Gillingham to Canterbury –through the Garden of England

We stayed last night near Canterbury so this morning as we drove back towards Gillingham, Sandra dropped me off at Newington and I walked the first 4 miles of the day in reverse direction back towards London. The traffic was heavy on the A2 and after stopping briefly in Rainham to take a photo of St. Margaret's, another beautiful Kent church, I pressed on to Tesco arriving just in time for a late breakfast.

Pat and the other Leukaemia Research members were busy collecting by the door and after a radio interview with Dream FM, I chatted with Julie , a staff member whose son, Jake, has the same type of leukaemia, ALL, as Tim. He is in remission and as an 8 year-old has a great chance of staying well. We talked to Steve Peelin and Liz Casswell. My thanks to them and all the team at Gillingham for their hospitality and support.

I was joined at Gillingham for 2 days of the walk by David Rawnsley, one of Sandra's relatives who had driven down from Manchester . David's niece, Joni has aplastic anaemia and he has collected over £1,000 in sponsorship, a brilliant effort. Say a prayer when you read this for Joni and Jake as I will tonight.

The walk today took us through two more historic Kent towns, Sittingbourne and Faversham and some beautiful countryside with apple orchards heavy with blossom and fields of hops neatly set out row after row. In Sittingbourne we passed the Long Hop opposite the cricket ground too early for a pint and stopped for lunch in the camper van at a garden centre near Teynham.

The road was dead straight and the traffic flashed by so we were glad to make a short detour to see Faversham Stone Chapel – a rare example of a 7th century Saxon church, Our Lady of Elwalton, built on the site of a Roman building. From Faversham we passed through Baughton under Bean and up the hill into Dunkirk – each day seems to have a climb towards the end. Is this a pattern starting to emerge?

We followed the A2 for ½ mile and then cut off through Upper Harbledown and the final 2 miles into Canterbury .

David was good company and as two Barnsley fans we chatted about the chances in tonight's play-off match – must go now to find a TV with Sky Sports.

Yellow jersey award for walker of the day – David Rawnsley

Distance covered – 22.9 miles Total covered – 129.9 miles