Day: 174 31/5/97 Rainham to Stanford-le-hope

Weather:  Windy, sunny and warm.

Distance:  32km (19.9miles)    Total Distance:   2236miles

I had originally planned to go walking for two days but I changed my mind part way through the day.  It was not a thrilling days walk so I decided to walk hard for the day and come back to Coventry that evening.

I parked the car in the supermarket car park in Rainham.  I had originally parked in a council car park marked for walkers of a footpath, but then I saw notices saying that parking was limited to four hours there so I moved it to the supermarket car park itself. Obviously the council thought that alking more than four hours may damage your health. 

I walked through the town but decided not to take the path down to the Thames because it looked very uncertain if there was a path all the way along the embankments to Purfleet, so instead I took the B-road to Wennington.  I was amazed by the fact that there was farmland dotted around this close to London.  A large house at the end of the village, almost on the very busy A13, had a pond and a heron feeding in it. 

There then followed a pretty horrible mile and a half along the A13 itself, some of it without a footpath.  I suppose I should be thankful it was a Saturday and not a weekday.  I was very relieved  to turn off the A13 and get on the road down to Purfleet.  I was wearing my worn out trainers and had put new insoles in them, but was having trouble with one foot so had to take it out.  Would this mead bad blisters by the end of the day I wondered.

I was also disappointed to see on the way into Purfleet a sign to a footpath along the riverbank back towards Rainham.  I probably could have walked it after all but it was not an official footpath.  I had a glimpse of Purfleet before finding the footpath that took me into industry and down towards the Thames for the first time that day.  Going through a oil depot type place I came to a paper recycling type mill but it looked like the way onto the Thames embankment had been fenced off. I had to backtrack a bit and discovered that the fence had been torn down and I got to the river OK. 

I then had a good couple of miles along industrialised Thames, ducking under the occasional jetty and pipeline.  I was stopping at quite regular times to have a drink.  I was relieved to get to Grays that looked to have a lot of riverside development going on.  I cut up into the old town, bought a drink and a packet of biscuits for lunch and headed out along the side streets towards Tilbury, cutting inland to avoid the docks.  The builders of the new road were kind enough to put a cycle and footpath along it.  Lorries were still aplenty even on a Saturday heading for the freight terminal. I had to laugh because when I rang up to inquire about trains, Tilbury was one of the places I asked about – I was told that there were only buses from Tilbury Docks that day free of charge.  I could see why – they were ripping up the lines!

I had been looking forward to a drink in the pub marked on the map but when I got there it had been burnt down. I was putting sun block on by this stage – it was getting hot.  Past the large power station things got a little greener.

Past Coalhouse Fort I asked a man with a dog how far I could get and he confirmed I would have to cut back into East Tilbury.  This I did and then phoned Margaret to get her to cancel my Youth Hostel booking.  I had a pint in the pub there and carried on along the roads to Stanford-le-Hope, getting back onto footpaths for the last half mile.  I stopped there and walked up into the town to the station to catch a train back to Rainham.  

As I was paying I must have left my map there – it took me some days to realise what I had done and phone them up – or should I say the operating company – you are not allowed to phone the actual station these days! 

Day: 173 21/5/97 North Woolwich to Rainham

Weather:  Windy and cool but dry

Distance:  15km (9.3miles)    Total Distance:   2216miles

I had to go to our paint factory at Silvertown, East London, to discus some environmental matters.  The meeting was at 9 o’clock and I dreaded getting stuck in the rush hour traffic so set off very early at 5.30am from Coventry.  I went a new way for me, along to Cambridge and down the M11.  It was fine but even at that hour the traffic near the factory at the end of the M11 was very bad.  I got there at 7.30am so left the car at the factory and walked up the road to get a coffee from the garage.  The meeting turned out to be quite short and was over by 10.30am.  I got changed in the toilet in the reception area and walked from the factory rather than try to get closer to Woolwich. Walking past the sugar refineries and new rail links I got to Woolwich ferry terminal no trouble.

North Woolwich seemed an isolated little community cut off from the rest of London by new road developments. Heading north I passed the end of the runway for London City Airport being visited by a group of schoolchildren – a real fun day out!  It looked to be threatening rain all day but actually kept dry.  I had to cut all the way inland to the A13 before I could head east again. 

I came to overtake a woman struggling with four bags of shopping and offered her a hand and almost to my surprise she accepted – I thought all Londoners were too afraid to enter into any kind of conversation! I took her shopping over the footbridge to a bus stop and than crossed again and headed south down through what I thought would be a quiet road to the Thames but turned out to be a very busy industrial estate. 

At last I found some relative tranquility by cutting off the road and down to the Thames and my first footpath in Essex.  I was not impressed; no signs and built over at both ends.  At the Dagenham end as I was cutting up towards the car factory I swear they were in the process of building directly over the footpath.  After scrambling down through a building site I ended up in the Ford’s motor complex and then on the A13 again.

I had a couple of miles along the A13 to really deepen my moral – I could not take anymore so gave up at Rainham and caught the bus back to Barking, the train to West Ham and the tube to Canning Town.  At West Ham I thought of my grandfather and wondered where he must have lived. I had just started tracing my family tree so did not have any addresses as yet.

I walked from Canning Town back to Silvertown and then drove back to Coventry. A good days extra walking and in company time!   

