Chilham Circular

6 July. It was mostly dry and not too hot for this walk in the hills of the Stour Valley. We started out on the official Stour Valley trail, abandoning it at the top of the hill to continue through Eggringe Wood to Sole Street.

Chilham water mill, near the start of the walk

The only real rain was at lunchtime, and most of us abandoned our picnics to eat in the reopened Compasses pub. (It’s not open on most week-days, so we hadn’t visited on the recce.) The proprietors are lovely, the dogs enormous, the decor unusual, and they managed to feed a walk-in of ten or so people from their bar menu.

After lunch we made the easy descent back down the valley, with some impressive views on the way down. Then through Godmersham back to Chilham. It’s a Saturday Walkers’ Club route, rated by them at 3 out of 10 for strenuousness – some of us thought 5 out of 10. But I’m grateful as ever for their meticulous instructions. Frank D showed me a similar route a few years back, but I had not got proper notes of that.

Janet, with thanks to Carole and Christine M for photos.