Winter has come again...icy rain and beautiful blankets of snow in Kent

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With the prediction of snow across London and Kent, we were hopeful for the opportunity to go for a wintry walk in the snow. The outdoors always looks so magical in the snow. It's wonderful to hear that lovely 'crunching' sound of the snow under your feet. So luckily the weather forecasters did not let us down - they got it right!

Saturday 5 April - We headed out late into the afternoon, so we decided to stay close to home. We drove just 20 minutes to do a walk around Cudham and Downe in Kent. Downe is a picturesque village with attractive flint cottages and a medieval church. Most famously home to Charles Darwin for 40 years. It was an exhilarating walk, with a couple of 'thigh burning' climbs. At the beginning of the walk we were saying "where is this wintry weather then?". One hour later we were being pounded with icy cold rain (we spoke too soon!); it felt like our cheeks were starting to freeze over. Within the space of an hour there was a dramatic drop in temperature...we suddenly realised that the wintry weather was on its way. It was an 8 mile walk with a recommended walking time of 4 hours. But owing to the amount of daylight we had left, we decided to power walk it. The driving icy rain was a 'great' motivator for us to get back to the car! We power walked it back to the warmth of car in less than 3 hours...

Sunday 6 April - 7am - We were beaming, with our noses pressed against our bedroom window looking in amazement at the beautiful snowflakes floating down gently into our garden. By 8am the whole garden was covered in a thick blanket of snow. Driving through Kent, the trees looked so magical - it really was a winter wonderland. Late afternoon we headed out for a short family walk around Bedgebury National Pinetum in Goudhurst, Kent. The Bedgebury Pinetum is home to the National Conifer Collection, the largest collection of temperate conifers on one site in the world! It was founded in the 1920s by the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew and the Forestery Commission. We last visted the Bedgebury Pinetum in October 2007, when it looked glorious in its autumn colours - however, now it looked beautiful in a lovely covering of white snow.

Next week's plan... In sympathy with the London Marathon runners, we are also going to do a '26 miler' in 'one' day next weekend. Next Saturday, we plan to do a historic walk starting at Salisbury Cathedral and finishing at Winchester Cathedral. However, we will most definitely be going at a brisk walking pace, rather than a running pace. Unless we start running out of daylight, and then we will be running too! Thank you for all of your fundraising support for our 'Long Way Up' hike along the 'Pennine Way'. Helping us to remember the past, but also look to the future. If you would like to support us, please log onto www.ectopic.org.uk/fundraising/?p=46. Thank you so much!

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