Hike report - 1970 (ii)

With the Avenue House Service Team having risen from the ashes of the Venture Scout Unit, the team decided to continue with their regular hikes, starting with this – the second ‘Annual Winter Hike’.

First time hikers were Melvyn (6th Finchley), Clive (7th Finchley) and Jim (21st Finchley).

On this occasion we decided to walk from the north coast to the south coast of Kent. The planned route was about 30 miles, but bearing in mind the time of year and the number of available daylight hours, we thought this to be an acceptable challenge.

On Friday evening we made our way to Herne Bay, where the train arrived at 21.05, and proceeded to the 1st Herne Bay Scout HQ that had been kindly lent to us for the night.

The next morning, after a healthy breakfast, we set off on the first part of the route that led us 6 miles to Sturry, where we were to meet Jim, who was unable to make the trip down with us the previous evening. There was nothing of note apart from arriving a little late at the meeting point – recent forestry clearance, not reflected on our map, had taken us a little off our track.

We headed on a little further and stopped for lunch by the river. Jim, an ex marine, presented us all with a gift, a cap comforter – some of us had recently admired his and they were excellent at keeping out the cold. Peter then produced his camera and tripod for the photograph session, before we set off again.

Having circumvented Canterbury we made our way towards Lower Hardres, where we planned to stay the night.

Arriving a little after dark, we rapidly found a campsite and set about getting the tents erected. We prepared our evening meal – it was hot and filling – just what we needed. After clearing up we paid a visit to the local pub, had a drink and then retired to our tents for a good night’s sleep.

Sunday was chilly and grey, but fortunately no rain. After breakfast we packed up the tents and equipment, and then it was time to get out the map again. We pushed on but it was not long before Jim had to take his leave of us – he had to get to work on Monday and wanted to get home at a reasonable time that day. Melvyn joined him.

The remaining 5 of us continued merrily on our way, stopping for lunch at Bossingham. Refreshed and ready for more, we carried on, but 3 miles later a leg injury Peter had been carrying for a while got the better of him. He was forced to travel the remaining short distance into Folkestone by bus.

However, it was not too long before we were all together again, the rest of us had made excellent progress. Clive, who was probably the fittest, had ensured that a good pace was maintained, enabling us to reach our destination well ahead of schedule.

There was about an hour before the next train, so while Graham H kept Peter company in a café, Clive, Phil and Graham B went on a mad run to the beach and back.

On the train we all managed to get into one compartment and prepared ourselves for the journey home. However, we were a little hungry and there was still our evening meal to eat. We then did something we should perhaps not have done – we pulled down the blinds to the corridor, set up the Primus stoves and cooked our beef curry and rice. It was surprising that the aroma did not arouse any complaints and we managed to clear up without anyone outside the carriage being aware of our activity.

With hindsight we should perhaps have made do with some of the cheese (a whole Edam) that Peter had been carrying all weekend.

We had had an enjoyable time and managed to achieve what we had set out to do.