Day: 172 20/4/97 Erith to Woolwich

Weather:  Cool, breezy but fine

Distance: 12.5 km (  miles)    Total Distance:           miles

I packed up at the Youth Hostel, battled with the road system to get onto the motorway and got walking by 8.00 having left the car outside the swimming pool in Erith. 

I would not recommend today’s walk to anyone. The only good thing I suppose is that it could have been worse – it could have been raining. The first hour was along the bank of the Thames with a lot of dilapidated industry.  The only people around were the occasional hardy fishermen and occasional crew of a boat being loaded at the wharves plus an odd person whose hobby seemed to be taking photos of boats and tugs – a sort of a boat-spotter I suppose. 

I kept by the Thames until I was forced to go inland by a large sewage works belonging to Thames Water.  Why is it that water companies are the worst people for not allowing access to the waterside.  A path led alongside the main road but about 10 yards away from it and hemmed in by scrub – much better than walking along the road itself I must say. 

I was not looking forward to the Thamesmead housing estate because I had a picture of rough high rise flats in mind and indeed from afar there were such flats visible.  They however turned out to belong to another housing estate and Thamesmead was surprisingly OK.  The only problem was getting onto the estate.  I ended up going over the dual carriageway and then along a number of dead-end path and almost onto a golf course at one time but eventually found my way onto the estate.  The first half had a reasonable road with paths but the latter had a dual carriageway with no real path followed shortly by the A2016, also a busy road with no path. 

I wandered through the town of Woolwich and eventually down to where the ferry left. Taking a ferry wasn't in my rules so I heading further upstream.  My map indicated that there was a foot tunnel but there appeared to be no evidence of any tunnel that I could find.  I ended up asking a passing man who directed be behind some buildings and there hidden away was the tunnel.  I was trying to figure out how to operate the lift when it opened to reveal a wood paneled structure with a uniformed lift attendant straight out of Driving Miss Daisy.  This took me down to the tunnel and trying to put the worries that lifts were not within my rules behind me I set off to walk along the 300 yards white tilled tunnel occasionally passing other pedestrians.  There was no lift at the other end only a spiral staircase.

I went back over the Thames by the ferry and then got a train back to Erith and collected the car to drive home.

Day: 171 19/4/97 Gravesend to Erith

Weather:  Windy and cool but dry

Distance: 25 km ( 15.5 miles)    Total Distance:     miles

Gravesend was already quite busy by the time I arrived and it initially looked like I may have trouble parking but luckily I found my way down to the estuary and a car park almost empty and only a couple of hundred yards from where I has stopped walking last time. 

Almost from the start of today's walk I was forced inland but not too far.  I tried to cut down near where the ferry from Tilbury lands but frustratingly it was a no-through path.  On the outskirts of Gravesend I did manage about a mile by the Thames but once I reached the Kimberly Clarke paper mill I again had to come up to the main road via a footpath that went virtually through the factory. It looked as if it was private but a security guard reassured me I was OK to go that way.

Onto the busy main road for another mile and I was then able to cut down through an industrial estate and onto Swanscombe Marshes. The path was a bit unclear and I was afraid I was going to end up in a quarry where the big excavators were working but I got back to the Thames for a while and seemed to end up in a disused navel training center and school.  I missed the path that cut into Greenthite but after a little detour up to the main road again and the down to the village. 

I had a decision to make – a bar of chocolate from the corner shop or a pint. The later won especially as the football match was about to start – a morning kick off to almost decide the championship. If Man United beat Liverpool then almost nobody could catch them – and they did.  I had sausage and chips and a couple of pints but did not hang around to see the end of the match.

I could now get back to the river’s edge once through the village, and was able to stay by it for quite a long way.  The giant Dartford Bridge loomed in the distance, traffic passing so high above that it was quiet.  I was surprised when I got there how easy it was to touch the supports – I would have thought with all the terrorist activity around it would have been very well guarded. Perhaps I was been closely watched on CCTV.  Pedestrians aren't allowed to walk across the Dartford Crossing so it was another day's walk for me upstream to find a suitable crossing

I entered a mile or so of industry and their wharves and then into more green area.  I was disappointed when I got to the mouth of the River Darent that I was not able to walk over the flood barrier but it was a giant affair - –and very well defended!    This meant a long, long, detour inland – longer than first looked on the map and a particularly frustrating detour. Eventually after more than an hours walk I ended up only a hundred yards from where I was before.  This side of the river was now more industrialised – scrap yards etc.  Soon I was forced to cut inland and ended up in the town of Erith.  I caught the train back to Gravesend and walked to collect the car down by the river.

I found the Youth Hostel a little easier this time, had a shower and popped out for a kebab – not risking the appealing Chinese I had last time.  I phoned my wife from the call box opposite the youth hostel and then made myself a couple of mugs of tea before heading off for an early night in a dormitory to myself.

Day: 170 9/3/97 Allhallows to Gravesend

Weather:  Mild and Foggy

Distance:  25km (15.5miles)    Total Distance:  2184 miles

I started today’s walk with mixed feelings.  I was still in a satisfied mood after completing yesterdays stretch but slightly apprehensive about today’s.  After so many walks close to civilization I realised that the first half of today’s walk would be very isolated.  What great weather for walking this stretch of Dickensian shore line though – still and foggy.  All the way along I kept thinking about Great Expectations – Magwich the convict and Pip. 

