A woodland walk, lovely food and a cooling swim....

Flippin' boiling hot weekend wasn't it! Shouldn't complain really but that's what us Brits do best after all. But come on though it was a bit too sudden and a bit too, well, hot. I always think that if it keeps you up at night then it's just too warm. It was my birthday on Sunday so I got to decided that we were all going out as a family. Only thing was, what do you do on a scorcher of a day like that? Didn't want to go that far so opted for one of the 14 walks from the Tonbridge Civic Society's aptly titled "14 Walks." We plumped for a shortish one, because of the heat and so the kids didn't get too fed up, Going from Bidborough village to Southborough and back a slightly different way. The walk is supposed to start from Southborough but, hey, I'm just a rebel like that and decided it would work just as well, being a circular walk, from any point you liked. The 14 walks all have pretty clear instructions and a handy map on the back of each sheet; and you even get a useful plastic sleeve in case it's raining (not bad for £2.50; incidentally available in Mr. Books!) I didn't care what I looked like as I tramped off wearing my long shorts and carrying my walkers staff which I'd had made at the Penshurst craft fair a few weeks back. Off we trundled up the footpath rising steeply at the back of Bidborough Common, which I think is part of the Wealdway; when you look back from there you get some wonderful views, like a picture postcard shot, of Bidborough Church High up on the next hill. I won't go through the whole walk but it's certainly worth doing if you like the shade of woodland on a hot day, we took some pictures of a twisted, half-subsided tree route, which was like something out of an Arthur Rackham illustrated fairy story. It's amazing how out in the wild you can feel and yet be so close the the main roads and the towns. The rest of the weekend was a lovely meal cooked by my wife, using some of the fresh veg i'd bought from the Shipbourne farmers market a couple of days before, rather a few too many glasses of wine (well it was me birthday!) and then, on Monday, finding that I had a free day, doing gardening, washing the car and other jobs around the house. As a treat in the afternoon I went along to cooooool off in Tonbridge Swimming Pool. What a great facility that is to have a open air pool on a day like yesterday; actually, believe it of not, the water temperature was noticeably cooler in the inside fitness pool than in the outdoor one. My God it could have been an August day in the summer holidays instead of a normal work day in May; the place was pretty packed, and who can blame them. Mind you the inside pool was more or less empty so I did most of my swimming in there and sat and read under the shade of a parasol outside the rest of the time. Ah the simple pleasures in life, who needs computers when you've got fresh air and a good book?!..