Author Topic: Completely covering Kent  (Read 38040 times)

WhitstableDave

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Re: Completely covering Kent
« Reply #45 on: 17:33:49, 31/10/19 »
I recently entered my fourth year of trying to walk everywhere in Kent without once setting foot in the Medway towns of Rochester, Chatham, Gillingham and Rainham. The big hole in my walks map needed filling, so that was today's challenge.

For those unfamiliar with Kent, the Medway towns form a conurbation with a unitary authority independent from Kent County Council, but, whether I like it or not, it's still a part of Kent and it had to be walked!

My plan was to link a previous walk that had just touched Rainham in the east with my walk along the North Downs Way that crossed the M2 Medway Bridge to the west. I decided to park at Riverside Country Park so that I could follow the Saxon Shore Way from there to the Medway Bridge, then come back through the towns along urban streets and the busy A2 to just past Rainham before heading up to the river and back to the car. The outbound section was surprisingly interesting - the return less so!



The Saxon Shore Way passes through the country park and I was on the path in minutes. The last place on the signpost is Horrid Hill, but I don't remember passing it. The tide was out as I set off but all of the marsh was completely submerged when I got back:





I can see buildings in the distance!



The Medway towns have a long naval and military history and there are signs of it everywhere. This is the Royal Engineers Museum...



...and this is a statue of Lord Kitchener:



I think that the most attractive and interesting part of Medway is Rochester. This is Eastgate House on the High Street, which dates from the 16th century and apparently features in at least two Dickens' novels:



This is Rochester Cathedral - the second oldest cathedral in England:



And this is the magnificent Rochester Castle:



The biggest second-hand bookshop in England. It's an amazing place - more like a book-filled maze than a shop!



Walking alongside the River Medway towards the big bridge in the distance. I suppose it's only a matter of time before the opposite bank is developed...



I followed a rough path to the underside of the bridge hoping to find the North Downs Way which I remembered coming down from the bridge somewhere around here. I found it!



The long and quite tedious trek to Rainham had nothing much worth photographing, with the exception of Foord Almshouses near Borstal. Very posh!



The walk was 18 miles, with the first half being surprisingly interesting - a really nice waterside walk and lots of impressive buildings. The return through residential streets and several miles along the straight and busy A2 (a Roman road) was just exercise!  :)
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gunwharfman

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Re: Completely covering Kent
« Reply #46 on: 20:31:09, 31/10/19 »
When I was 18 I did a 6-week placement in a Borstal that used to be right on the edge of the tidal Medway very near to the straight section as shown on your map. When the tide was out the mud was very slimy and sticky. The home had a tennis court-sized lawn to the rear which ended at the water's edge, no fence just grass and then a drop down into the mud. The staff and residents used to play 5 a side football or rugby there and many of the kids who were nasty, aggressive and so on often 'fell' into the mud, the nicer kids either rarely or never. I always liked Rochester but havent been there for many years.

Dovegirl

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Re: Completely covering Kent
« Reply #47 on: 21:19:50, 31/10/19 »
Great photos    :)    It's many years since I went to Rochester

WhitstableDave

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Re: Completely covering Kent
« Reply #48 on: 18:36:04, 01/11/19 »
When I was 18 I did a 6-week placement in a Borstal that used to be right on the edge of the tidal Medway very near to the straight section as shown on your map. When the tide was out the mud was very slimy and sticky. The home had a tennis court-sized lawn to the rear which ended at the water's edge, no fence just grass and then a drop down into the mud. The staff and residents used to play 5 a side football or rugby there and many of the kids who were nasty, aggressive and so on often 'fell' into the mud, the nicer kids either rarely or never. I always liked Rochester but havent been there for many years.

Hi GWM. Your post got me thinking about the name 'Borstal' so I did some reading... I'd assumed that the name of the village just happened to be the same as that for a young offenders prison, but I learned that the village of Borstal is where the first YOI was established back in 1870 and the name came to be used for all such places. Fascinating - thanks!

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WhitstableDave

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Re: Completely covering Kent
« Reply #49 on: 18:58:55, 05/11/19 »
For today's walk, I explored the area around Sittingbourne. I'm not sure how to describe Sittingbourne's location - it's sort of near the North Kent coast by the Swale, which is a strip of sea separating mainland Kent from the Isle of Sheppey. The Swale is shallow, muddy and marshy, and is visited by huge numbers of birds but not by many people. Despite being close to the large town of Sittingbourne, the creeks and marshes to the north can feel like a desolate wilderness.

I have to admit that I've never liked Sittingbourne, which is why it's taken me so long to do a walk there. I've driven through it on the A2 many times and I've visited the shopping areas occasionally, and I've always thought it to be a scruffy, industrial, grotty place. I didn't change my mind about the town centre or the industrial northern part today, but I discovered that the area to the south of the A2 is really nice and the villages just outside the town, such as Borden, Tunstall and the wonderfully named Hearts Delight are extremely pleasant. And the section of my walk between Sittingbourne and the Sheppey bridges along Milton Creek and the Swale was quite fascinating.

