Читать книгу The North Downs Way. National Trail from Farnham to Dover онлайн

6 страница из 35

Today the line of the downland scarp is traced here and there by motorways and a high speed railway, and nothing can better underscore the frenetic nature of modern living than to view in the distance the haste of wheeled traffic while you stroll across a rabbit-cropped meadow, birds singing from a nearby spinney, as you let the hours drift slowly by. Walking day after day for a hundred miles and more is the perfect antidote to the stresses of workaday life; it's the best of all exercises, a relaxation, and a means by which to get life in perspective. And along the North Downs Way you can discover something of our ancestry, learn from the past and balance those lessons with the present.

The North Downs Way

Exploring every aspect of the Surrey Hills and Kent Downs Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the North Downs Way (NDW) National Trail offers the walker a very different experience from that on the South Downs Way (SDW), for example, for while the SDW challenges with some steepish ascents and descents, the NDW is much more gentle with fewer climbs, and where these are made, the gradients are generally much less demanding. There's more habitation along the North Downs Way but, surprisingly in view of the proximity of major centres of commerce and industry, and large residential areas (especially between Farnham and Detling), you meet far fewer walkers, and most of those you do meet are locals out exercising their dogs, or enjoying a circular walk. Although it is claimed that around half a million people a year walk sections of the trail, even in mid-summer it's perfectly possible to wander the NDW for long periods in splendid isolation.