Almost there, but not quite

On Thursday, I completed the final stage of my walk along the North Downs Way. On what was a largely gloriously sunny, early October day, I covered the 11.5 mile stretch between the university city of Guildford, and the pleasant market town of Farnham I celebrated in suitable fashion with a couple of very welcome pints, in two of Farnham’s equally attractive pubs, but despite walking the final stage of this long-distance route, I haven’t quite completed the NDW in its entirety.

The reasons for this are slightly complex and relate to the rather random way in which I approached the task. This is in contrast to the South Downs Way, which a friend and I completed just over 13 years ago. Back then, the pair of us started off just outside Eastbourne, and then waled steadily westwards, completing the 100-mile distance, to the trail end in Winchester, in three separate 3-4 day stretches. There was a steadfast sense of purpose in our plans, which saw us through to their completion.

The North Downs Way was completely different, mainly because when I joined a groups of friends, along the final stretches of the Canterbury Loop, towards Dover, I was doing so from a state of exploring a different part of the south east whilst enjoying the company of the group. There were, of course, a number of good pubs along the way, but not until after we had reached Dover, and one friend in particular had completed his goal of completing the NDW, was there any desire on my part to emulate this feat.

Those two days of walking took place during the summer months of 2017 and having covered the two stages between Wye and Chartham, plus Shepherdswell and Dover, the germ of an idea slowly took place in my mind. That Christmas I received a couple of books in my stocking that would not only help me realise my own goal of completing the NDW but would also act as my companions along the way. Plans for even starting out on this quest took a serious turn for the worse a few weeks later, at the start of the New Year when, in January 2018, my wife was admitted to hospital with sepsis induced by a bout of pneumonia.

She spent the next six weeks in hospital, two of which were in the intensive care unit. My time quite naturally, was spent visiting her, followed by helping her convalesce and regain her strength at home. A month later, in March 2018, I declared my intention to start out and then walk the NDW in its entirety, but we all know what sometimes happen to the best-laid plans. Most of my leisure time that year was occupied with a long-overdue return visit to Bamberg, which was followed by a much longer trip to the USA. That particular trip which also saw me visiting Iceland, en route, as well as taking a long-distance train journey, whilst in the US, from Washington to Chicago.

In July 2019, some 15 months after that declaration, and realising I had done diddly-squat towards even starting out on this goal, I booked three days off from work, and set about completing the aforementioned “Canterbury Loop.” Once done, I could concentrate my efforts and walk slowly westwards from Wye (just north of Ashford), towards the end of the trail in Farnham.

As mentioned at the start of this piece, there were a handful of sections that I didn’t complete strictly according to the guidebook. These were largely stretches where I’d underestimated the time and effort necessary to complete them and I ended up deviating from the official route. There was also a stretch on that second initial walk between Shepherdswell and Dover, when myself and one other companion who wasn’t, at the time, that interested in walking the NDW in its entirety, took a short cut, which enabled us to spent longer in a particular pub, before re-joining the “more serious” walkers.

This didn’t matter too much to me at first, but as I gradually knocked off more and more of the trail, I thought that for completeness, if nothing else, I was deluding myself. So, in order to say, hand on heart that I had truly completed the NDW, I would at some stage, need to revisit these sections, and complete those parts of the official trail I had left out. I finished two of these sections, last month, and these were the final mile of the NDW over the top of Dover’s appropriately named, Western Heights, plus the aforementioned section around Shepherdswell. I’d also completed a further section of the NDW, high on the hills above Thurnham, near Detling.

On that occasion tiredness overtook me, and I took a short cut along the lanes to reach my bed for the night at the excellent Black Horse Inn. Having now walked the proper route of that section, I can safely say I made the right decision back in October 2020, as it was hard enough, doing the perilously steep ascents as well as descents I encountered with a fresh pair of legs, but coming on top of an 11 mile hike from Charing, it would have been pure madness. The same applied to the equally strenuous climb right across the top of Dover’s Western Heights, although on that occasion I at least had the excuse of taking the wrong turning.

Now there are just two short sections remaining, and I aim to complete the longest and most distant of these, next week. Tiredness was once again the reason for me deviating from the official trail, and on that occasion, I had walked the best part of 14 miles, from Wye, to my resting point for the night at the intriguingly named, Pigeonwood House; an old farmhouse dating back to 1769. The house is situated on the edge of the tiny hamlet of Arpinge, high on the North Downs, above Folkestone, and in order to get there I’d had to ascend one of the longest and steepest dry valleys on the entire North Downs.

I reached a point where Pigeonwood House was directly ahead, but in order to get there I could either follow the NDW as it skirted the top of the escarpment for another mile and a half, or alternatively I could take the road. This too was not a direct route, as it followed two sides of a triangle, but it wasn’t quite as long as the official NDW. My tired legs and aching feet were telling me, road walking would be far easier than struggling through long grass and across an uneven terrain. I was also conscious of the time factor and having told the landlady at the B&B of my estimated arrival time, I was already an hour behind schedule. The road it was then, but it still took me a further half hour to reach the B&B.

It is this relatively minor deviation that I plan to complete next week, and Matthew has offered to come with me. There is a small car park on top of the escarpment, where we can park up and then complete this particular section. The views won’t be up to much, as the downs here are directly above the Channel Tunnel terminal, but needs must, and all that, and completing this stretch will just leave the small area of wooded downland, to the west of Knockholt Pound.

This was where I had to abort a walk last year, due to a problem with my left knee that occurred after roughly four miles in to a ten-mile walk. I ended up making for the Three Horseshoes in Knockholt Pound where I was able to phone for a taxi, to take me to the nearest station. On my way to the village, I became lost in the dense woodland above Chevening Park, and ended up on the road instead. Looking at the map, there is roughly a mile of the NDW that I’d bypassed, but this section should be relatively easy to get to, as I can reach Knockholt Pound by bus, from Orpington station.

Once I’ve completed these final two sections, I can categorically state that I have completed the North Downs Way Long Distance Footpath in its entirety, even though I have already walked the complete length of the trail from Dover to Farnham. The whole trail was amazing, and full of contrasts, but last Thursday’s section between Guildford and Farnham, is up there amongst the best of the various stages.

As for that dodgy knee, I never did get to the bottom of it, although I suspect advancing years play a part. I took the advice of a work colleague and purchased an elasticated knee brace. It did the trick, the pain didn’t re-occur, and I have now worn the brace on every cross-country hike since, including Thursday’s lengthy walk of over 44,000 steps!