September 15. Shepherdswell to Dover. 15 minutes train back to Shep. Then 16.9 km walking through howling wind.

We’d decided the night before that perhaps we would not walk because of the storm but we woke up to blue skies and what seemed to be only mild winds (more fools us!)

Peter stayed behind to give his blisters some healing time and he visited the various game stores in town, finally finding a small box of Mantic miniatures (your guess is as good as mine?) that he had been looking for all through the trip.

Ken, Scott and I crossed the street to the train station (yes, we were that close) and hopped the train back to Shepherdswell.

So far, so good…

Why does the day always start with a hill????? One km straight up Church Road to St Andrew’s church where I was so happy to get another pilgrim stamp.

For my fellow Scouters, an innovative plea for more leaders for this 117 year old Girl Guide group.

Solidarity for Ukraine. ❤️

The horse chestnuts were huge but check out the size of the trunk. 2 m (6 feet) diameter. So old… hundreds of years old…older than Canada.

The hard rain hits but it only lasts about 10 minutes.

By this time, we’ve told Scott to run ahead as he had a museum he wanted to visit. He would send us the occasional warning of hazards the trail ahead. Like cows. Sweet little cows. By the way, they call these gates “kissing gates”.

She was leading Ken through the field. Or showing her disdain for him. One or the other. Your choice.

Hmmm. Big bull lying across the trail. But I wasn’t too worried. Ken was the one wearing bright red.

Ken: 🏃🐂 Me: 😁

Storm Amy begins to blow. Thankfully I had my trekking poles as without them I would have been blown over. It was very difficult on the open downs. On the other hand, if you were in the trees, you kept wondering when the branch was going to come down on your head.

Was taking this picture when the horse decided to see if I had any treats for him. I did not so he walked away in disgust.

Made it back to Dover probably 2 hours later than we should have because of the heavy winds.

Ken stopped at a quintessential British pub while I plowed on for home.

Scott, Peter and I headed down to the water to check out the waves. (Ken unsurprisingly took a nap). Keep in mind that this is the inner harbour. We watched a big ferry bounce around and I was thankful we had cancelled the ferry.