Some of the fresh produce grown and made around Chilham in some beautiful Kentish farms in the UK. Photo courtesy of Hidden Britain

A lot of hype is placed on Local Travel abroad, but there can be just as many rewards to Local Travel… locally. After all, Get lost! Go local! is also a perfect mantra for a “staycation” and how many people can say they have experienced everything their own nation has to offer? Local travel is about repairing people-to-people connections, so joining forces with other nearby communities is a perfect place to start. Trying locally grown food, uncovering local history and experiencing your own “local” can make you realise how “lost” you already were. If you look around, there are tonnes of different sustainable destinations to be found at home. Just a stone’s throw from your doorstep there are hundreds of fabulous experiences to be had.

Hidden Britain has been working with rural communities in the UK to help them share what they love about where they live. The resulting social enterprises are community owned, are invigorating local economies and empowering communities that were otherwise dependent on agriculture and commuting. The projects have revealed an exciting and hands-on countryside that has so much to offer the modern traveller – from sculpture to mountain biking to food festivals. Rural Britain is overspilling with things to do and landscapes to uncover. Better still, it’s right at your fingertips.

One perfect place to start is Kent, the beautiful Garden of England. Let us awaken your senses with a three-day triangular trip in Kent that could even be used to book-end a continental visit. The trick is to delve beyond television advertisements and dig out your own perfect trip.

Learn bushcraft survival as part of a survival course run in the Elham Valley. Photo courtesy of Hidden Britain

Elham
Hidden Britain worked with Elham to uncover a wealth of arts-and-crafts activities. There are ceramics-painting classes and therapeutic-sculpture workshops for various abilities. There are also day courses to learn quirky new skills like weaving and wool-spinning using naturally sourced materials and dyes. In all cases, you are taught by local people, you use local products and you leave with your own self-made items. Money spent goes directly to the local economies, making changes at the top less formidable.

Working at crafts makes for hungry tummies, but be warned: if you take a foodie to Elham, there may be no leaving. In the outstanding natural beauty of the valley is an abundance of local farms and tea rooms, as well as fresh seafood caught a couple of miles away. You won’t starve. In summer there are seemingly endless days of picnicking and taste testing; in winter, you have hearty roast or a warm cocoa and slab of homemade cake. The choice is yours. There is a regular farmers market from which the preserves and pickles make fantastic – and rather tasty – mementos to take back home. Plus, with a vineyard in the valley, you can’t fall short of the odd tipple.

Chilham
Chilham is yet another crafty destination, one to which friendly locals always welcome you with their traditional brand of Kentish hospitality. There are outdoor art exhibitions, local cider tastings and a rich architectural heritage. There are also opportunities to explore the beautiful local limestone landscapes on horseback or by bicycle. You might come across suspiciously familiar scenes from the sets of Poirot or Miss Marple as you discover the mysteries that your own “local” offers.

A view from Edenbridge in Kent's Eden Valley takes in some traditional hop-drying Oast Houses set in gorgeous green fields. Photo courtesy of Hidden Britain

Eden Valley
Everyone’s ideal adventure is different. The thing is: adventure doesn’t necessarily mean jumping from cliff faces and offroading for 100 miles before tucking into a scary-looking deep-fried delicacy. Some of us just like a secret spot, somewhere we can chill out and forget our cares in a tranquil landscape filled with sounds of birdsong and running water. This is a perfect description of the Eden Valley in Kent, where the river Eden gently meanders along the valley floor, and acres of farmland and woodland are only broken by tiny lanes and a scattering of small villages. You can rest, relax and enjoy the tranquillity in the garden of England.

These three Kentish day trips could be grouped together or savoured separately, but the message is clear: get lost, go local and go national. Explore the wonderful scenery and make a local choice locally, where you will find a wealth of experiences you never knew were so nearby. Probably the best thing is that because the experiences are so close to home, you could go again and again, restocking your new favourite ingredients or returning to make your full set of crockery – all sound in the knowledge that your local economy is being improved as you have fun.

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