I parked the car in the village of Allhallows and walked through the caravan site.  I was up very early and was walking by 7.30am. For mile after mile I would be walking along the sea defenses. I saw absolutely nobody until I started to head south.  I wondered what would have happened to me if I had hurt myself.  At one point I saw a collection of farm buildings through the mist all with their roofs missing adding to the eeriness. 

I had few stops and only started having breaks proper once I reached the Cliff Fort area.  I crossed a couple of gents who said they had just started walking the Saxon Way that day and were armed with guidebook.  I had no idea how far they were heading and would have been shocked if they had attempted the deserted coastal defenses I had just conquered.  On the bus back to Allhallows, I saw them at High Halstow, I think they must have opted for an inland route.

Between Cliffe Fort and Halstow I started to pass more people.  The path was fairly well marked but actually got worse the closer to Gravsend I got.  Industry started to appear and many piers.  I went through a very derelict warehousing type area – just the sort of place the film industry would love.  For the last two miles I was having real trouble with my knee and could hardly walk.  I hobbled up into the town and was disappointed to find the station was at the opposite side. When I got there I ended up catching a bus back to Rochester and from there another one back to Allhallows.  A lady at the stop in Rochester said they were thinking of stopping this bus. What a shame – it saved me no end of grief that day!    

Day: 169 8/3/97 Rochester to Allhallows-on-Sea

Weather:  Windy and cool but dry

Distance:  30km (18.6 miles)    Total Distance:  2168 miles

I drove down from Coventry early in the morning and parked at the station car park which was relatively empty. I left hoping that I would not receive a ticket for not being a railway passenger but at least I bought a car park ticket. 

Once I'd crossed the bridge I turned right and ended up on a new industrial estate but managed to find the paths through eventually.  The scenery improved at Lower Upnor with more trees and nice houses around.  Not far beyond I stumbled across a marina with its own café.  I was to learn over the next couple of years that marinas are good places to find cheap cafes open on weekends.  I treated myself to a good fry-up. 

I followed the footpaths after that inland to avoid the first power station and then back down to the sea again.  Once back down on the sea I increased my walking speed fearful that there were youths with an air rifle around.  I stopped for a rest just before I reached the Isle of Grain power station knowing that the next bit would be on main road full of lorries.  It turned out not to be too bad and at Grain I did a little circular walk of the village and walked what little bit of coast I was able to access. 

I was still feeling relatively fit and decided to try to make it to Allhallows.  It was very unclear on the map if I would be able to reach Allhallows on the coast because there was no footpath on the map.  If not I would have to take a massive detour inland.   I decided to give it a go and if no path existed I would just come back to Grain village and get a bus and at least know where I would be walking the next day.  It turned out that there was a track and no private signs or wire fences to get through.  I took a wrong turning at one stage and ended up in the little community on Grain Marsh where someone told me there was no right of way but pointed me in the right direction anyway. 

I was relieved to get onto Allhallows Marshes because at least I knew this was a public footpath and that I had saved myself a long detour.  Onto the coast again and I could see Southend across the river but I would not get there for another six months.  At Allhallows I sped up through a caravan site because I knew there was a bus due.  I felt a bit of a fool when I rushed up to this bus only to find he was going to Grain and would pick me up on the way back in another 20 minutes!

There then followed a pretty miserable evening.  First of all I had to find Rochester Youth Hostel and that took me ages driving around Chatham.  Added to that the roads were busy and dark.  The hostel itself was decent enough; new but even then had the usual problem that the showers were below par!  It occurred to me that someone could have a full time job as a plumber for the YHA and have a job for life.  

The next problem was food – I tried the pub nearby but they were not serving on a Saturday night, then another but they were fully booked and then went of in search of a take-away. I found a collection of them but most were packed apart from a Chinese so I plumbed for that. It ended up being one of the worst I had ever had.  I retired for the evening and hoped tomorrow would be better – but at least I had had a good days walking. 

Day: 168 2/12/96 Swale to Rochester

The B&B was deadly quiet in the morning and so apathetic did the lady look the one time I met her the previous evening and disgruntled that I wanted breakfast at 8.o’clock, I thought she had not bothered to get up.  I thought about leaving just £10 and just going and made one check of the back room to find she was there and frying.  The breakfast turned out to be OK though was eaten in stony silence.  Hospitable is not something I would have called this place. 

I parked on rough ground at Swale down an embankment from the road and set off across the marshes on the embankments.  It was a lovely morning and there was a lot of birdlife around.  The only difficult part of the path went past a farm near Chetney Hill where the cows had all but obliterated the path.  

At Rasberry Hill I joined the road all the way to Lower Halstow past orchards.  I came on a rough looking group of men, boys and dogs near a beat up transit van  who were busy attacking earth mounds. They made it clear by speaking in loud voices to each other that they were after rabbits for food, however this may have been to stop me thinking they were after badgers.  Do badgers live on roadsides - I think not, it probably was rabbits after all.

