Starting the final leg of the Wealdway at Gover Hill I had just 16 miles or so to get to Gravesend. The first few miles of walking was through a lovely woodland of chestnut coppice and oak standards. It had been the first be of decent production woodland I had walked through on my entire journey. It was not long however until I reached the other side and the view over to the North Downs.

Having crossed under the M20 and round a big sand pit / quarry, I was fast approaching the steep southern escarpment of the North Downs. Before I got to the bottom of the climb up I stopped next to Coldrum Stones Long Barrow.

The slope up the North Downs was steep and very overgrown, in places I had to stoop to get under branches, with no clear views to the south. The path traversed the slope at an angle and before long I was up on the wooded plateau – which was again chestnut coppice.

I had not expected such flat plateau and it was quite a way before I was out into the rolling downland I had expected, but even that dropped down gently northwards towards the River Thames – and I was once again walking along slippery paths through fields of winter wheat making my way to the pretty village of Luddesdown.

There was yet more fields of winter wheat to cross, and this final bit of the final day became a bit of a trudge. I still had to cross over the Channel Tunnel Rail Link and the only thing that kept me going was whether I would catch a train! I almost did not – the path crossing over the line had been closed due to construction of a new road on the far side. I did however go round the fence and make it to the top of the embankment just in time to see a Eurostar train wizz by – it is indeed a high speed link.

That is where the good walking stopped, the path diversion took me through the roadworks – forcing me to cross the busy road 4 times to make it to the other side of the A2 and the outskirts of Gravesend. The walk into Gravesend does not do the Wealdway any justice with the route taking you alongside the main road. Having visited the town on my Kent Coast walk I quickly came to the decision that I had walked far enough and headed home.

Apart from the last 3 or so miles the Wealdway was an excellent walk, and I much enjoyed it. It was a little slippery under foot for much of the way and it was a shame that none of the bluebells were out yet – but then I did choose to walk it in late March! With a couple of alternations – like finding a different finishing point – I think it will be well worth walking again at a different time of year.

More pictures from the walk can be found here.

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Today (day 3) started off with quite a bit of road walking so I was able to make good progress on the tarmac of the narrow country lanes. Before long I was high up on Bidborough ridge and the snow started up again – though this time they were large delicate flakes which drifted haphazardly in the breeze.

My progress was quickly slowed as I descended off the ridge and down towards the River Medway and the main roads that ran along the valley. What looked to be a fast walk along the country park and into Tonbridge became a very slow slip and slide so it was quite a late lunch that I ate sitting opposite the castle.

I had thought getting to Tonbridge had been slow, until I started the 5 miles or so of walking along the riverbank out of Tonbridge to the east. It was quite a trudge and not particularly interesting walking – it was quite a welcome sight when the path finally turned away from the river to head north again, as I was deep into Kent fruit country.

As well as passing by hop fields and fields of top fruit, the rising ground towards the North Downs was obviously good for early soft fruit production – judging by the acres of polytunnels. The area is also famous for Kentish cob nuts, a type of hazel nut.

Despite the slow progress along the mud of the river valleys I still managed to make it the 20 miles to Gover Hill – with great views to the south over the Kent farmland. I had hoped to make it a little further as tomorrow I have to make it over the North Downs and all the way to Gravesend.

More pictures from the walk can be found here.

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Thankfully the strong northerly winds had blown itself out overnight, though the forecast still mentioned wintery showers, as I started out on day 2 from East Hoathly. The frost on the ground had stiffened up the mud just a little, though most of the fields were permanent pasture and not too muddy or slippery underfoot.

I was soon walking through Great Wood, its name the reminder of what was once here. It had probably been decimated several times over the centuries – nearby there are extensive remains of former iron-foundries which would have used the wood as fuel, but more recently the Great Storm of 1987 destroyed much woodland in the area.

I soon started to get glimpses of Ashdown Forest in the distance, and the view north was only slightly tempered by flurries of sleet and snow! I was thankful that the route dropped down again off a ridge, into the valley of the River Uck and around Buxted Park and Church

By the time I had made it up onto Ashdown Forest I was soaked, and so was my camera. The snow had turned to rain, but remnants of snow were still visible around Camp Hill Clump as I ate my lunch sheltering in the trees.

Continuing to walk north I started to leave the high ground of Ashdown Forest behind, walking down through Five Hundred Acre Wood and into the valley of the River Medway. The closer I got to the river the muddier it got, and it did not seem to be ordinary mud – it was super sticky mud and it made the going very tough. It took me quite a while to make it to the finish of the day at Stone Cross but I had covered a good 21 miles and had crossed the border into Kent.

More pictures from the walk can be found here.

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Did they get me? Am I on GoogleEarth?? What are the views like…

I doubt that I made it :-( from the look of the flowers and foliage my best guess is that these images date back to the spring and early summer. The oilseed rape seems to be in full bloom, most of the trees are in leaf – though if you look carefully some of the largest (which I presume will be oaks) have a slight pinky-brown tinge in patches on some of the trees and I think that will be the leaves just unfurling.

Some of the views down are excellent, and compare well with some of the photos I took on my way round…

Derek Jarman’s garden
Battle of Britain Memorial
Deal Castle
Viking Ship at Pegwell Bay
The remains of St Mary’s Church at Reculver
Rochester Castle
Grain Tower
An old boat rotting away on the River Thames
Dartford Bridge

I followed the route by David Bathurst in his book “Walking the Kent coast from end to end”. The route borrows heavily from the Saxon Shore Way but sticks more rigidly to the coastline – warts and all.

