and point it at you. She laughed and said there was still a shot gun there when they took over the pub and they had put it on the wall above the fireplace. I had a pint of shandy, followed by a wee just before we left. I had to stop on a tiny lane and rush behind a hedge again within 5 minutes of leaving for another waz. My mates were shitting themselves whilst they waited for me as a large dog was going berserk the other side of a farm gate and it looked like it was going to jump over to get at them.

We found the church and had a picnic sitting on a handy flat stone with writing all over it. Someone's name and some dates I think....... Then on the way home we stopped at the other pub we used to visit at night when camping on the farm, the Blacksmiths Arms in Wormshill. The original landlord, Barclay is long gone, but the new landlord knew of him. As we were about to leave a strange woman came up to me waving a bit of greenery at me. I had earplugs in so I'm not totally sure, but I think she was asking my opinion on whether it was wild lettuce. Looked like a nettle to me!

 

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Today I'm going to pop up the road a bit to look at Wool Street and I quote,

"Wool Street, Chalkney Woods, This Roman trackway runs through a wood more than 10,000 years old. Bluebells and anemones in spring, nightingale song early summer. Home to the greatest concentration of small leaved limes in Essex. After the directions it says, turn left into Wool Street, distinct as a plunging path.

There is no Wool Street marked on the OS map of Chalkney Woods, even as large scale, but I'll give it a go. The important thing is, it's not far to walk once I get off my bike, so I won't get guts ache and red wee. I'm saving Charity Lane for after I get de-piped next week as that is a bit of a slog.

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29 minutes ago, Pedro said:

I thought it was an amazing place to visit, did you delete my comment on purpose so that @yen_powell feels unloved, Pete?

 

 

No.....I moved the thread into Ride Reports where it needed to be!

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Should have read the book properly before going to the old church. Apparently the grave of Richard Plantagenet the illegitimate heir to the throne is there. This may be what we sat on to eat our picnic, oh well, paid for out of our taxes I suppose.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Mary's_Church,_Eastwell

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36 minutes ago, boboneleg said:

Bloody excellent that is Ian, I'm going to see if they've got a simular guide for my neck of the woods.

Great! Now we've got a one legged man out grave robbing! :classic_laugh:

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50 minutes ago, boboneleg said:

Bloody excellent that is Ian, I'm going to see if they've got a simular guide for my neck of the woods.

They have, inside the cover it says they also do:-

WALES, SCOTLAND, LAKES & DALES, SOUTH WEST, CENTRAL ENGLAND, PORTUGAL, SCANDINAVIA.

I have already bought Wild Guide: Devon, Cornwall and South West (Wild Guides): Hidden Places, Great Adventures and the Good Life (including Somerset and Dorset) for when I'm down that way.

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I never found the Roman track, just gave myself bellyache wandering about. I will be going back when I can cover more ground. Took a few pictures as I blundered about amongst the trees. At one point a squirrel froze mid tree scaling and tried to pretend I couldn't see him.

 

 

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25 minutes ago, skyrider said:

wonder what the residents think

They won’t think anything about it, or if they do they’d be happy for the company :classic_laugh:

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