Walk 66

Gravesend to Benfleet 20miles

A short walk took me thru Gravesend town which was very nice and then onto the ferry across the Thames to a new county..... Essex, it was with sadness I sai farewell to Kent beause I have really enjoyed the experience and in the process managed to chalk off another long distance walk...The Saxon Shore Way which Iam now the pround owner of a certificate to prove I did it!!!! thank you Kent county council :) The walk today took me along the "other" side of the Thames Estury past another fort(see pic) and on thru the Essex countryside, and because of the amount of river esturies things start to get difficult in terms of actually seeing the coast for what seems like most of the county of Essex.

Walk 65

Gillingham to Gravesend 22miles

A day of inland walking up and down the River Medway and River Thames. Once out of Gillingham it was onto Rochester and across the bridge which is where I took the first pic of the day looking back to the Castle. This week of walking has sent me past so many castles in Kent I've lost count! one way of keeping the French out!!!!!LOL As I navigated the Medway I came across a rotting submarie in the shallows(see pic2) of the bay at Upper Upnor. It was then onto Hoo St Werburgh where I had to head inland in order to link up with the mighty Thames, along the way yet another castle caught my eye (see pic 3) at a place called Cooling (great name!) The rest of the journey to Gravesend was along the Thames Estury.

Walk 64

Sittingbourne to Gillingham 18miles

3 trains and a cooked breakfast later and I had reached my start point at Sittingbourne. Most of today was to be spent walking along the esturies of the River Swale and River Medway. The first pic is of the bridge acorss the river to the Isle of Sheppy and the 2nd pic is of a boat "graveyard" where for some reason all these vessels had been left to rot...truly bizzare. The walk today then took me inland along country lanes and thru a lot of small villages... I decieded to stop for lunch in the village of Lower Halstow at the 3 tuns pub, in doing so I met a nice couple who were more than willing to tell me as much local knowledge as my brain could take in about the surrounding area!, I have found that the nice people of Kent more than willing in this aspect and long may it continue

Walk 63

Whitstable to Sittingbourne 17miles

A dull day greeted me today as I boarded my train to the start point at Whitstable. Again another very flat stage of walking, firstly on thru Seasalter where I took the only pic of the day which is of the Isle of Sheppy, it was then inland all the way to Sittingbourne via Faversham which has a very famous brewery and boy could you smell it ....I nearly fell over!!!! then it was on thru Teyham to my final destination. Even though today was mostly inland due to the problems of river esturies I still found it very interesting as I got to walk across some of Kents finest countryside with its fields of barley, wheat and of course Hops. Tonights enertainment was Roger Waters The Wall concert at the O2...what a show and well worth the 30year wait!!

Walk 62

Broadstairs

Reculver Castle

Ramsgate to Whitstable 24miles

Another nice early start today but with no pack....what a relief as my shoulders are really starting to ache. Today's walk was due to be mainly flat and I wasn't disappointed!. A lot of the Kent coast seemed to have a lot more to offer (unlike Sussex!).......in fact I had a lot of pre conceptions about this part of the coast (kiss me quick hats, gaudy etc etc) but how wrong could I be!!!
So the first port of call today was Broadstairs, then a long succession of small beautiful bays all the along the coast to Margate, unfortunately Margate let the side down.....they have tried to spruce it up by putting the Turner Gallery on the seafront but as I always say" you cant polish a turd!" The rest of the day was spent hugging the coast past the roman fort at Relculver onto and through Herne Bay and finally onto Whitstable.