Coast to coast walk day 5. The last section, reaching the south-east coast of Kent! Walking to support Cortijo Romero in Spain.

Yesterday we finally embarked on the last section of our "coast to coast" walk continuing from our previous stop at the village of Etchinghill on the Elham Valley Way.  This final part of the route would take us all the way to the south-east coast of Kent, finishing on the beach at the seaside town of Hythe.  As with many things during the last 18 months of the pandemic, the walk has not gone to plan.  We intended to walk this section two weeks ago, but my on-going health struggles following my second Pfizer jab had other ideas.  Twenty-four hours after completing our previous section of the walk, I was suddenly ill again with more post-vaccine symptoms.  It has taken until now (alongside my GP's firm instruction to not suddenly over-do the exercise) to feel able to walk this far.

Etchinghill was bathed in the most glorious morning light with clear blue skies above us and a definite autumnal chill in the air.  We retraced our steps for a mile or so from our last section as this was next to the nearest bus stop.  Enjoying the familiarity of this footpath, we strolled up a hill, through a field of peaceful cows and arrived at the same bench with the first dramatic view of the sea of the south coast.  I ensured that we rested every half-hour of the walk to help prevent the risk any health relapse, so we sat quietly while listening to the birdsong that surrounded us.  The next section of the walk was gently downhill and along the edge of woods, with spectacular patterns of light in between the coppiced trees.  Having expected this last section of the walk to be more urban, I was surprised that we actually weaved our way through woodlands and paths, only passing through one village (Newington) just in time for lunch.

As a ritual of this walk, we walked to the church in the heart of the village and was once again grateful for the bench placed to the side of the graveyard, where we could eat our sandwiches in a reflective space.  St Nicholas Church is another historic Kent church, dating back to the 12th century with a rather unique bell tower clad with cedar shingles.  After a sufficient rest, we then commenced our last leg of the walk, heading towards Hythe.  Thankfully, we still wiggled our way along footpaths which steered away from urbanisation until the brief shock of reaching the M20 bridge right next to the Eurostar trainline.  It felt like an intrusion and an enormous human scar across our gentle meandering footpaths.  Within a few minutes we were relieved to be reunited with the Elham Valley Way, winding its way across a golf course.  Here we caught another glimpse of the glistening sea in the distance below the golfing green as we passed through, avoiding golfers swinging enthusiastically.  Suddenly we were walking alongside a residential street of bungalows and the countryside had gone.  We had sadly left our gentle quiet paths and were definitely in the outskirts of Hythe.

As we were nearly completing the walk, I thought of Cortijo Romero in Spain and all the people who have read about our walk through this blog and Facebook. Martin and I are just two of hundreds of people who hold Cortijo Romero close to their hearts and hopefully our combined actions will help keep CR afloat as it rides the ups and downs of the pandemic.  Not only have I enjoyed many holidays out at Cortijo Romero, I have also volunteered twice for two months each time.  The experience of living at CR for long periods have meant that the place, the mountains around, the staff and the cat Ramona feel like part of my extended community.  And if that wasn't enough, I met Martin there on the roof top, doing a morning tai-chi session surrounded by the majestic mountains. Sometimes we even feature in the CR brochure, looking a bit younger than we do now!

Plodding through the town of Hythe, I was just grateful that I've been able to walk this far.  6½ miles would be fine in my normal health, but in my recovering post-vaccinated body, it feels monumental.  Walking along Twiss Lane, we passed the tree-lined Royal Military Canal and headed straight to the beach.  With some excitement, I crunched my way over the shingle right down the water's edge and jumped for joy that we had finally made it.  Looking around, it was definitely the south-east coast of England, so different to our small compact fishing town to the north.  I sat and admired the vastness of the sea, which is actually "proper" sea unlike the estuary at Whitstable which is shallower and muddier, with a much longer tide.  Without a crowd to meet us or wave flags at the end of our epic walk, we celebrated instead with photos and a warm hot chocolate on the chilly beach.   

Completing this five day walk was more challenging than I expected and was yet another example of living in these pandemic times where plans can be delayed, re-shaped, changed again and again until they finally happen in some form.  Being someone who loves making plans, it can be endlessly frustrating to then have to alter them.  But perhaps all of our abilities to adapt and be patient have been expanded during this pandemic?  While our walk didn't follow my first or second time-table, we still made it! 

"Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still" (Chinese Proverb) 

 

 

If you would like to make a small donation to support Cortijo Romero's SOS appeal, please make a donation directly to them now:  

BACS to “Cortijo Romero” Bank: RBS. Account: 10020842. Sort Code: 16-21-22.