Sussex Scrapbook
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Nature walks throughout the year
Saturday 9th June 2007
Penshurst - Chiddingstone. Engagement!
It was destined to be hot and steamy today as there was a good amount of rain in
the night. This morning we picked up Gill's engagement ring from the jewellers
and rode away with it to somewhere a bit more romantic to put it on her finger
for the first time. We chose the churchyard of the church at Penshurst in Kent,
as this was to be the start of our 10 mile walk today.
The churchyard at Penshurst.
From Penshurst we walked along the Eden Valley Way to Chiddingstone, where we had hoped to find the delicious, locally made cider on sale in the one pub, The Crown Inn. Unfortunately they didn't sell it, although the table outside the pub was somewhere we could have sat all day. It was very picturesque, quiet and comfortable. There was even a Norton and a Vellocette parked outside!
A really beautiful day today. The air smelt sweet from all
of the flowers and crops in the fields and everywhere was lush and steamy. We
saw baby birds everywhere and many different species too. June is probably the best month
for wildlife activity and we are trying to take full advantage of it too.
It's always good to find a patch of Ragged Robin (Lychnis flos-cuculi).
These poles are used in the growing of hops. This crop
used to cover most of Kent, but less and less seems to be grown nowadays. We
found several fields where the poles had been taken down.