October and November 2019
We have two ramblers who have completed the Vanguards Way recently. Congratulations to both John and Jeff
John completed the final section of the Vanguard way despite the adverse weather conditions of rain, wind and probably storm! John thanks us and makes very positive comments about route directions, waymarking, the use of the ‘helpful and comprehensive’ and the ‘absolutely brilliant’ commentary that developed his knowledge of the surrounding area and, in conjunction with OS Explorer maps, developed his knowledge of what he sees away from the path, which also lets him know where the main road is.
Jeff has been walking The Vanguards Way since 2014, finally completing in 2019. He is also a solo walker and confirmed that the directions were most helpful and that he was unlikely ‘to have undertaken the walk without the detailed directions given on the website’. As he says ‘I am particularly impressed that directions are given for both north to south and south to north, something that most authors omit (not even pointing out potential problems when walking in the ‘wrong’ direction)’.
On moving back to Kent following a career that became increasingly sedentary, Jeff set out to walk as a way of getting exercise. He came across the Explore Kent programme, in particular the award of a certificate on completion. As he says, it was ‘an incentive to complete the walk, which I felt I needed’. Since then he says he has looked to complete walks with similar ‘rewards’, including The Capitol Ring and The Vanguard way. Jeff says he is a fair weather walker and since the death of his mother may spend more time exploring other aspects of the Vanguards way. His favourite places were Cuckmere Haven and Ashdown Forest but he will check the walk descriptions before he starts.
The VGW got a good write-up on the My London website on 12 October. If you wish to read it, click here and scroll down to ‘The Vanguard Way’. It also provides a link to the route description for Section 1.
From MYLondon
East Croydon Station Cuckmere Haven
