Natural Drama in Wye

As you walk along the North Downs, take a moment or two to think about the land beneath your feet - the chalk was laid down in warm, shallow seas almost 70 million years ago. Today chalk provides an ideal surface for walking, it drains well and doesn't get claggy. However, originally there was a fine mud beneath the sea, made from billions of tiny shells and the remains of small plants - a sort of gloopy, calcium rich soup. The North Downs were formed when movements of the earth's surface forced the Weald of Kent upwards, like a sheet of paper being crumpled. The top of the fold was then eroded, leaving the chalky spine of the Downs exposed.

The most dramatic feature on this walk is the deep gully of the Devil's Kneading Trough, that was formed at the end of the last Ice Age. Kent, unlike most of Britain, was never covered by thick ice sheets, however the ground was almost permanently frozen during the winter months, like parts of the Arctic or Russia today. In the spring, when the thaw set in, the meltwater would gouge deep valleys like this into the chalk.

As you stand looking across this deliciously green and varied landscape, it's hard to believe that you are looking at something that is artificial. But open chalk downlands only look the way they do because for thousands of years farmers grazed their animals here. The area around the Devil's Kneading Trough is a precious wildlife reserve and is home to wild flowers such as cowslips, violets, orchids, ox-eye daisies and the wonderfully aromatic wild thyme. Cowslips, so rare today, were once as abundant as buttercups and were strewn beneath the feet of country brides. They used to be known as 'freckled face' because of the orange spots at the base of their petals - spots which Shakespeare, rather romantically, thought gave them their delicate scent. In contrast, the fragrance of wild thyme is due to the presence of an oil called thymol, a natural antiseptic. It was traditionally used in the posy carried by monarchs when they presented Maundy money to their subjects. No, it wasn't there for decoration. It was there to give the monarch some protection from the infectious diseases carried by the poor.

What to look for

Carved into the chalk is the large, creamy white memorial crown created by students of Wye College in 1902 to commemorate the coronation of Edward VII. It was illuminated with thousands of tiny lamps on the night of the coronation and also on the Silver Jubilees of George V and Elizabeth II. The crown was camouflaged with brushwood during the Second World War to prevent enemy aircraft using it as an aid to navigation.

While you're there

Not far from Wye is Eastwell, one of those forgotten corners of Kent. There's a ruined church here, by a lake that is the burial place of Richard Plantaganet, the illegitimate son of Richard III. He worked as a mason at Eastwell Park after his father's defeat and death at Bosworth Field in 1485. They say his identity was discovered when he was spotted reading a book - an unlikely accomplishment for a 16th-century mason. He was said to be the last of the Plantaganets.