At Lowe Halstow, a path cuts through in front of the old church and heads off down the estuary.  There were noises from a number of boats moored up on the mud banks - people using them for housing.  At Ham Green I cut inland past a garden centre onto a minor road for a circuit of this little peninsular.  It was then time to walk through some orchards.  I stopped near the village of Upchurch to have a can and a bar of chocolate before getting to Otterhan Quay . The path went down towards an industrial estate and then onto another peninsular though this path was not on the map it was very evident on the ground.  Access to the tip of the peninsular itself was blocked by a sewage treatment plant - thanks Southern Water!

At Bloors Wharf a group of twichers were looking very agitated - a rare sighting was imminent.  The following two or three miles was along a reasonable path proving popular with dog walkers and people out for the day.  I went as far as I could but eventually had to cut inland onto the main road and head into Chatham.  A large part of this was seemingly barracks and military dockyards with no access from the direction I was walking.  I think I missed out on seeing the best part of the dockyard because it was a no through road.  I passed the military museum and south towards Rochester on the busy main road.  I stopped for the day at Rochester train station and caught I think three trains back to Swale with quite a wait at Sittingbourne.  Swale was a request stop I am glad I found out in advance and made sure the driver knew I wanted to stop there!  I collected the car and drove back to Coventry.

Day: 167 2/12/96 Leysdown-on-Sea to Swale

Weather:  fine, warm, still

Distance: 24.0 km ( 14.9 miles)    Total Distance:   2099.5 miles

I had gone to bed on the early side so I could get an early start.  I heard noises outside and peeped out to find a group of youths smashing the lock on the Calibra over the road. They saw me looking and could not stand the sight of me in my pajamas so took off. I dressed went out to check and informed the poor couple opposite about the damage to their lock.  Getting to sleep after that was not too easy. 

Gareth still wakes at the slightest sound so I had decided not to get up till he was awake, but today of all days he decided to have a lie in.  I eventually got away at just gone 7 and after quite a long time scrapping the frost off the car headed south.  It was to be a cold and clear day. 

I got to Leysdown and was walking by 10 o’clock.  I has feared that I would be spending the day on minor roads but soon discovered that I could get down to the beach and as the tide was out and could keep to it all the way to Sheerness.  Low clay cliffs were crumbling all the way meaning that much of the morning was spent walking on clay or clay covered rocks - a bit slippery at times - it looked like someone had poured chocolate sauce all over them.  I met the usual array of strange individuals miles from anywhere either digging for worms or looking for unspecified items. 

Once I got to Minster I started to look for somewhere for lunch.  What was marked as a hotel on the map turned out to be a uninviting pub.  Back on the foreshore I kept walking till I got to a chip shop/cafe - cafe being a bit of an exaggeration because it had one table and no offer of a knife and fork together with hard chips. The shop was part of a hotel type building and there seemed to be plans going on in the background to prepare for a wedding reception or something. The mind boggles as to what meal would be served there.

For a couple of hundred yards entering Sheerness things looked up. A nice promenade and a park but soon I was led on a pointless walk down to the harbour only having to double back and go inland via the roads and rough areas of the town.  I should know better.  Never trust a town with a dock - the foreshore always runs out without warning.

Heading south now out of Sheerness, initially along the main road and then along a concrete slabbed path fenced in on both sides one side by concrete walls and the other by wire protecting huge car storage areas.  It made me think how old is a new car when you buy it?  I ended up on the foreshore in Queenborough and again for a couple of hundred yards it was quite nice - sort of oldy worldly.  Cutting into the village itself I called in on a B&B to book a room for the night - what a mistake that was!

Through an industrial estate led me to the housing estate of Rushenden and then into their industrial estate which I took a bit of escaping from to find the path to Kingsferry Bridge.  I worried about this path because it looked from the map to go across a river without a bridge.  When I got to the crossing point it was a mud embankment which must have had pipework going under it somehow to let the waster through.  Up onto the road and over the bridge and that was the end of the Isle of Sheppy and my days walking. 

Now, how to get back to the car? I looked at the train timetable and found I still had a fair wait for a train so tried hitching.  I got a lift from a London couple who drove an old Rover and had moved down to the Island a number of years ago.  I opted to be dropped at the roundabout a mile or so on but it turned out this was a bad decision - hitching was bad and it was getting dark.  I walked into Queensbourough and ended up getting a bus all the way to Leysdown which took about an hour via Sheerness and even the prison at Leysdown.  I stayed on the bus a while once in Leysdown expecting it would go to the place where I caught a bus on my last visit but the driver came up the stairs and informed me he did not go up to the other end of the village these days because of “trouble”.

I drove back to Queensborough, it taking most of the journey for me to warm up.  I got to the B&B as the children and grandchildren were leaving,  The Proprietress showed me to the room and apologized for it being small - an understatement. I had to breath in to close the door. I did not grumble though because it was the only room with any heating on and I thought at least there was a chance of it getting warm at some stage. 

The local pub looked promising for food.  They even ran a minibus service to bus people in and home.  Oh, how I was disappointed with the chicken curry - one of those out of a curry sauce packet you still occasionally get served.  The next pub, down towards the harbour was a lot more promising and after a couple the locals were chatting to be and enjoying the Saturday evening.  I however wanted to be up early so headed back by 9.30 for an early night in the fridge.  The one good thing was that the minuscule radiator in the room did stay on all night so I did stay reasonably warm.