[View with PicLens]

 

Overnight another band of rain had raced through, leaving a trail of heavy showers in its wake. The forecast was not great and the wind was up again. I headed back to Gravesend on the bus and decided to catch a train up to Greenhithe.

I missed out a bit of coast but the map and guide showed it as full of industrial areas and waste ground – not pleasant walking particularly in this weather. From Greenhithe I was able to make it quickly back onto the path and soon the Dartford Bridge was looming above me.

Yet more industrial works on the western side of the bridge thankfully made way for the Dartford Marshes fairly quickly and I was next to the River Darent in next to no time. This river marks border with Kent and I had made it from end to end around the coast!

My enthusiasm was slightly tempered by the fact I was in the middle of nowhere and despite the large flood barrier straddling the river there was no way across. I was forced to head south for 3 miles before I found a bridge.

I had thought about continuing along the River Thames into London but with the detour along the River Darent and the poor weather forecast I decided 150 miles in 10 days was enough and I caught the train home.

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See all the pictures from all the days walking here in this gallery.

For some reason there was a big gap in the scheduling of buses, I could wait for more than an hour or I could set off now and probably make it to the next village before the bus would arrive. It meant a lot of road tramping but there was little in Grain to hold my interest.

I pressed on and made it to within a stones throw of the bus stop at Lower Stoke before being overtaken by the bus – I was beaten but only just.

Thankfully the walk from now on, for the rest of the day, was going to be much more picturesque. I had two options – a walk along the northern shore or to cut across the middle of the peninsula. As I had already walked a fair distance the longer northern shore walk was discounted and I also hoped to find some more interesting countryside further inland along the higher ground.

I still got good views of the River Thames from the middle of the peninsula and the walking was more interesting with a mix of farmland, small villages, woodland and orchards – I think I had the best of both worlds.

The views across the marshes at Cliffe were breathtaking – this is certainly no place for airport development. I made my way down onto the marshland and around the RSPB reserve with its large lakes and headed for Cliffe Fort which was where I would pick up the shoreline path.

From the Fort I continued along the Saxon Shore Way and made steady progress towards Gravesend. It was such a nice day I continued into Gravesend instead of cutting inland to find the B&B for the night at Worth – in doing so I walked a little further but at just over 18 miles it was a good days walking.

I caught the bus out of Gravesend and made it to the B&B just before dusk.

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See all the pictures from all the days walking here in this gallery.

After a day off, and a later than normal start, I was keen to get going. I again walked passed the Cathedral and Castle, and then it was over Rochester Bridge to get onto the path on the northern shore of the River Medway.

Having gone though more industrial areas I made it to Upnor Castle and made my way along the high tide mark of the river until I was forced to head inland by a marina and the ever increasing marshes and mud flats – and the Kingsnorth power station.

I was now on the Hoo Peninsula and the journey inland made a pleasant change of scenery, particularly with a field of onions breaking the monotony. I could have remained inland but the path along the top of the sea defences at the back of the salt marshes offered wonderful views to the south – despite the wind I meandered along preferring to look south rather than east towards the Isle of Grain and the massive industrial areas.

Eventually the mudflats and marshes ran out and I reached the main road through the industrial areas of power stations, oil and gas storages, and who knows what else in the sprawling development behind high fences.

Instead of heading directly into Grain when I reached the edge of the village I headed south east to make it back to the coast and to get a fix of shoreline walking. The views were not much improved, the tide was out and the industrial town of Sheerness on Sheppey dominated the landscape.

It was a mixed days walking, and I had managed just over 17 miles, hopefully tomorrow the north of the peninsula will offer more interest.

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See all the pictures from all the days walking here in this gallery.

The Medway towns of Chatham and Rochester have a long history. Chatham is famous for its historic dockyards, it was once the largest navel base in England (during the time of Charles II) and in 1765 HMS Victory was launched here. Rochester is dominated by its Norman castle and the cathedral – although it has a cathedral Rochester is no longer officially a city due to an administrative oversight in 2002.

Both towns have strong links with Charles Dickens, who lived in Chatham between 1817 and 1821 – his father worked in the Navy Pay Office, and he in 1856 he brought a house close to Rochester which was to be his home for the rest of his life. The towns and area feature in a number of his books.

While wandering around the towns I visited the Castle, Cathedral, Chatham Naval Memorial and Royal Engineers Museum.

The rugby was less successful.

The Isle of Sheppey was now off the list due to the bad weather, perhaps another time. The forecast was still not great so I headed out of Sittingbourne by the most direct route – the A2, which follows the line of an old roman road in almost a straight line all the way to Rochester.

I soon became bored of the A2 and, with the weather improving, I decided to cut back to the coast and rejoined the shoreline path at Lower Halstow. The path now followed the estuary of the River Medway and the outgoing tide had exposed great swathes of marsh and mud.

The path then itself headed inland through the village of Upchurch and it was nice to be walking through orchards and decent woodland (of chestnut coppice and oak standards). The path soon headed back along the river after a few miles and then linked up with the Gillingham Riverside Country Park.

I was making good progress but all of a sudden the park stopped and the way forward was blocked by a marina and industrial works. I was still a couple of miles from Rochester but it was no longer possible to stick to the river, I had to take to the roads and cut across the housing estates and built-up areas of Gillingham and Chatham to complete the day’s walking.

I had only walked 15 miles today but it seemed more. The weather had improved and the outlook was good for the weekend. Having missed out the Isle of Sheppey meant I now had an extra day in Rochester – I decided to have a day off to explore some of the Medway towns and to watch the Six Nations Rugby.

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See all the pictures from all the days walking here in this gallery.