I parked in the centre of town and headed north, following Milton Creek to the Swale and on to (and under) the old and new Isle of Sheppey bridges. Then I made my way to the village of Iwade and out into quite empty countryside following quiet lanes to Chestnut Street. From there I walked through Borden, Hearts Delight and Tunstall and back into Sittingbourne from the south. The distance was 16.25 miles.



The first challenge was to find the path out of the industrial area to the creek. I was relieved when I spotted it...



The path led to Milton Creek. Looking back I could see a sign down by the creek showing 'The Mouth' and 'The Head'...



I went towards the mouth...  :)



The path followed the creek and the Swale for about 6 miles and there were nearly always high industrial fences to my left. I passed sewerage works, power stations, cement works and the like, but no people. The path was clearly very rarely used so I was surprised to come across a picnic table. It was a nice spot, but at least 3 miles from civilisation!



I thought this was worth a photo - it's a power station that burns rubbish, and it looks good too!



Further on I passed another power station (it's in the distance here). This one had big piles of what looked like scrap wood nearby, so I guess it's also a rubbish-burner:



The path took me inland for a while along an embankment where cattle had churned the path to mud very recently. I was happy to see them some way off to the side of the path!



I passed a derelict railway track. The new Sheppey bridge is in the distance...



This is a narrow part of the Swale with Sheppey across the water. That part of the island is Elmley Marshes, the site of one of the largest nature reserves in England and (I think) the biggest privately-owned one.



Looking towards the Sheppey bridges - the old lift bridge (closest) is still in use.



I took most of today's photos during the wilderness part of the walk, so there are only a few of the last two-thirds. This is typical of the lanes I walked between Iwade and Borden:



The church and a pub at Borden:



An oast house and thatched cottages at Tunstall:



The thing I really liked about this walk was that it changed my mind about Sittingbourne. Okay, lots of the area is pretty grotty, but I like desolate marshes and discovering charming old villages. And Sittingbourne itself has some extremely nice parts too.  :)
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WhitstableDave

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Re: Completely covering Kent
« Reply #50 on: 16:05:21, 09/11/19 »
The aim of today's Weekend Walk With my Wife was to see some wild animals.  :)

The OS map shows a public footpath going straight through Howletts Wild Animal Park near Canterbury. A bit of research found that Howletts had tried to have the footpath closed some time ago, but without success. This was definitely worth investigating...

I worked out a circular route starting at a park and ride on the Dover Road outside Canterbury. Most of the walk was across farmland and through farmyards and we went through the lovely village of Patrixbourne on the way back.



The long lane leading to Woolton Farm passed through apple and cherry orchards. As we neared the farm, there were redcurrants to our left and strawberries to our right:



Autumnal trees...



We found the path and almost immediately saw elephants in the distance.



It seemed that we were much closer to the elephants than those who'd paid to see them!





There were two footbridges along the path that made excellent viewpoints - one near the elephants and the other overlooking an enclosure for Red River Hogs (I googled them!)...



Although we didn't see other animals today, we thought the free visit to Howletts was a tremendous success! Heading off across the fields we passed the ruins of a chapel:



I've walked through Patrixbourne many times (it's on the North Downs Way), but I hadn't arrived from today's direction before. We added alpacas to the animals spotted list...



A bit of Patrixbourne:



This was actually our second 'free visit' to a wildlife park this year. In the summer we explored footpaths going through Port Lympne - a large animal reserve near Hythe. We saw giraffes and other animals a fair way off, but we got close to Eland and Hyenas.  :)
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sunnydale

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Re: Completely covering Kent
« Reply #51 on: 20:24:42, 12/11/19 »
Some lovely photos there Dave O0
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WhitstableDave

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Re: Completely covering Kent
« Reply #52 on: 23:00:09, 12/11/19 »
Some lovely photos there Dave O0
Thanks sunnydale!  :)
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WhitstableDave

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Re: Completely covering Kent
« Reply #53 on: 16:18:48, 16/11/19 »
For today's Weekend Walk With my Wife, I worked out a route in a previously unvisited area between Canterbury and Sandwich and made use of free parking at the English Heritage site of Richborough Castle. Actually, the 'castle' is the remains of a Roman fort that once guarded the southern end of a sea channel between mainland Kent and the Isle of Thanet. The channel no longer exists and Thanet is now joined to the mainland.

The plan was to go across fields and along lanes to the village of Ash and loop back to Richborough Castle in a similar fashion. Almost all of the route was new to me, the exceptions being a short bit of the Stour Valley Walk which we followed for about a mile near the start, and a few hundred yards of the main street in Ash.