Day: 166 ?/9/96 Sittingborne to Leysdown-on-Sea

Weather:  fine, warm, still

Distance: 24.0 km ( 14.9 miles)    Total Distance:   2099.5 miles

A quick one day jaunt down to Kent.  Having driven around the area of Sittingbourne I wanted to park for a while and decided it was probably best not to park in the large paper factory car park, I ended up in the station car park - convenient because that is where I hoped to get to at the end of the day anyway. 

After walking along a couple of busy roads I cut down to the banks of the creek to find myself in peace and quiet.  It was all low lying path, some of it quite muddy but in the most OK.  It only got bad at one point when I lost the path and had to launch myself over an embankment covered with nettles.  

Kemsley Down station looked deserted and only a few derelict buildings remained.  Past that I was into industrial land - walking over a tip and hoping it was not full of toxic chemicals!  A sewage works and a couple of jetties were to follow before I had to head inland along minor industrial roads, and back to the Swale again.  I stopped this side of the bridge for a bacon roll and cup of tea from a caravan.  Although I had to wait a long time because the man in front of me was ordering a box full of mixed grill rolls, it was worth it in the end. 

I watched Kingsferry Bridge open for a passing ship and then headed over it myself.  To get down onto the coast again I had to walk along the main road a while and then found another steep embankment to tumble down.  A group of gypsies had made this their home but I was soon past them and onto the flood defences again.  

It seemed to take a long time to make any progress initially. The paths were not very clear and they were doubling back on the walk I had just done on the opposite bank.  Progress once I got to the RSPB reserve was faster.  I kept to the footpath marked on my map but this ended up going straight across the reserve and disturbing a massive flock of geese and other waders who took off with an incredible racket. I bet I was the most unpopular man in Kent at the time considering the number of birders I had spotted in the hides. 

Past the reserve at Bells creek I had a decision to make though it was not all that difficult.  The public right of way according to the map appeared to end which would have meant a long six or eight mile detour inland and back to the coast again.  Instead I kept on going and there was not much to stop me apart from an already trampled down fence.  I had almost reached the end of the embankment and must only have been a hundred yards from picking up a path when I was apprehended by a farmer who pulled up in a land rover.  He initially told me to go back but I pleaded with him gently and he said I could carry on providing I stayed to the coast - easier said then done considering the path went on the high ground and the low land was overgrown.  He seemed to be farming game birds and in going up to the high land I went past a couple of shelters for them. 

I could now see the ferry in and was confident it would not be a problem reaching it as there was a footpath entry in from my direction but I tried and tried to find a path but just found fencing.  I went north and south and ended up jumping over a garden fence and into the pub that way.  I thought I had got away with it and ordered a pint but the landlady appeared and told me off. I looked sheepish and promised not to do it again - a convenient excuse considering I was only planning to walk around the coast once and not twice. 

Beyond the pub was also a problem for a while without any sign of a marked footpath on the ground but there was on the map. I suspected a farmer not keen on footpaths across his land.  The road went past and ancient church and then veered back to the coast again.  It was a pleasant afternoon and there were a lot of walkers around.  Shell Ness looked tiny on the map but turned out to be a sizeable collection of cottages marked up as private.  I decided against taking the detour to the sandspit beyond Shell Ness and headed North along the nudists beach - the wind meant I was the only person - clothed or otherwise, on the beach. 

Leysdown came into sight - it was a holiday town there was no doubt about that, caravans and chalets.  I called into the chip shop to confirm where the bus stop was and only had a while to wait for the bus to Sheerness - and what a long haul that was - going to every nook and cranny on the way but not collecting anyone -including at the prison.  From Sheerness I took the train back to Sittingborne and then drove back to Coventry.  It was a good days walk.

Day: 165 2/9/96 Faversham to Sittingborne

Weather:  fine, warm, still

Distance: 24.0 km ( 14.9 miles)    Total Distance:   2099.5 miles

I parked the car in back streets some half mile from the station and wandered through the town of Faversham again. It was much quieter today than the previous afternoon.  The walk proper started by the local brewery and then along a nice path by the river followed by a bit of a detour inland around some light industry and then back to the river proper. 

Once out of the town I walked around Ham Marshes on reasonably goods river embankment.  Up the next river inlet took me past a number of shipyards and marinas.  Then down to the Swale estuary again and mile after mile of sea defences.  I passed a team of workman from the newly formed Environment Agency, repairing the wall at one stage, or should I say, taking time out to throw stones in the sea, the stones they should have been putting in the wall.

At Conyer, I came up the creek through an orchard and had lunch in the pub.  The sandwiches were pretty poor on stale or just thawed bread.  The place was under new management and an Alsatian puppy was doing its best to cause havoc.  The local trouble maker came in trying to sell earrings to earn a bit of money, but the barmaid was having none of it!

Then it was back down the creek on the west side, more sea defences.  The weather was warm and still which meant that every time I went past a Hawthorn bush I got attacked by flies, in the hair, mouth and eyes, a particularly unpleasant experience.

Getting closer towards Sittingbourne the path and scenery got shabbier.  The Milton Creek offered views of the power station and paper works and associated smells.  I kept to the creek for as long as I could and was then forced inland along mile after mile of industrial estate.  From this angle Sittingbourne looked a dismal sort of place.

I got the train back to Faversham and then drove back to Coventry.

