The Elham Valley

One of the roads around here that I really love to ride is that which runs through the Elham Valley. It goes from the A2 Dover-Canterbury, just above Barham, down to the A20 just below Etchinghill.

There's some attractive villages along the way too, and a lot of history!. As usual, I worked out where I wanted to go, and what I wanted to see, and it should have been easily achievable- do the entire length of the valley and then turn left and pick up a couple of extra villages on the end.

Problem is, the British weather thought otherwise. I managed to get half way along, and it started to rain. Only lightly, but I had three washing machine loads on the line at home drying. Oh well, there'll be other days.

So, I covered tiny little Postling, then on to Etchinghill, Lyminge and Elham, with a tiny diversion between Postling and Etchinghill to find a small war memorial alongside the A20 where it just encroaches on Sandling.

Now, when I got to Elham, I walked around the village, and as I walked back to Twinkle, the bell on the church clock reminded me it was lunchtime and I was hungry.

I was almost back to the Abbot's Fireside, when I spotted a new tea rooms that wasn't there last time I went through the valley.

One bottle of sparkling Kingsdown rhubarb (my new favourite) and a delicious cheese and tomato sandwich later, served by a lovely lady, I thought this is so me.

It's a very pretty place, the food and drinks are locally sourced, the service is impeccable and the pricing appropriate to the style of food they serve. I for one will make it a regular stop every time I pass between those hilly sides.

So, unusually for me, this is a firm recommendation: 

Go on, treat yourself - The Elham Tea House, two doors down from the Abbot's Fireside in the centre of the village, right on the main road. Please visit and show your love by signing the petition on the counter, to stop the Parish Council limiting their hours unfairly.

Elham Tea House

clicky-wicky their web-site above too.

Menu

OK so over to the Kent section now to work on the pages for Postling, Etchinghill, Sandling, Lyminge, and Elham. 129 pictures to sort through, so it will probably take me the rest of the week to get it all online. And the rest of the Elham Valley will go back into my system to be done another day.

Sevington

Had to get a bike MoT'd today, and there was enough time left for a little country ride, and a visit to Sevington church.

Sevington, a tiny suburb of Ashford where the church is now divorced from its parish, separated by the new ring road, is quiet and peaceful. The church lies at the end of a lane which goes nowhere. You can hear the sound of the traffic rushing past on the dual carriageway and the M20 nearby, but as you get closer to the church, those sounds fade, to be replaced by bird song. Once inside the church, peace reigns.

New page under Kent coming up shortly......................

Sussex in the sunshine (well, until it rained, of course)

 Yesterday me and The Other Half went for a ride down through Sussex. We passed through Burwash in bright sunshine, and had to pause for traffic right by the church. 

It looked beautiful in the sunshine, so today, having a free day, I thought I'd head back there, and have a proper look around both the village and the church. 

I was met in the church by a group of people, enjoying their Monday coffee morning. I was promptly given a cup of coffee, and invited to join them for a natter.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank those lovely people, who made me so welcome. I enjoyed our chat - and the coffee. 

So - to the point of today's visit. I've taken loads of pictures of both the church and the village. As usual, it will take me a couple of days to upload the pictures, and a little longer to research the finer details. 

On this trip, I decided not to visit Batemans, the former house of Rudyard Kipling. That deserves a longer period of time for a visit than I had available today. Also, I prefer to keep 'indoor' visits for less clement weather, and use these warm and sunny days for visits by motorcycle.

A break, but no holiday.

 I'm afraid there will be a break from my wanderings for a while now. I start chemotherapy in a couple of days, and of course, have no understanding of how it may affect me as yet. 

But, I will use my time wisely, if I can. I may not be able to ride my bikes over the next few months, but if I can, I will try and do some gentle train trips to places where I won't have to do too much walking. 

Failing that, I still have loads of research to do on the people and places I've already covered.

OK - see you on the other side................................

And that reminded me that...............................

Yesterday's little trip to the Kent & Canterbury Hospital reminded me that there was still a lot more in Canterbury to investigate. Finding myself at a loose end today, I hopped on the train and spent another couple of hours exploring more of the city centre. 

I'm in the middle of updating the Kent/Canterbury page, with new stuff and revisits to places already partially explored. 

And I've still not seen the half of it...........

Oh my, how it has changed,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Today I had an appointment at the Kent & Canterbury Hospital, which is a huge sprawling complex with no accident and Emergency facilities. I was actually quite looking forward to it, as I lived in Canterbury for a while and my son was born in what is known as the '1937 Building' of the hospital.

I am going to add a small article about it on the end of the Kent/Canterbury page.........

Finally ......................

Was having a good day today, so decided to take Twinkle for a run. (wasn't quite up to riding the Yamaha). So, Twinkle being Twinkle (sweet little underpowered thing that he is) and the sun being all shiny and hot, it screamed out for a trip out into the wilds of Romney Marshes and environs.

So, we have High Halden, Rolvenden, Rolvenden Layne, and Wittersham for you to peruse, plus failed attempts to access the churches at St. Michael's and Reading Street - the pages have been started, but not a lot there yet. Also managed to add a shot of a building that was originally a cinema in Tenterden, but which is now a pretty little row of shops.

It felt good to be on the road again, but I now have loads of research to do. It's going to rain all weekend it seems, so that gives me a chance to do it.

Just a reminder, and an update.

 If you're new to this website, here's how to use it. 

On the left is a menu of counties. Just scroll down and click on the county you want to explore. That click will take you to the homepage for the county, and if you then scroll down the page, below the introduction you will see a menu of all the places in that county that have been wholly or partially explored so far.

Just click on the place you want to see and clicking on that will take you to the dedicated page for that place.

And of course, clicking on each picture will bring it up full screen........

Meanwhile......keep an eye on this front page, as this is where I will advise you of where I've been and what's new.

I'm hoping this lovely weather will continue, because I shall be restarting my travels hopefully next week................

Unfortunately

 Despite having an 800 page document of research to catch up on, this project is on hold whilst I'm trying to regain my health. 

So there won't be any new places added for a while, but I am doing research from home on what I've already posted, so you may see some useful additions.

Sorry

 to those of you waiting for the report on the Charterhouse Priory.  I started it, but then unfortunately got rushed into hospital. I am home, but not in a fit condition to sit at the desk for any length of time

Hopefully, normal service will be resumed soon......................................