Reading XLIV and XLV

Yes I know I haven't reviewed XLIII yet - there is a reason... Watch this space.

XLIV: Alan Sillitoe and Fay Godwin, The Saxon Shore Way: From Gravesend to Rye (1983)

Or the loneliness of the long distance hiker.

An account of a walk I want to do, although I'm not sure I'll do the eighteen mile sections he does. Impressive. Although there are a couple of point where he seems to catch a train, which is cheating. It'll be interesting to see what has changed in twenty-five years - I must try and replicate Godwin's photographs - and what has survived. One thing I note is he only gets to Rye, not Hastings (although the sign at Kelmsley only points to Gravesend and Rye). I note he tends to take the route nearest the sea - so he follows the coast not the hills at Folkestone (on my Explorer map the exact lower route is not clear until the canal). I worry by the amount of wall climbing he does.

You've got to admire someone who writes "I find and enjoy, on my zigzag perambulations, no fewer than three secondhand bookshops - always the mark of an interesting town."

But he would find it interesting today?

There are odd route maps - the walk is shown as straight on strips. I've seen these for cycling and surely a left or right turn is necessary for navigation? But I'm glad I stumbled upon this.

XLV: The Stour Valley Way (1995)

An account of a 51 1/2 mile route from Lenham to - well I'd better not give away the ( twist )

Again, two books in one, and it may be that I test the water proofness of it at Wye tomorrow. It may be more Stour than Valley. I don't quite get the mileages - Wye to here is about twelve miles, but if you add up the segments it's 16. I hope to get as far as Chartham. The extra two hours (which looks flat) may be too much.

Not Censorship - Just Cutting a Poem

Carol Ann Duffy has responded to her removal from the GSCE curriculum says the Guardian with a poem this.

If you've not seen the story - one of her poems which has been used for donkeys' years is no longer going to be used because it encourages knife crime. Bang goes Psycho, obviously, but also The Scottish Play ("Is this a knife I see before me?"), Romeo and Juliet (hold up, it's poison, not stabbing yourself - is that Antony and Cleopatra?), Hamlet (regicide, incest and drowning - plus stabbing someone in the arras), King Lear (jumping off stools, dividing kingdoms), Titus Andronicus (eating people is wrong) and The Tempest (burying books - someone might misused the spade).


Gosh, for once poetry matters, but puhlease....

Da Rules

Ok, I had a chat with myself and decided my gaff, my rules, so -


On Long Distance Walks

These will be completed in the order that they are completed in, so I don't have to start at one end and don't have to walk the same direction, nor do I have to do specific routes in order if it's more convenient not to.

Whilst from the point of view of checking out public transport I will Have A Plan, the failure to reach town a or b is simply a walk postponed not a sign of weakness. If I'm in the middle of nowhere I am vulnerable, and more vulnerable if alone.

Whilst I will aim to follow the official route, deviations from this due to local conditions, weather, blockages, exhaustion, map reading errors etc do not mean I have to go back and do it again properly. Although if I choose to, that's my own lookout.

I am trying to get fit, but this is meant to be fun.

Wye?

Wye's Books,
originally uploaded by Andrew M Butler.

I ache ever so slightly, despite a shorter zig-zagged perambulation than anticipated, but I have indeed confirmed one thing. There is a bookshop in Wye.

Of course, I got off the bus, walked down a street that happened to be the North Downs Way and the Stour Valley Walk, turning right as I was sure that was where the shop was. No dice. I follow that road back, turn left and left again and find it - about thirty yards from the bus stop.

I still can't find it online - and I have to say it's not exciting. Go for the farmers' market, and then have a quick browse.