A special walk this month to mark West Kent's 30th Anniversary since I formed the group way back in July 1993. It did not disappoint.
Twelve members joined for the long summer walk which took us 6.5 hours to complete. Our descent down to the Bewl Water reservoir from Wadhurst village was along quiet lanes, through farms and fields. About half way down, my heart sank. There was a check-in desk strategically placed across the road. I thought the path was closed for an organised run around Bewl! Luckily, it wasn't, and we carried on down. On reaching the reservoir, we turned right, in an anti-clockwise direction, which meant all the hilly and lane parts of the walk were tackled at the start, rather than the end. It also meant, we met up with the runners approaching in a clockwise direction. Some of us then proceeded to mark them out of 10, well, the male runners anyway! There were a few 9's and 9.5's too.
Soon the runners were gone and we were left continuing the walk. We had by now finished the lane walking and the reservoir was again in sight. A quick rest and drink stop was due. There was a brief thought of how many miles we should walk before lunch. In the end, we settled for a 1.30pm lunch stop, on a grassy bank overlooking Bewl.
After lunch, we upped the pace and the brief rest stops increased too. Soon we reached the dam, where the group photo was taken, with views of Scotney Castle nestled in the woodland beyond. The visitor centre was in sight, as was the church on the horizon at Wadhurst where we started and were heading. The thought of a break at the centre spurred everyone on. There was some discussion about how long we should enjoy refreshments there; ten minutes maximum was the consensus...after 20 minutes enjoying ice creams, we finally left!
Now on the home-ward stretch, we met up with other groups of people that we had met previously, walking in the opposite direction. Finally, we met the path back to Wadhurst and, by this stage, we were quite spread out, the stops were more frequent to allow those at the back to catch up.
Back in Wadhurst, The White Hart was ideally placed with outdoor seating, where most of us enjoyed a well-earned and well-deserved pint to celebrate the day's achievement. For me personally, it was a celebration of my 30 years of running the group.
Another wonderful day, with wonderful people. Many thanks to everyone who attended and made it such a special day.
Colin Turner
West Kent Co-ordinator.
