Each year Canterbury Festival includes a varied selection of walks as part of its October programme. This year we are delighted to celebrate the coming of spring with expertly-led walks in and around Canterbury. Over three days organisations and walk leaders from across the district have generously donated tours to help fundraise for this year’s Canterbury Festival and our year-round participatory projects. Covering an amazing amount of ground and subjects, popular walk leaders will be revealing the City’s secrets from 31 March – 2 April, exploring topics as diverse as lost industries, Victorian living conditions, local ecology and Canterbury’s distinguished playwrights.

The early lives of Aphra Benn and Christopher Marlowe are celebrated in Kit’s Canterbury on April 1 and City of Drama on April 2 whilst those with a keen interest in the City’s social history have a choice of a walk through the Georgian City on March 31 or to learn of the living conditions in our Victorian City on April 2. Every day you might walk past Canterbury’s Public Artworks – learn their fascinating stories in a revealing tour on April 2. The familiarity of Dane John Gardens becomes An Elysium in Miniature on April 2 in which the varied life and use of this historic public space is revealed. The legacy of City Alderman James Simmons, to some an improver, to others a destroyer, is examined in a walk on April 2, whilst The Worthgate Ward sheds new light on the history of this city centre area from prehistoric and Roman times to the Norman Conquest in a walk on March 31.

Beyond the City, there’s a great variety of local scenery and wildlife to be enjoyed with some excellent walks. Close by, around Tyler Hill, a circular walk to discover the medieval manufacture of Canterbury Tiles takes place on April 1. A scenic Walk through Woods and fields around Fordwich can be enjoyed on March 31 and, on the same day, a circular walk around Harbledown covers traditional farmland and forest, Pilgrims, Apples and Hops. There is the unique opportunity to take an early morning walk as you Wake-Up at Wildwood on April 1 learning about native species, rewilding and animals waking from hibernation. Finally, there is an exciting and unusual chance to take a Beaver Walk Along the River Stour on April 1 with the opportunity to see beaver signs, activity and a lodge, and learn about their environmental effects.

For more information, visit our What’s On pages or call the box office on 01227 457568.