No Parking For Monks With Dirty Habits

Today we headed out just after midday with no particular destination in our heads and only made up our mind on a mini tour of nearby villages after we'd already set off.
First on the agenda was the rural and, at one time, industrial village of Harriestsham 7 miles of east of Maidstone. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book, dating back to the 11th Century, with its name coming from the Old English 'hamm' meaning 'land hemmed in by a water or a marsh', combined with a local warlord's name, therefore "Heregaard's hemmed-in land". It's a lovely village but when we arrived it was very quiet so after a quick sunlit stroll we returned to the car to continue our small scale village based odyssey.
Once back on the road we saw the road sign directing us to the delightfully named equidistant villages of Frinsted and Wormshill which also happen to be en route to The Ringlestone Inn, which we had not frequented for what must be over 5 years. It is located down very narrow meandering country roads barely wide enough for a single car - I must admit I was pretty relieved we didn't encounter any traffic heading in the opposite direction. At one point I almost stopped believing we would find it until another road sign seemed to confirm it was only half a mile away. This turned out to be very much a 'country' half mile!
Eventually, and much to our relief, it did actually appear at the side of the road and after we passed a cyclist outside enjoying his pint of real ale we ventured inside to be greeted by the glorious sight of all the beams and wonderfully uneven stone floors. It dates bak to 1533, is Grade II listed and was originally used as a hospice for monks (who will also feature later in my blip).
We were warmly welcomed by the manager who confirmed that despite running the Inn for over five years he swears it takes longer to get there on each occasion and, jokingly I think, he said he sometimes fears he won't be able to find it again. Once we settled on our pints, which were fabulously hoppy, we took up residence in a couple of armchairs next to a crackling open fire and just soaked up the historic ambience. Wonderful!
It was then time to continue our journey along more twisting and turning lanes to our next village, Hollingbourne, which is where I took today's image. This fabulously satirical mural (it has a bit a Banksy vibe to it) is on a side wall of the village's pub, The Dirty Habit, which sadly suffered a devastating fire in October 2022 which almost raised it to the ground. 
It dates back to the 11th Century and sits on the Pilgrims Way and was used by monks, nuns (there is another mural depicting two nuns on a tandem!), assorted clergy and pilgrims on their route to Canterbury Cathedral. Thankfully it is now being rebuilt and the owners hope to reopen towards the end of this year or the start of 2025.
It was then on to the last village on our 'grand' tour, Lenham. It made for a lovely final stop-off where we sampled the delights of the newly refurbished Dog & Bear Hotel for a "gourmet" sausage roll, with ale and onion chutney, based late lunch.