{"id":26309,"date":"2026-01-30T22:19:29","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T22:19:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/?p=26309"},"modified":"2026-02-21T00:17:42","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T00:17:42","slug":"the-one-after-dunton-green","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/?p=26309","title":{"rendered":"From a Rose to a Moat, a Tanyard and a George…"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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 The Moat | Wrotham<\/a>, a welcome sight “after a long six-hour stretch of hiking…” <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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January 30, 2026 – In the last post I hiked on alone on the Canterbury Trail<\/a>, from Days Inn Clacket Lane<\/a> to Dunton Green<\/a>. (A small village in the Sevenoaks District<\/a> of Kent.) There I met back up with my fellow hikers, brother Tom and his wife Carol. (She had just flown in from the States.) In Dunton Green we took the day off; Carol recovered from her jet lag, and we brothers took our second day off. (Since starting at Winchester<\/a> back on August 12.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Thursday, August 21 we relaxed, shopped a bit and did laundry. On Friday, August 22, we got back to hiking, ten and a half miles to The Tanyard, West Malling<\/a>. Once there, we would have only five more hiking days to Canterbury Cathedral<\/a> and the end of our Pilgrimage<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early in the morning we caught up with three guys also hiking the Trail, with day packs. It was nice to finally see someone else hiking the Canterbury Trail, and it would have been nice to chat a bit, but they had to hurry and catch a train. (They were doing the Trail one day-section at a time.) From there we stopped and got a stamp at The Churches of Kemsing and Woodlands<\/a>, “two friendly Anglican churches just to the north of Sevenoaks. Kemsing is a village of about 5,000 people, and Woodlands is a scattered rural community of about 1,000.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

See also Wikipedia on Kemsing<\/a>, which added that a local legend states that “the knights who murdered Archbishop\u00a0Thomas Becket<\/a>\u00a0rode through Kemsing on their way to seek him out at Canterbury. Following his canonisation, Kemsing became a stop-off place on the\u00a0Pilgrims’ Way<\/a>.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And late that afternoon we ended up at The Moat, Wrotham<\/a>, of which I wrote: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThank you, Jesus!\u201d Which is being interpreted: We finally made it to this place, with food and a pint \u2013 after a long six-hour stretch of hiking since 7:03 this morning. Which brings up one problem with the Canterbury Trail: Not too many places to stop and refresh. Today, only one other place, Italian, where I got an Americano coffee and chocolate canoli. (\u201cLeave the car, take the canoli.\u201d Google it.) So anyway, Mr. Google says we\u2019re an hour away from tonight\u2019s lodging. (The other good news.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In other words, it was a long trek that day, with few places to sit and relax. (Not unusual for the Canterbury Trail, as we had learned.) But The Moat made up for it. Aside from beer there was “Great old-timey music… Right now, ‘Roxanne.’ Just before that, ‘Benny and the jets.’\u201d Then Johnny Nash’s I Can See Clearly Now<\/a> came on. (Which I’ve always considered a good omen. As in, \u201cthe Camino will provide,\u201d a take on the Akedah<\/a>, the-near sacrifice of Isaac in Genesis.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

From there it was a mere 47 minutes to our night’s lodging, The Tanyard, West Malling<\/a>. Check the image below to see that on the outside it’s a bit quirky, if not weird. A sharp-angled roof that seems to start its angling a few feet off the ground. The first floor was wide open and comfy, but the second-floor loft – where I ended up – is way <\/em>cramped. With the roof-ceiling angling in so sharp, you have to watch your head. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for taking a shower, that’s definitely an acrobatic challenge. As you can see at left, there’s no shower curtain or anything else to keep the shower from spraying water all over the floor. And note the steep angles, on one side and up front where the faucets are. It definitely called for some limber athletic prowess. But in the fullness of time all three of us got the job done. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

From there, later that evening – after the cramped on-your-knees and bent-over shower in the tiny tub, under the angled roof – we three repaired to THE GEORGE AT TROTTISCLIFFE, West Malling<\/a>, for dinner, another well-deserved pint (or two) and some great ambience:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The George at Trottiscliffe is praised by many travelers for its delicious and plentiful food, with a wide menu and generous portions. The warm and cozy atmosphere, complemented by traditional decor, is inviting for families and special occasions.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In other words, then came redemption, in the form of this swanky restaurant right next door. Like the Tanyard it had no WiFi, but it did have another low-hanging entry way. (We saw a few patrons bonk their heads on the way in.) But the food was excellent, as exemplified by the shepherd’s pie I got. (Along with steamed carrots, broccoli and the obligatory prophylactic pint.) It turned out to be too much food, so I saved half for the next morning’s breakfast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That’s one nice thing about these multi-week, mile-after-mile long-distance hikes: You burn up lots of calories, so you get to eat a lot better than you can back home. And that leftover shepherd’s pie was way better than baked beans on toast, a staple of the classic full English breakfast. “No thank you ma’am! I’ll pass.” Next stop, 11.3 miles to Campbells Crib, Kent<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"a
 The Tanyard<\/a>.<\/em> a quirky but lovable place to spend the night…<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The upper image is courtesy of The Moat Wrotham – Image Results<\/a>. The “Rose” in the title referred to The Rose and Crown<\/a> pub and restaurant back in Dunton Green. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The link Binding of Isaac – Wikipedia<\/a> notes that “this biblical episode has been the focus of a great deal of commentary in traditional sources of Judaism<\/a>, Christianity<\/a>, and Islam<\/a>.” Used here the key passage is Genesis 22:13-14<\/a>, “Then Abraham looked up and saw behind him a ram in a thicket, caught by its horns. So, he went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son. And Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lower image is courtesy of the link, The Tanyard, West Malling<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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*   *   *   * *   *   *   * January 30, 2026 – In the last post I hiked on alone on the Canterbury Trail, from Days Inn Clacket Lane to Dunton Green. (A small village in the Sevenoaks District of Kent.) There I met back up with my fellow hikers, brother Tom and his wife […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26309"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26309"}],"version-history":[{"count":88,"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26309\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26649,"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26309\/revisions\/26649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}