Day 8: Stage 7: Wye, 20 kms, sunny 27°

Flying To Meet The Dutch!

Last night we were contacted by Annemarie‘s cousin Peiter and his family to say that they hope to meet us as they drove down from London to catch the car train at Folkestone. They’ve had a nice holiday in the UK and were on the way back to Holland. So we got up early and after a really good breakfast headed off on the trail to walk the 20 kms to Charing where we were to meet. 

It was nice and cool as we headed off, and with the Downs covered in low cloud we decided to stick to Pilgrims Way. 

The start of the day was cool and really beautiful as the clouds shifted. It was more like a fog that just sort of ebbed and flowed off the Downs.

Just one of those special early morning walks that I enjoy so much!

All the other players in the neighbourhood were slowly coming alive and setting themselves up for the day ahead. I took a lovely video of the horses and one came up to me as I was filming for the kids. Apparently they enjoyed it! 





We are still trying to figure out what these funny structures on top of some of the homes are. If you know, please leave a message in the comments below.

Our friend Gabi did a little research for us and she found the following;

One of the most familiar sights to travellers through our area is the distinctive conical or pyramid-shaped oast houses dotted among our rural towns and villages.

An oast house is actually a freestanding kiln for drying hops - which are used in the production of beer.

The hops were dried in the drying room usually located just above the kiln, then dragged into the cooling room, before being pressed or baled into packets for transport to the breweries.

The distinctive conical roof of the oast is needed to create a good draught for the fire.

The odd projections at the peak of the roof are cowls which can be pivoted to create just the right airflow for the kiln fire to draw properly

Thanks Gabi!

We agreed that this area being so dry was much like walking in Spain. Lots of flashbacks for me as I walked across this stretch.







Clearly someone doesn’t appreciate metric measurements in the area! 



While reapproaching Charing we received a text from Annemarie’s cousin who said that the traffic coming out of London was so heavy that there is no way they’d be able to meet us for lunch. We were all disappointed as the six of us hadn’t got together since 2015 after Annemarie and I had walked the Le Puy route in southern France and then cycled from Paris to Bruges. We all met for lunch in Brussels and then wander the city before heading back to Holland with them.

Today’s leg was to have been very long, approximately 30 km. However, when it looked like we might meet with the cousins we figured out that there was a train running from Charing to Wye (pronounced Y). We made the plan to have lunch with them and then catch the train after 20 km of walking. In the bottom route video you’ll see both the walk and the train ride.

Meanwhile, I had 45 minutes to kill!😂

This photo is for Rob to bring back a great memory from a 2016 walk we completed together in the August Spanish heat crossing the Camino Invierno. It was so hot that day!

After 45 minute wait we picked up the train for Wye and off we went.



Once off the train we stopped at a little pub for a nice sandwich and a cold beer down beside a small stream. It was pretty nice and very cool.



We walked on to our accommodation for tonight, an old carriage house on the Dover Road from 1697. Our room is located in the old stable area where three rooms have been constructed. It’s really quite nice! 

Tomorrow we head up to Canterbury where we will take a day off before starting the Via Francigena. There’s lots to do in Canterbury, and we haven’t been there since 1981. It will be interesting to see the changes, or what’s remained the same.

PS: just back from a wander in this well presented town. We went into the local very old church and Annemarie’s eagle eye saw a post on the bulletin board that we could get a stamp at the news outlet. Nice find!