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Tues Sept 9. Dartford. 19.6 km.

I think today is the « adjustment “ day.  At first I thought I was getting a cold but now (having secured a picnic supper of tinned peas, lemon yoghurt and butter biscuits) I’m feeling better.

This mess of wires, radiating out to a short block of houses, reminds me somewhat of the wiring in Ecuador - big nests of wires!

The walk went over heath and through woods - not really all that rural as houses all around. No walking signs, so had to follow directions like ‘at the top turn right’ - what top? And which of the right-hand paths?

Two priories en route, that I guess were visited by pilgrims, but that King Henry VIII dissolved towards the start of the sixteenth century to get their land and monies for his treasury. This is what remains of Lesnes Abbey. (England has some really beautiful trees, doesn’t it?)


Here is a 400 year old mulberry tree. King James I planted 10,000 of them at the start of the seventeenth century in England, hoping to start up a silk industry. Only problem - he imported the wrong kind of mulberry and the silkworms refused to munch.



Later on the path came to the Thames, looking more commercial. The big container ports are even further out towards the coast - no need to bring goods in to town by boat any more.


Then I lost the path for good. Ended up on a side road that brought back vivid memories of garbage-strewn roads in southern Italy. Had to use GPS to get into town, which meant walking almost an hour on the side of a 4-lane highway. Nice sidewalks all the way however, and trucks stopped for me as I wound my way around round-abouts(unlike Italy).






Comments

  1. Sullivan's FollySeptember 9, 2025 at 1:25 PM

    The trash is not picked up?? They just leave it in place!!! Icksville!!

    ReplyDelete

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