Not long after setting off, we crossed a boggy field with cows in. I must have tempted fate because I'd just remarked that by now cattle will have gone indoors for the winter! Anyway, we were about halfway across the field when we noticed that one animal was a very chunky bull; he didn't pay us much attention though...

In the distance, the unimpressive low hill to the right is the site of a Roman amphitheatre.



The area is very flat and is criss-crossed with drainage channels: 



Nearing Ash, we went through a field of pumpkins that were past their best...



Ash was once on the main road between Canterbury and Sandwich on the coast, but a bypass has left it a lovely, quaint, quiet village...



We finished with a visit to the huge Roman fort and the small visitor centre.  :)



It was rather cold and grey today and I didn't take many photos, so I'll include my up-to-date Kent walks map:  8)

« Last Edit: 16:44:52, 16/11/19 by WhitstableDave »
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gunwharfman

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Re: Completely covering Kent
« Reply #54 on: 17:58:07, 16/11/19 »
I can fully recommend The High Weald Trail route from Horsmonden, to Goudhurst, to Cranbrook, to Biddenden to Tenterden, one of the best walks I've done in Kent.

WhitstableDave

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Re: Completely covering Kent
« Reply #55 on: 18:48:37, 16/11/19 »
I can fully recommend The High Weald Trail route from Horsmonden, to Goudhurst, to Cranbrook, to Biddenden to Tenterden, one of the best walks I've done in Kent.

I suspect you meant Benenden rather than Biddenden (which is to the north), but yes, what I've seen of the High Weald Landscape Trail is excellent. I've done much of the Kent part, but I still need to do the section between Goudhurst and Pembury - it's a long drive so it'll have to be next spring...  O0
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WhitstableDave

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Re: Completely covering Kent
« Reply #56 on: 16:33:24, 19/11/19 »
Today's walk was a very important one for me. At 12 miles into the walk I would clock up 3,000 miles in 2019, meeting my target for the year with about 6 weeks still to go. So I worked out a 13+ mile route just to be sure!   :)

I found a space that needed filling on my Kent walks map in the area to the north-west of Hythe in the south of the county. I parked in a small car park at Farthing Common which is right on the North Downs Way and serves as a fantastic viewpoint. My circuit was to take in Postling and Lympne, both of which I'd walked through previously, and Stanford, Newingreen, Sellindge and Monks Horton, which would be new to me.



The view from Farthing Common. I was a bit surprised to see cows still out in the fields, and I noted that I'd be coming back across that field later...



I have a thing about the communications tower at Tolsford Hill near Postling and I've walked by it many times. It stands at the meeting point of three trails: the North Downs Way, the Saxon Shore Way, and the Elham Valley Way. The views from there are amazing, but today I went around the bottom of the hill:



It was a cold, crisp morning. There was still frost in the shade and ice on puddles. 



Looking back along the byway on the way to Stanford with the tower clearly visible:



Between Stanford and Newingreen I spotted a racecourse, which I looked up when I got home. It's Folkestone Racecourse, which closed about seven years ago and has apparently been left to decay. I'm not a fan of horse racing, so I hope some other purpose will be found for the place...



Near Monks Horton, I saw an impressive building which I later learned is Horton Priory. Apparently it was owned by both Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, and it was sold a few years ago for around £5 million.



A goose on a pond:



That's 3,000 miles so far this year - woo hoo!  :)
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gunwharfman

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Re: Completely covering Kent
« Reply #57 on: 18:02:27, 19/11/19 »
Well done. I've just spent a couple of hours going through all of your pages and I'm very impressed. I have never bothered with Google Earth before, obviously, I've missed a lot. Without demanding too much of you, how do you create your maps? I've downloaded Google Earth and at the moment its mumbo-jumbo to me.

WhitstableDave

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Re: Completely covering Kent
« Reply #58 on: 19:21:21, 19/11/19 »
Well done. I've just spent a couple of hours going through all of your pages and I'm very impressed. I have never bothered with Google Earth before, obviously, I've missed a lot. Without demanding too much of you, how do you create your maps? I've downloaded Google Earth and at the moment its mumbo-jumbo to me.

I'd love to help, but the method I use is specific to the hardware and software I use and probably won't match what you have. I record my walks with a Garmin GPS watch and the data it collects is copied to Garmin Connect. Garmin Connect can export a track as a .kml file to Google Earth (.kml is the format Google Earth uses). The track then appears on Google Earth and it can be formatted with colour and thickness.

I don't know how much help that'll be. I've been using Google Earth for years and it does take a lot of practise!
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gunwharfman

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Re: Completely covering Kent
« Reply #59 on: 21:26:09, 19/11/19 »
Thank you, you have been very helpful, I'll just continue to play around with it.

 

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