Location: King's Wood

Date: 14th September 2023

Blog Written by: Gini (Disabled Walk Leader/ Founder)

Today's visit to King's Wood was a new route. This time was all about exploring the North Downs Way from Chilham.

We were met at the entrance by a Devils Coach Beetle giving a spectacular display of curving its body like a Scorpion.

Wild with Wheels have assessed many different starting points and routes around this magnificent managed forest to find the best accessible route possible.

North Downs Way National Trail have worked hard to improve this pathway and are working to reduce rain erosion in the future by including rain drainage concrete humps.

We discovered that it’s not ideal for accessibility, but halts the V shaped erosion caused by rainwater flow, which previously made navigating this path a difficult task. We will share more details on wheeled access over the humps in another post... 

Although I managed this venture on my powerchair, it wasn't a pleasant experience, but at least I made it to the top in one piece, and enjoyed the path when it was smoother and easier to navigate.

We met lots of cyclists, ramblers and dog walkers on the North Downs Way (lots more than usual) and we stopped to chat about the Coppice Oratory Art Installation, and North Downs Way/ Canter Way.

We paused often to admire lots of old Beech and Oak trees. We spotted lots of bracket fungus and bathed in warm sunny glades along the path.

📸 Image credits: Laura