Day: 164 1/9/96 Margate to Faversham

Weather:  fine, hot, still

Distance: 40.0 km ( 24.9 miles)    Total Distance:   2084.6 miles

A mammoth days walk for me though I did not intend it to be.  I planned to catch the train back to Margate so I tried to park as close as possible to the station.  The fee for the station car park was a lot even on a Sunday but fortunately a side street near by provided me with what I wanted - a free place. 

I do like seaside town early in the morning and my impression of Margate was so much better early on a Sunday morning when it is waking up, than on a busy Saturday afternoon.  The beaches were being cleared of all the seaweed washed up yesterday by the high tide.  That looked a big job.  Many of those out on the promenades were jogging or riding bikes.  There was concrete promenade virtually all the way to Birclington and then good paths on the whole to Herne Bay.  The cliffs started to disappear at about Plumbpudding Island - and even if they did not its an excellent name for a place to put in a diary,

I needed my break at Herne Bay and resolved to stop at the first cafe.  Surprisingly I had to go quite a way along the prom to get to it and it turned out to be a council affair in a sort of theatre.  Whitstable was more pleasant if a lot harder to walk around.  There was no promenade as such and I had to cut into the town at one stage.  Some very pleasant old houses had their gardens face onto the beach. 

It was either stop here or press onto Faversham and as it was early and a nice day I pressed on not really judging very well how far it was.  The beach got harder to walk along and at Seasalter I left it for a while and headed over the railway line to get to a shop to stock up before I left civilisation all together. I enjoyed my Solero Ice lolly while the proprietor inside watched the Eastenders compilation on high volume. 

I rejoined the coastal road and was surprised how many cars were on it - without a pavement it was not a particularly pleasant stretch.  When the road turned inland at Graveny Marshes I spent the rest of the day on sea defence walls.  This stretch was surprisingly popular. I had expected it to be quiet by there were groups of people out walking dogs, fishing even shooting.  Beyond Nagden Marshes I turned inland up the river bank towards Faversham. What a long trek this was made worse by swarms of small flies especially around hawthorn bushes.  I was exhausted for this last three miles and hobbled into Faversham through the town which looked very impressive and was clearing up after a market day and to the station where I got a train back to Margate. 

I spent the night at Canterbury YHA.  It was quieter than last time I stayed here - no Gibraltan schoolchildren this time.  I met another Japanese lad - abroad for the first time and determined to attend as many pop concerts as possible, a German girl studying the Science of music and Martin,a gardener from Peterlee Bible College who subsequently sent mew a book of his poems. 

I ate in a tandoori restaurant and had a very palatable chicken Tika Marsala, phoned home picked up some milk and had an early night.

Day: 163 31/8/96 Sandwich to Margate

Weather:  fine, warm

Distance: 23.0 km ( 14.3 miles)    Total Distance:   2059.7 miles

I made it away from the house by 6am. You can always tell it is early because the fishing programme, Dirty Tackle, is on Radio 5.  Today they were interviewing a top casting champion. It took me a while to realise that in casting championships, no fish are involved, they cast on dry land at a target. Why? 

I parked the car at Sandwich train station in the suburbs, and went to ask train times back from Margate in the afternoon.  The lady very helpfully wrote the times down for me.  Service with a smile.  

The very first part of this walk was good, along the banks of the river and into Sandwich.  For the next hour however things got a lot worse, along main roads, past the Pfizer works and laboratories who were in the process of building an effluent treatment plant, and then along a worse main road without a pavement towards Ramsgate, past a power station. 

Eventually I reached a point where a coastal path began. Here a Viking boat replica was on display, along with oars and shields.  The cliffs at this tip of Kent were low, only 50 feet high and chalk. The first bit of cliff top path looked down over Pegwell Bay, a vast expanse of what looked like mud.  The remains of the hovercraft landing structures were being worked on.  It looked like they were being demolished.  No hovercrafts landed here these days I believe.  I had to cut inland a bit at Pegwell itself before getting down onto the lower promenade and heading to Ramsgate.  A very dilapidated area just before the port looked like a sign of bad things to come, but as soon as I walked through the port area things looked up.  I stopped in the Stagecoach offices to pick up a bus timetable even though I had more or less made my mind up to use the more expensive but more relaxing train option.

I tried to stay on the lower promenade but it eventually ran out without much warning and I had to backtrack a couple of hundred yards to get onto the cliff top.  I soon arrived at St George’s park and a cafe flying the St George’s flag looked so inviting I stopped for lunch - tea, cake and crisps on the plastic furniture on the grass.  It was a popular place with dog walkers all who seemed to need refreshment when reaching the cafe. 

I liked Broardstairs from the moment I saw it.  Full of very large cliff top housed mostly converted into homes for the elderly on the southern side and then a quaint little town which was named after a mixture of Dickensian references and Italian cafe owners.  After the decent and ascent out of the town it was onto the cliffs again.  One point near a disused school forced me inland and I made an error of trying to regain the coast too soon and had a fruitless trek down to a cove and back up again.  Not long after that I took a road marked up as private which took me down to the coast - full of very large houses - given that Ted Heath lives in Broardstairs its probably not a bad guess he lives here.  Southern Water had kindly built a new sewage works at the end of the road, no doubt halving the value of some houses overnight.  At the tip of North Foreland I stopped and took a deep breath because this was the tip of Kent  and the end of the South Coast!

