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).
This entry was originally posted at http://flexo.dreamwidth.org/23195.html.
