The equinox has just occurred, indicating that light will now win over darkness. This is a time of mixed emotions as the year comes to an end, leading up to the excitement of Christmas, but also reflection on the events of the past 50 weeks. However, the author is on vacation and not at work, so they have completed all their tasks and are relieved to be free of their obligations for two weeks. Meanwhile, Jools still has half a day of work left, but her employer has arranged for all factory employees to go to a fancy place in Folkestone for lunch, drinks, and a bottle of wine between four people. This is a welcome change for the author, who has not experienced such appreciation and recognition since leaving operational quality.
The author drops Jools off at work and sets out on a church crawl in the far west of Kent, England. Although Kent is not a large county, it takes time to travel to different parts of the county as the main roads run mainly from London to the coast. The author takes the A20 and motorway until the junction before the M26 starts to avoid rush hour traffic in Maidstone, Tonbridge, and Tunbridge Wells. However, the road from Mereworth to Tonbridge twists and turns before leading into the town, which has become a major junction after the railway came into existence. The author eventually arrives at Penshurst, a village built around the outskirts of Penshurst Place, home to the Sidney family since Tudor times. They enter the church to revisit the memorials and tombs, including one with the heads of the children of Robert Sidney (d1702) in a cloud. The author takes photographs and leaves a fiver for the church before driving to Speldhurst, where they find no place to park near the church.
The author then drives to Groombridge to revisit a small chapel with fabulous glass. However, it is pouring with rain, and the author misses the church during their first pass and discovers that the other churches in the village are in Sussex. The author decides not to stop here and instead drives to Tunbridge Wells to revisit another church. They park near the stairs down the hill leading to the station and walk across the road to the church. A service is ongoing, so the author sits at the back and observes before photographing the ceiling and other details. The warden questions the author as to why they are taking photographs, and the author replies that they simply enjoy it. After leaving the church, the author keeps their promise to a young man selling the Big Issue by giving him five pounds and not taking a copy. It is raining hard again by the time the author gets back to the car park, and they have two and a half hours to get to Folkestone to pick up Jools after her meal.
The traffic going into Tunbridge Wells from the author’s direction is crazy, so they are happy to be going the opposite way. They reach Stop 24 services at Ashford, where they have 90 minutes to kill before picking up Jools. They use this time to eat, drink, and scroll through Twitter. Eventually, at quarter past four, the author picks up Jools and stops outside the…