Ruth Livingstone
My book: Walking the English Coast
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Winfield’s Award
Killer Cows: Cattle Safety
Miley and his wife have to wade across a stream to escape cattle.
Incident number 1305Date: 30.08.26Site: Public footpath alongside of Egglestone Abbey near Barnard Castle. County Durham.Bull with cows and calves (Comment: very large brown cattle with small horns.)2 walkers with dog on a lead. Miley’s Report: “We were walking from woods towards grasslands alongside Egglestone Abbey. This was the only route back to the gate onto […]
Cows chase walkers AGAIN on Sussex Ouse Valley way
Incident number 1303Date: 31.5.26Site: Between Lewes and Hamsey on the river footpath BN7I dog, on a lead, 2 walkers Description: “Chased by cows on footpath, not for the first time here but very scary. Our dog froze in panic making getting away from cows near impossible.We reported it to the council who have replied saying […]
Cows with calves roaming freely around Hare Hill
Incident number 1301Date: 24.05.26Site: Roughly this: What3words:Punctuate.Otter.Fronted. Near Over Alderley, Hare Hill permissive path. 1 dog on lead, 3 walkers. RH’s report: “We were just walking and suddenly a group of cattle burst out of a field (from nowhere) and moved around us, not charging but getting quite close, agitated and shifting around restlessly with […]
Category Archives: 05 Kent
Stage 38. Teynham to Faversham
The light, the water, the mist, the stillness, the clarity of the near distance, the obscurity of the far horizon – so magical. I have never experienced anything like this before. Then I notice a strange sound. It is gun fire. Continue reading
Stage 37. Sittingbourne to Teynham
When I reach the sea wall, before me stretches a lovely vista of gleaming mud flats and an expanse of blue water beyond. Although I am still in the shelter of the Isle of Sheppy, I am nearing the open sea again. I feel a surge of blissful happiness. Progress at last and the sea is ahead of me.
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Stage 36. Upchurch to Sittingbourne
Passing a building site, workmen in yellow jackets nod and say hello. If they think it is odd to see a middle aged woman walking on a train track in the middle of nowhere, they are too polite to say so.
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Stage 35. Gillingham to Upchurch
I meet a cat with weird eyes, avoid a real tramp and take some spooky snaps of Kingsnorth Power Station, before heading off to the sewerage works. Later, I catch a glimpse of a man skinning and gutting rabbit with no sign of a knife … really?
Stage 34. Hoo St Warburgh to Rochester
My path winds around the edge of an industrial area. There is the usual assortment of unfriendly notices, telling me to “Keep Out”, “Beware, Guard Dogs”, “CCTV in operation” and, while I’m at it, “No parking”. Bizarrely, I spot a submarine in the river. It is badly rusted and listing to one side. I am suprised to see a hammer and sickle on the turret. Continue reading
Stage 33. Allhallows-on-Sea to Hoo St Werburgh
Mud has reached past my laces to the tops of my boots. With each step, I feel my boots being tugged downwards. I am in danger of sinking to my knees – or ending up barefoot. Eventually, with considerable frustration and a heavy heart, I admit defeat.
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Stage 32. Egypt’s Bay to Allhallows-on-Sea
I have lost the path. I struggle through brambles and long grass, then across boggy marshland intersected by water filled ditches. As I jump across a ditch, landing on a bed of flattened grass and reeds, something long and thick slithers away from close to my left foot. It is a snake.
Stage 31. Gravesend to Egypt Bay
During this walk of Great Expectations, I pass through Dicken’s wet and marshy countryside, encounter two old forts, a sunken schooner, the launch site of an ancient torpedo and stumble through the marshlands of the Hoo Peninsula. Continue reading
30 (cont): Tilbury to Gravesend
The light is fading. In my walking boots, and with my rucksack and poles, I stick out like a sore thumb. I do not belong in this area …..
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Ruth's Coastal Walk (UK) 