The surfers were enjoying the rough seas off North Forehand.  Onto the road again, past a private castle and then back to the coast again. The tide was very high by now, smashing into and over the promenades in spectacular fashion meaning I stayed on the cliff tops.  Margate was a 'kiss me quick' seaside resort in the full and not very impressive on a busy Saturday afternoon after a long walk.

I got to the station and then had a long train journey back to Sandwich with a long change at Ramsgate, but at least a train station is a reasonably nice place to wait around as opposed to a bus station.  Some boys on their last days of summer holidays got on at Margate and disrupted the peace of the journey. 

I got to Broardstairs YHA to be surprised that it was a town house as opposed to the usual mansion I had come to expect from the YHA!  The dorm was in the basement but fine.  I met a lad over from Japan.  I went for tea in Broardstairs and had a massive portion of gammon, egg and chips in the Prince Albert.  It was so large the gammon balanced on top of the peas and chips and salad and the egg on top of that. 

Day: 162 23/6/96 Dover to Sandwich

Weather:  fine

Distance: 24.0 km ( 14.9 miles)    Total Distance:   2014.7 miles

I made an early start by my standards from the Youth Hostel and was walking by 9 o’clock.  I was able to park the car pretty close to the centre of town because it was a Sunday.  I went to the sea front, the busy dual carriageway and towards the ferry terminals.  A small path led under the main road out of Dover and up onto the cliffs.  This first part of this walk was excellent.  It was great to get back to some cliff top walking.  Bird-watchers were hanging over the side of the cliffs trying to catch glimpses of their favorite bird. 

St Margaret’s at Cliff appeared a very attractive village.  A steep path led down onto the beach.  To begin with I was suspicious that there was no way off apart from the way I had come down but there was a steep path to the east - just past the toilets!  I stopped on the beach and had a snack in the cafe whilst looking at the local dog patrol turn up and offer help to a lady who had evidently lost her pet. 

The cliffs got lower and led to a track and Kingsdown and eventually Deal.  Just before I got to Deal I had a mission to complete - to take a couple of pictures of Walmer Castle for my Dad who was writing an article on its history or more likely someone famous who had lived there.  

I was disappointed with Deal itself, it lacked any presence.  I stopped in a cafe on the sea-front which also lacked most things including customers.  I could not understand why there were taking in the tables and chairs at midday on a Sunday.  They assured me they were not closing - I guess it was to scare away anyone but the most intrepid tea drinker.  Deal sea front is strewn with fishing boats and their assorted accessories.  I seem to recall a piece on TV telling about trying to smarten up Deal beach and have the boats moved on.

The rest of the walk was a bit of a trek to be honest, along two or three golf courses, one of which was Royal St George’s.  I was expecting high security and lush fairways and greens behind fences but if was far from that.  I followed another young man for much of this stretch - I’ve no idea why he was walking in such dull surroundings.  

Some of this path / track was tough walking because of the stones on the track.  There was no path marked beyond a certain point and the golf course was looking more and more private, so I cut up to Sandwich on the marked path, keeping my head down when crossing the fairways.  The last bit into Sandwich was through a farm and then along the banks of a river - very nice. 

Once in Sandwich I headed through the suburbs up to the very quiet station.  The lack of a time table did not inspire me with confidence that a train would ever turn up.  The station did gradually fill up and an odd couple where the man was dropping off his acquaintance to go back to London imposed themselves on my personal space.  Eventually a train did turn up after about 45 minutes.  I was glad to get back to Dover and stroll back into the town and to my car.

Day: 161 22/6/96 Hythe to Dover

Weather:  fine

Distance: 25.5 km ( 15.8 miles)    Total Distance:   2030.5 miles

This was an eventful day - full of incidents.  The first was not too pleasant when I was driving down early in the morning.  I was almost in Hythe when I made a mistake and cut across another car on a difficult junction. The two young men in the other car were not too pleased to say the least. 

I found where I had stopped walking last time and parked the car off the main road in a quiet street and started walking, cutting trough a park and some housing down to the beach.  Hythe front did not look too bad a place.  I walked past an area where they were busy reclaiming the beach by pumping up pebbles from the sea bed using a large suction device on a ship and pumping them back onto the beach.  It was evident that the beach had worn away over the years leaving a very large drop off the promenade.

Just before coming into Folkestone I stopped at a cafe next to the sea.  The price of things was high and I almost changed my mind however when the £1.20 flapjack arrived it was very nice - warm and topped with grated orange peel. No wonder the sparrows had become so tame - not that they had any of mine.  A number of us were sat there looking out to sea when someone spotted a canoe coming closer to the shore without apparently anyone in it.  As it came closer however it was apparent that it was being pulled along by a swimmer.  The Coast Guards arrived soon after, siren going but the swimmer was strong and needed no help in getting to the shore or lifting the canoe out of the water.  How he came to end up in the water without a paddle, a long way from anywhere, I am not sure.

Folkestone was bustling and after making one failed attempt to get into it (the way via the beach onto the pier blocked) I backtracked and went in via a fun fair.  People were eating sea food at a rate of knots.  Out of Folkestone the road climbed up a hill and I then cut down to the beach again and soon picked up a pathway at the bottom of the cliffs.  A couple of young lads on a motorbike sped past and hit my hand in the process. I am still nor sure whether it was on purpose or whether their apology was heart-felt.

