Wrapping up 2013

A year-end summary

The 3 men have retired for Christmas and the New year so it seems a good point to wrap up the statistics. 2013 started very cold with lots of snow but come March we had a very early spring which led to an excellent Summer and a very late Autumn. So our walking was excellent and indeed we have virtually run out of marked paths now throughout Kent and Sussex - but NOT good pubs I hasten to add!

Over the year we clocked up 372 miles of walking which makes a total of 634 miles since our first walk in March 2012. The longest distance anyone can achieve within the UK is the 837 miles between Lands End and John O'Groats so we have  another 200 miles to do before we can say our preparation for this trek is complete!

Even better is the fact that this walking has caused us to walk UP hill for 37,702 feet during this year or 70,725 feet since inception. Mount Everest is 29,035 ft so we are now the proud owners of TWO mount Everest badges!

We will start a new Blog for the 2014 walks and hope that we continue to enjoy the countryside and find even more quaint little country Pubs in the year. You can find the 2014 log here... http://www.3amigoswalking2014.blogspot.co.uk/

2012 Lunch Stops (For Food of Course!)

 Foresters Arms, Fairwarp

Hare & Hounds, Bidborough

George & Dragon, Speldhurst

Chequers, Forest Row

The Sennockian, Sevenoaks

Merriments, Bodiam

Ardingly Inn, Ardingly

The Chequers, Slaugham

Abergavenny Arms, Frant

Nutley Arms, Nutley

Malt Shovel, Eynesford

The Cock, Ide Hill –Twice

Star & Eagle, Goudhurst

The Bull, Bennenden

Spotted Dog, Penshurst

The Swan, Wittersham

The Anchor, Hartfield – Thrice!

The Anchor, Deal

George & Dragon; Downe

Little Brown Jug, Chiddingstone

The Plough, Ivy Hatch

The Crown, Groombridge

The John Harvey, Lewis – Twice

The Sloop, Sheffield Park

The Old George, Shoreham

The Old Jail, Biggin Hill

The Hurstwood, High Hurstwood

Kings Arms, Shoreham

White Horse, Cranbrook

 

2013 - Start of a New Year

3 Men on a Walk - 2013

New year deserves a new Blog so this is it. If you are still hankering after looking at 2012 walks then you can see it here ...

http://wealdway.blogspot.co.uk/

Last year we started walking in March and the weather was brilliant.  So far this year it looks like our ventures will be curtailed by the soggy ground as the UK has just experienced its second wettest year on record and any cross country walks mean you are walking through brown custard for much of the way.

Anyway, lets toast 2013 and hope you read some excellent walks; visit some amazing pubs; and see some wonderful countryside through these pages as the year progresses. Posts which follow this introduction are in newest date order.

 

The 3 Amigos - Ivan, Richard and Trevor

A trip to the "Anchor"

Groombridge to Hartfield circular

It being Christmas and a beautiful bright winter day we decided that a nice stroll out to Hartfiled to visit one of our favourite pubs was on the cards. We parked up at Groombridge and set out along the Forest Way path towards Hartfield, taking a few small deviations along the way just to convince ourselves that this really was a different walk to the one we had done many times previously!
Fortunately, these offsets still  caused us to end up at Hartfield church and the "Anchor" pub which sits alongside it. Arriving at 11-45 we had to wait for the kitchen to open at noon but fortunately the bar tender didn't keep such hours and we sat and enjoyed our first pint of the day and soaked up the atmosphere of this genuine old pub.
The winter landscape across the Weald of Kent can still look dramatic and especially so when the winter sunshine is caught across the trees as these photos show.

Hartfield Church just peeping over the hill

Using the NEW pedometer - fed up with the previous one buggering about - we clocked...

Date	Steps	Distance (mi)	Time (Hr)	Calories	Average speed (mph)	Elevation gain (feet)	Elevation lost (feet)
09/12/2013	18,425	9.26	2:50	943	3.42	1,438	1,434

Goudhurst to Cranbrook Loop

Goudhurst to Cranbrook 11.5 mile loop

 Another nice Autumn day, cloudy but no wind and this made for a good "Walk Day". Trevor had found a loop walk starting at Goudhurst and with the village of Cranbrook about 7 miles along we were bound to find a decent lunch stop.
 
We parked up at Goudhurst (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goudhurst ) which is a very attractive Kent village and started out on our route.
 

 
It was a nice walk but I didn't find anything out of the norm to photograph. The Pub in Cranbrook - The White Horse - provided us with good food and ale but nothing out of the ordinary.
Following lunch we hot footed it back the 4.5 miles to Goudhurst before it got dark.
 

Stats for the day were ...
Date	Steps	Distance (mi)	Time (Hr)	Calories	Average speed (mph)
02/12/2013	22,997	11.5	04:13	1,030	2.7