I love the White Cliffs of Dover and I've walked along the clifftop many times, but not for a few weeks. So I decided to do a walk from Dover today and I devised a circuit where at least half of the route would be new to me by taking lanes I'd not used before across the countryside to Deal.
I used my National Trust membership to park at the White Cliffs Visitor Centre, which overlooks the ferry terminal. I passed Dover Castle and went through some historic villages, including Guston, East Langdon and Martin, before arriving in a part of Walmer I'd not seen before. A footpath beside the railway line took me on to Deal and I returned along the coast to Dover. Although I hadn't planned to, I followed a cycle route called the Skylark Trail all the way from Dover to Walmer.
The Dover area is full of castles, forts and other military remains. Clockwise from top-left are: Dover Castle, Fort Burgoyne (not open to the public), Walmer Castle and Deal Castle. I love castles and Deal is probably my favourite!:
I mentioned historic villages... I bagged a few information boards.
If you've ever sailed into or out of Dover, you'll probably have seen South Foreland Lighthouse perched high on the cliff:
Horses are often seen grazing along the clifftop in the many National Trust areas; I passed two small herds today. Below to the left is St Margarets Bay:
That's the ferry port in the distance, with the cruise port behind. Three cruise ships were in today:
This is Fan Bay. Just in front of me is the top of the steepest slope I've climbed in Kent. I went the long way round today!
This dip is called Langdon Hole, which is easier to cross than Fan Bay!
It was an excellent and varied walk at a touch under 18 miles, which I highly recommend! I think it's worth mentioning that I actually prefer the clifftop to the west between Dover and Folkestone, mainly because there are far fewer people around. The advantage of the eastern side that I did today is that it's much more open and offers a wide variety of routes - both moderate and challenging!