orchids of the Kent Downs

Starting in the village of Stelling Minnis, south of Canterbury, this is a 10 mile figure of 8 through woodlands and chalk grasslands of the Kent downs. The route is 6 miles in the morning and 4 miles in the afternoon, so you have the option of only doing the am or pm sections of the walk. The full walk, includes a visit to three nature reserves owned and managed by the Kent Wildlife Trust charity. Since it is a specialist botanical walk, please only attend if you are interested in stopping to look at the wildlife. In the morning we will visit Yockletts Bank and Spong wood. They are both areas of ancient woodland, with a variety of ancient woodland indicator species, including many species of orchid. Yockletts bank is famous for its population of lady orchids. We will return to Stelling Minnis for lunch, where people can have a picnic on the common and a drink in the Rose and Crown pub. In the afternoon, we will head out to Park Gate Down nature reserve, which is a chalk grassland, given the highest level of legal protection, as a Special Area of Conservation. Hopefully we will see one of the two remaining populations of monkey orchid in the UK, (a legally protected plant species). It's possible that the Stelling Minnis windmill will be open and serving cream teas for anyone who would like one at the end of the walk. NO DOGS PLEASE. The nature reserves support wildlife which is sensitive to disturbance and nutrient enrichment.