A Walk beside the Medway

In the centre of the busy market town of Maidstone in Kent there is a tranquil summer walk; a place where once the solemnity and pomp of religious expression dominated. Today there is the Church of All Saints with its magnificent brass plaques and myriad ancient tombs covered by their incumbent's donated flagstones and its presence that seems to add peace to the busy scene around it.

A corner of the Bishop's Palace gardens

This of a Saturday and a reconnoitre of the area for a wedding in the Bishop's Palace, now owned and used by the Borough Council, to find suitable car parking for guests wanting to witness the ceremony in the registry office. We, my sister and I walked the walk to time the trek from the car parks to the office and also the time taken on a Saturday to get through town. This task done we took ourselves on a stroll around the old buildings.

It was a pleasant, warm June day so we took a stroll along what was once the tow-path along the Medway watching the ducks and geese enjoying the water. The Lockmeadow shopping complex loomed up but within a less than a hundred metres this was hidden by green clad trees and the sight of recently built riverside apartments, some pleasing to the eye and others in need of some trees to break up their harsh, utilitarian lines. The contrast was the 'posh' homes across the river with their boat landing ramps, and landscaped gardens.

But I digress for on the town side of the river the council has created an amphitheatre that is, or should be a candidate for pride of place. Quiet and remote from the snarl of traffic that clogs the roads just a few hundred metres away this is a little riverside gem. To us, so familiar with our county town, the revelation was that we had never explored the area around the Palace enough and we were pleasantly surprised.

The Amphitheatre

Of course if you wish you can take a ride down the Medway to Allington Lock and visit the Kent Life Museum but I recommend instead you take the effort to follow the river as far as you can and enjoy the pleasures of the towpath. Our only regret was that we had to return to avoid getting the car wheels clamped or a fine, but then if you are willing to pay a little more for parking and stroll further then you are in for a summer treat.

A View from the tow-path