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iguana
Following an enjoyable weekend of walking on the Isle of Wight, I decided to put my weekends in June to similarly good use. I also attended my cousin's wedding and went along to OpenTech.
Medway Valley Walk
I decided to walk from Rochester to Maidstone along the East bank of the River Medway. In the end I gave up at Aylesford after getting fed up with walking through bridge construction sites, sewage treatment plants, and overgrown-with-nettles pathways. This seems to be a common theme with supposedly nice countryside walks within Kent, and hasn't endeared me to trying others.
That said, Aylesford was a pretty town to visit, and there were a few pretty patches of woodland along the way.
I decided to walk from Rochester to Maidstone along the East bank of the River Medway. In the end I gave up at Aylesford after getting fed up with walking through bridge construction sites, sewage treatment plants, and overgrown-with-nettles pathways. This seems to be a common theme with supposedly nice countryside walks within Kent, and hasn't endeared me to trying others.
That said, Aylesford was a pretty town to visit, and there were a few pretty patches of woodland along the way.
OpenTech 2015
I met up with Wilmer for some of OpenTech at UCL, a set of interesting lectures and presentations about the current state of open technology.
The ones that particulary stood out included how some hackspace guys turned a caravan into an immersive spaceship simulator; and how some of the UK rail systems are being opened up to API users to make cool apps.
I met up with Wilmer for some of OpenTech at UCL, a set of interesting lectures and presentations about the current state of open technology.
The ones that particulary stood out included how some hackspace guys turned a caravan into an immersive spaceship simulator; and how some of the UK rail systems are being opened up to API users to make cool apps.
South Downs: Amberley to Devil's Dyke
I decided I wanted to walk the South Downs, and then, seeing how long the South Downs is, decided to work out which bits I could do using public transport stops as start and end points.
I settled on Amberley railway station to Brighton, via Devil's Dyke, for my first outing, estimating it to be about 20-25km from looking at the tourist map. 28km later I arrived at Devil's Dyke, after a really nice walk with great views.
Fortunately I am still in the habit of planning in 'escape routes' for when I'm struggling with distance. In this case there is a tourist bus that runs from Devil's Dyke to Brighton every hour, so I sat myself down on the grass and waited for that. It was definitely the best stretch of the Downs I've done as of writing (Jan 2016).
I decided I wanted to walk the South Downs, and then, seeing how long the South Downs is, decided to work out which bits I could do using public transport stops as start and end points.
I settled on Amberley railway station to Brighton, via Devil's Dyke, for my first outing, estimating it to be about 20-25km from looking at the tourist map. 28km later I arrived at Devil's Dyke, after a really nice walk with great views.
Fortunately I am still in the habit of planning in 'escape routes' for when I'm struggling with distance. In this case there is a tourist bus that runs from Devil's Dyke to Brighton every hour, so I sat myself down on the grass and waited for that. It was definitely the best stretch of the Downs I've done as of writing (Jan 2016).