After the path ended it was back onto the pebbles.  I passed a very strange shack at the bottom of the cliffs, surrounded by barbed wire complete with barking dog and weird looking character.  It was then past a sign saying “no entry - nature reserve not yet open, vegetation still growing” or words to that effect. As it appeared the way ahead was a concrete monstrosity I saw little hope of any vegetation ever growing so went ahead anyway.  It was quiet to the point of being eerie. 

At the Dover end of this it became apparent what was going on. This was reclaimed land built as part of the channel tunnel development recently opened.  The service tunnel entered underground at this point.  The tide had come in meaning that my way forward was now blocked and the way into the chunnel service tunnel, which included a small tunnel through the cliffs to Dover was surrounded by fences and cameras.  This meant I had to backtrack all the way to the no entry sign which should have read “no entry - there is no way out”! 

I was very worried that I would have to backtrack even further in order to get up the cliff but I spotted a narrow steep path going up Abbots Cliff which appeared very seldom used.  Although I feared that it was now unusable because of a cliff fall I decided to chance it anyway.  So steep was it that it needed to use the ropes present for long stretches.  Fortunately it did lead to the cliff top.  By the time I got there my heart was pounding - I don’t like the sight of sheer drops for such long periods.

The cliff top walk into Dover was very nice and used by mountain bikers.  The decent into Dover was down a steep path, over a railway bridge and along a beach.  I ended up in a dock area just before three o’clock so decided to watch the European Championship match between England and Spain on the TV in a pub full of fisherman.  I had a roll and a couple of pints of Guinness but only stayed till the end of normal time.  England eventually won on penalties.  The rest of my walk into Dover was along  busy main roads.  I tried to catch a bus to Folkestone on the main road but a driver of a little bus that did stop told me the bus I wanted did not come that way and I would have to go into Dover itself.  I had a fair wait for a bus there and in Folkestone bus station too . 

I stayed in Canterbury YHA (plus the usual contingent of school children - Gibraltan this time!) on the outskirts of the city, since Dover YHA was full.  I walked into Canterbury that night  but failed to find anywhere nice to eat so had a meal in McDonald's.

Day: 160 13/4/96 Rye to Hythe

Distance: 40 km ( 24.9 miles)    Total Distance:   2014.7 miles

I believe this was the longest days walk I had done to date, not made any easier by a couple of misunderstandings concerning buses at the end.

I parked in a car park belonging to some flats just outside Rye. The first section of the walk was around the outskirts of Rye.  I probably did not see the best bits taking this route but it looked a good place to revisit at some stage.  Once over the bridge I went along the banks of the Rother, mainly walking on sea defences etc.  This side of the river was a lot more picturesque.  There was no footpath marked at times but it was still all apparently accessible. 

Once off the dunes it was onto Camber sands, which was not very busy to say the least.  I did not see much of Camber at all, the path did not go up until after the village.  After a trek along the road it was into Lydd Firing Ranges - what a desolate area that was. Rather than taking the shingle front I took a roadway instead which eventually petered out and seemed to leave me in the middle of a danger area.  I quickly made my escape towards  the sea and from then on along the shingle all the way to Dungeness Power Station.  This shingle front seemed to go on for ever and it was difficult and painful walking.  The first sign of life was sea anglers fishing off the shingle near the power station - not the sea anglers ever show any signs of life - they choose to ignore you if they possible can. 

I stopped in the station cafe at Dungeness surrounded by a nuclear power station, a couple of lighthouses a miniature railway and a collection of shacks where people had for some reason chosen to live amongst the desolation.  The shingle bank by the sea northwards looked private so I kept to the road which was much easier walking.  The housing gradually became more civilised, and the bungalows went on for mile after mile.

I got to St Mary’s Bay in reasonable shape considering the distance I had come already.  I was my last day of this trip so after finding out from an elderly couple waiting at a bus stop that the next bus going in the direction I wanted was not for another hour or so I decided to run myself into the ground and head towards Hythe or at least as far as I could get before the bus came.  The path was on the sea wall as far as Hythe Ranges.  There was no need for red flags, I could hear the sound of rifle fire from far away.  I headed inland and eventually came to a bus stop in an exhausted state near Palmarsh on the outside of Hythe.

The bus eventually came but the diver said he only went as far as New Romney on a Sunday and not to Rye.  Now why I did not get on and go to New Romney I’m not quite sure - I should have.  Instead I declined his offer and started hitching. It was an awful place to hitch and I had to walk all the way back to  Dymchurch to get a place anywhere near decent.  I hitched on the way out of the village and a man who was just pulling out stopped and gave me a life as far as Brenzett roundabout, near a Little Chef. 

It was starting to get dark and those cars that were coming off at my exit on the roundabout were travelling fast.  However, after not too long a wait a man drove out of the Little Chef car park and stopped for me and asked where I was going.  Rye seemed OK with him so I jumped in.  On inquiring he told me he was due to go in the other direction until he saw me hitching.  Things got even stranger when he told me how careful one had to be hitching, people getting raped and wrongly accused.  The one good thing was that he was driving so slowly I could have jumped out if I had wanted to anyway.  I was glad to get back to the car and drive home.