#2 people on this pleasant walk along the Medway. # a lot less rain than forecast, one very light shower hardly worth putting your anorak on. We started with a coffee at the Horsebox on the river near Wateringbury Station and then stayed on the north bank crossing over at East Farleigh. The Bull reopened in February under new ownership and management, serving traditional pub food but to a high standard, one of us had the calamari starter, a generous portion and the other had the ham and cheese ploughman well presented with excellent ham. We returned to the station the way we had come with the riverbank looking very attractive now all the trees are out.

5 stayed together for the day, including for lunch at The North Pole.

A warm day with sun through thin cloud

Dry with some patch's of mud. One patch was large and intimidating enough for the group to take an unsanctioned detour.

Some blue plants, some yellow plants, Tulips, and some birds of prey were seen along the way.

Only 1 on the late start train, on a partly sunny day. If there were any walkers on the published train they managed to evade the walks inspector, although he did his best by poking his nose into a few pubs and scouring churchyards for picnickers. Any further walk report would be welcomed...

I'm told there were two on the earlier train, making 3. They escaped detection by making a small detour to a pub just off the main route, the Good Intent.

It is a tribute to the hardiness of SWC walkers that 17 turned up on this walk despite rain in the morning . A signal failure at Charing Cross also led to the cancellation of the 10.10, but not, thankfully, the 10.15, meaning we still made the connection at Tonbridge.

We split rapidly into smaller groups. My little threesome took social distancing a stage further by staying on the riverside too long, thus ending up doing part of the afternoon route in reverse. We decided to continue around the loop in this direction, and ate in the Victory in East Farleigh, risking the garden even though the skies were still gloomy. But the rain did hold off from then on. The menu seemed to be pretty much whatever they happened to have in the cupboard. Sandwiches were suggested, then chips, then baked potatoes with beans and cheese, so two of us plumped for that.

The other walkers seem to have split between sandwiching on West Farleigh Green and eating at the Good Intent (a well-meaning sort of place...): we Victorians saw them pass on the road as we were finishing our lunch (over which we had dawdled). One walker got the train home at East Farleigh. We had tea at the Good Intent.

This was a very pleasant late summer walk. The riverbanks were awash with purple loosestrife, water mint, Himalayan balsam and common fleabane, and there were plums and blackberries to eat from the hedgerows. Some apple scrumping also went on.

Back in Wateringbury I think plenty got to the cafe in the boatyard for tea by the river. Three of us, who were just too late for this, went briefly to the rather basic Railway Inn, which nevertheless produced tea in china pots. Two of us then walked on to Yalding, where we met two others who had done likewise. Coming into London Bridge at 7.45pm the sky was getting dark. Autumn is coming...

6 on the Scenic Views in Medway valley walk. sunny intervals . Lovely walk along the river, and lunch in the Good Intent pub. We omitted the Nettlestead extension as worried about rain.

We also had teaand cakes at The Oast farm - really charming and friendly set up mainly outdoors, with farm animals and plenty of hand sanitiser.

May be the last walk for sometime for me, but all the more to look forward to when we do walk again. Keep well.

15 walkers on a sunny and cloudy day. A lovely walk with great views and lots of longhorn cattle 'posing' - they are so aware of the cameras it truly is amazing.

12 used the Bull Inn for lunch and most seemed pleased with the fayre. However the one order of scampi and chips 'in a basket' was amusing for the youngsters 'in a basket?' and shocking for the olds who remember baskets NOT being plastic.

The man who pinches chips was there pinching chips and he complained that it was mentioned in walk reports.

Nuff said?

After lunch eggs potatoes and sweetcorn were bought from an honesty box and apples and pears were scrumped and chomped.

Two young newbies from the Baltic states walked with us and at the end when asked if they would be walking with us again said 'Maybe'

Nuff nuff said?

I think they were actually Highland cattle, rather than Longhorns! Anyway, 2 sandwich eaters led the way after lunch, enjoying pleasant, if unspectacular, views of the Medway Valley, arriving at Wateringbury in good time for tea and (the last two slices) of coffee and walnut cake at the Ramblers' Rest, a small cafe in the Medway Wharf Marina. The rest of the group caught us up in time to demolish the remaining cakes before a five minute stroll to the station and the 16:36 to Victoria.

One of those days ! I missed the train by a minute, so took the next one an hour later and spent all morning valiantly trying to catch up with the group, sadly to no avail, despite marching like a centurion. Possibly because I got lost in the orchard section, the directions there are a bit confusing. It proved nigh on impossible to find a place to stop for sustenance; neither the Good Intent nor the Bull would give me a table, but in the end I found an excellent establishment by going slightly off piste, The Walnut Tree on Forge Lane. Did you find a place to dine ? After that I gave up on finding any other SAturday Walkers so continued along the Medway to Maidstone instead, very pretty . Right now am in a snooker club opposite Maidstone Barracks station, passing the time before my train home, which again I managed to miss by minutes. Better luck next time !

Gabriella

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Bad luck Gabriella. Yes there were 9 of us ahead, so that makes 10 altogether on a cold cloudy breezy but dry day The sun did come out later but only to mock us as we boarded the 16:08 home.

The others sped off ahead of me so I didn’t hear the conversation in the Good Intent. I understand they were told it was fully booked, despite it being empty. We suspect they were primed and waiting for a squadron of mothers and their high-spending, simpering offspring.

So lunch, for those who had brought their own, was outside with Al Fresco on the green with half pints from the pub. We didn’t stay long, nor did we stop at the later Bull though some looked wistfully at it as we sped past.

We too had a frisson of doubt traversing the orchard but we did have the walk's author with us which helped.

The walk was cleverly planned to not coincide with several flowering seasons – the wood anenomes had either just finished or slept in and the wild garlic although present in profusion in one place, was not flowering. There were some pretty white bushes possibly blackthorn (or maybe cherry plum)and some marsh marigold. At the end we patronised the Ramblers Rest café and sat outside taunting the swans with our provender. Here, one of our number rather let the side down by consuming three portions of cake. I think there was some excuse about not having had any lunch (though this was difficult to hear through all the cake).