Wye to Canterbury on the North Downs Way

NORTH DOWNS WAY

SOUTH EAST

WALK

Wye to Canterbury on the North Downs Way

Monday 28 May 2018

Ijust wanted to walk. The weather was looking good and it seemed as though I would have a spare day with nothing in particular planned and nowhere in particular to be. So, I thought I would go for a walk.

Usually, I would already have walks planned for such an occasion but I needed something local and the only ones I had looked at recently were multi-day walks.

I logged into Viewranger and started to look for inspiration. For some unknown reason, I kept finding my mouse pointer hovering over the Canterbury area. I was drawn to the North Downs Way and was intrigued to find that, as I followed the route on the map away from Canterbury, the name of the path kept changing to “Pilgrim’s Way” and back again.

Occasionally, the two paths would separate but they would never be more than a few meters away from each other. I followed the path, on the map, all the way up to Kit’s Coty Burial Chamber near Blue Bell Hill before I stopped.

A quick search of the internet proved very useful. Pilgrims had been walking this route since the murder of Thomas Becket, also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury and Thomas à Becket, in 1170. Becket was the Archbishop of Canterbury and was murdered in the Cathedral there by followers of King Henry II.

Pilgrims walk from Southwark Cathedral to the Shrine of Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral and it was this pilgrimage that was the backdrop for Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales.

I have always wanted to do the Camino Frances to Santiago de Compostela but, like many, can’t take the time off work needed to complete the 500-mile route. But now I have found a mini Camino on my own doorstep that I can complete in just a few hours. How could I not do this?

I drove to Wye and parked by the train station and began my walk. Almost immediately a man in a Land Rover pulled up next to me and asked me if I was a pilgrim. I wanted to say yes! But I said no and he drove off leaving me wondering why he had stopped in the first place and what would have happened if I had said yes.

The sun was shining. It was warm but not too warm and the trail took me quickly out into the countryside and it was good to be out walking.

At Boughton Aluph there was a gate on the path and I noticed a number of people milling about by the gate and scurrying around a number of cars and vans parked in a small car park. As I cleared the hedge I could see a large church and assumed it was some sort of village fate or similar.

I spoke to a woman in the churchyard who explained that all the vehicles and people were there to support the Pilgrims who were walking that day.

Apparently, the Pilgrims had started four days ago from St Martin-in-the-Fields, London and were following Chaucer’s footsteps on an annual Pilgrimage. I hadn’t seen any of the Pilgrims but it seems they were on their way.

During the afternoon, as I walked along the path, I noticed a few signs that would either say “Pilgrim’s Way” or show the symbol of the scallop shell and it made me think about what it must have been like to walk this way 850 years ago as Chaucer had.

The Canterbury Tales tells the stories, or tales, of various pilgrims on their way to Canterbury but it also highlights the diversity of the pilgrims themselves. Different people from different backgrounds all making the same pilgrimage for different reasons.

Perhaps, after all this time, things are not so different after all.

The Route

Distance : 14 Miles

I parked on the road near the Train Station at Wye and followed the North Downs Way to Canterbury before catching the train back to Wye. There are not many facilities on the route but there is a pub at Chilham. If you need accommodation in Canterbury then look up Kipps Hostel.

Click HERE for a GPX file of the route.

David Welch – View Profile

Are you tired of being stuck in the office? Bored of being chained to a desk? Counting down the days until retirement?

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