Back to UK and day trips

First wander out was to Allington Lock, just on the outskirts of Maidstone. It maybe close to the main town of the county but the lock is a world lost in time.

I parked by the London Road and walked down from there. It's about 1 km and you pass over the main railway line, passed the Allington Bakery (the smell of hot cross buns being cooked was fabulous) and then down toward Allington Castle.

Sounds grand and probably is but its privately owned and opened only for filming or weddings or similar. If you look on Google the images are stunning.

Anyway, we meer mortals turn left at the keep and past the old church which has now been sold.

The road gets steadily steeper until you pop out at the Lock keepers house.

If you're lucky the cafe is open but no loos so be aware.

The area is fabulous and I took a couple of pictures from the lock itself. 

I anticipate going there again but it was a Sunday and everywhere was closing down. I suspect most of the area is closed outside of weekends and school holidays, but a great place to come. The house boats look fabulous, I will walk down to them another day.

view from the lock looking towards Maidstone 

some of the smaller day boats which moor up here. There's a small harbour just up river from here