On the North Downs

A Walk with Annie

My friend Annie and me took a walk along the North Downs Way. We started in the village of Wye and took the trail through the village up to the Wye Crown, which was built as part of the Millenium Project in 2000. It's a pity that one of the seats has been broken and that some litter had been left strewn about.



From here we followed the trail along the scarp edge to The Devil's Kneading Trough, which is a a deep cut in the scarp face. Just before arriving there I had an encounter with a fox who was trotting up a lane as I came out of the path. He just looked at me bemused before running away back the way he had come.



There is a small cafe at this point and we dropped in for a cup of tea. This area is also a This area is also a National Nature Reserve famous for it's butterflies here. Apparently 20 different species can be seen here. Might be worth another visit in the summer! after continuing along the trail for another hour or so we decided it was time to loop back to Wye.



We descended to the bottom of the scarp through some woods which looked like a good place for bluebells in the late spring and came out on a small lane below. We struggled to find a foot-path to cut across the fields to the small village of Brook. WE found a pub here, the Honest Miller, and popped in for a pint and some lunch. The meal was great, the beer was fine and the warm fire very welcome.



after that it was time to do the final few miles to Wye. This was a bit of a chore as we took a meandering route down a dirt track, then a small lane before the final long stretch through the flat fields to the village. swans were grazing in the fields here but it was cold and windy so we trudged on finally arriving back to the village as it was getting dark.