7 Jun 2008 - Day 6

The weekend and the penultimate stage had arrived. But no-one dared to dream of Dover yet. Today they had the longest stage at 23 miles to negotiate. The finish was widely anticipated too. It was right outside the Cathedral in Canterbury which should be good.  The first part of the day was fast, flat walking and the group stormed it, surprising the support team who were caught completely by surprise as they weren’t expecting the group to arrive at the first stop at Boughton Lees quite so early!!!

But after a brief stop there the group, accompanied by Kate on this section, discovered another tough climb then the route wound it’s way through yet more woodland before the second stop at the gorgeous village of Chilham. This was a picture postcard village and the group really enjoyed their brief visit.

With Kate now back in the support vehicle, the five walkers then tackled the last, very muddy section. They walked through numerous orchards and tackled numerous short climbs before descending towards the finish at Canterbury.

The run-in to the end had its problems. Yet again a missing signpost sent the team off course on the outskirts of the City and they suddenly found the path had gone and they slowly navigated their way towards the city centre, yet again aided by helpful local people.

They soon re-joined the official path and were walking through the city streets. But if they expected to be impressed by Canterbury, the walkers were disappointed. The mixture of ancient and modern just didn’t work and the clash was horribly evident. The balance of trying to maintain the City’s history and provide modern day facilities needed was totally wrong.  Another thing too was that some local students from the University were quick make comments and most looked drunk or on something else. The city was packed and the five walkers took a long time to fight their way through the crowds to the Cathedral gate where the support team welcomed them home.  The team quickly withdrew from the City, not really wanting to stay there and transferred to their final overnight base at the nearby village of Dunkirk. The final evening was pleasant and a final meal together was taken at the Red Lion pub in the village. Just one day and 18 miles separated the walkers from their destiny and their final destination: Dover.