Day 4 – On the road again. Lenham to Boughten (pronounced Boatun) Lees

So before we start the hike I must take a moment to describe my funhouse bedroom at the Dog and Bear. If one is not aware, rarely is a structure torn down in the UK, it might fall down but not torn down. So, constant renovation is undertaken. In this instance I believe my room was built on the roof of the building below due to the fact that the floor tilted from front to back and side to side. Just walking to the bathroom was a veritable field sobriety test. Oh and the ceiling was 7’. Restaurant was good though and the Guinness fresh.

This day traditional English weather caught up with us wind and misty rain but temperature was not bad. I started in a pancho but lost it quickly. Just too darn hot.

Getting out of town is always a challenge even with gps. This day we were walking up a very narrow lane being a target for traffic. It didn’t feel right but the gps said we were on the path. There was a heavy hedge row next to us. Finally there was a gap. I had some how missed the entrance but we gladly dove in.

This section of the trail was heavily vegetated and thus provided some shelter from the weather.

As we moved along we found a marker for the North Downs Way

We then found ourselves on the Pilgrim’s Way

As we slogged along we came to Chartham where there was a church with pilgrims passport stamp and a pub.

In the church was an interesting plaque.

It was neat to realize that we were that close to recent history. Unfortunately, the pub had been a victim of the virus and closed. We started back out of town up the hill and I had to call a halt. My right heel, which has been a problem in the past really started to fire as we walked up the hill. It was okay downhill or level but no way uphill. We had already hiked 9 miles that day so we caught a cab and rode the last three miles to our next stop, the Flying Horse.

A charming pub with a total of five rooms which were very nice.

This was one of my favorite pubs friendly barkeep and patrons, a dog friendly pub with very good food. Tomorrow onto Willham.