[plus diversion to lunch pub; longer if
finishing in Dover; also longer if you investigate a lot of the artworks]
Ascent/Descent:
354/389m; Net Walking Time: 4 ¼ hours
Toughness: 5/10
Take
the 10.08 Margate train from St. Pancras I’nal (10.15 Stratford I’nal),
change at Ashford (10.46/11.02) onto
the Dover Priory service from Charing X, arrives Sandling 11.13.
Older folk may also take the Dover Priory train all the way from Charing X at 09.40 (calls W’loo East, LBG, Sevenoaks, Tonbridge…).
Older folk may also take the Dover Priory train all the way from Charing X at 09.40 (calls W’loo East, LBG, Sevenoaks, Tonbridge…).
Return trains: on xx.00 to St. Pancras (54 minutes) and xx.09 and xx.36 to Charing X (106 minutes).
Buy a Folkestone Central
return, with High Speed Option.
An opportunity to combine a decent (if
largely map-led) walk with an option to look at the offerings of this year’s incarnation
of the Folkestone Triennial, sculptures and installations displayed largely
along the seafront (which the walk route overlaps with), further along the
coast (not on the SWC route) and in the Creative Quarter (on a different, but
not longer, route to the station).
Find a map of the artworks on the linked Triennial page (click the map
symbol in the top right corner there). Note that the Informations Centre and the manned installations close at 17.00 hours.
As for the walk: “This walk follows
the waymarked North Downs Way (NDW) along the edge of an escarpment with views
over the Channel for almost the entire route. Apart from 2 steep climbs near
the start, the route is level and easy going. The walk starts with a steep
climb up Tolsford Hill, with views over the Channel, to pick up the waymarked
North Downs Way (NDW). Heading east, the NDW descends into a valley and under a
disused railway line. There's a second steep climb up the other side.
Navigation along this stretch is a little tricky in places, so do take/print
out a map.
The rest of the walk is easy, along a
level, well maintained path along the side of the hill with spectacular views out
over the coast, the Channel, and later Folkestone, and the Channel Tunnel rail
terminal. For the rest of the walk, you can see Folkestone, and either of the
stations you are aiming for!
Just past the viewpoint over Channel
Tunnel, by an ancient hill fort, there is an option to cut the walk short to
Folkestone West. Note that this involves a long pavement walk to the station.
The main walk continues, contouring
around the summit of a hill, high above Folkestone, with views out over the
channel, until it reaches the coast at the start of the White Cliffs of Dover.”
Here there is a choice to finish in
Folkestone or Dover, see the webpage for details.
Tea: Plenty options in
Folkestone, see the Triennial’s website here; the best dining option is the upmarket Rocksalt (with a nice bar at
the upper level), overlooking the harbour (that requires taking the waterfront
path upon approaching F’stone, rather than the higher SWC route), or their next
door offshoot fish & chips The Smokehouse.
There
are also a plethora of further options
on the Harbour Arm, the
half-refurbished former Folkestone Harbour Station on the former Landing
Stages, which is a very interesting
excursion in itself.
T=swc.93
1 comment:
2 walkers off the High Speed train changed at Ashford onto the Charing X slow train, where there were no other walkers, so n=2.
Easy-ish route finding on this map led walk, initially along a dismantled railway line through an interesting wood, then along a track across Railway and Motorway and up a chalky track to the ridge. Stunning views already here of Summerhouse Hill and the ND chain. It was pretty windy on the ridge, but the views more than compensated for the trouble. The Gatekeeper Inn in Etchinghill (under new name and Mgmt since 2015) is a very nice and cosy, well-run pub, with plentiful food options. Recommended.
Back up a narrow valley onto the ridge after that and then just follow the escarpment, initially along field boundaries, then along grassy paths, shadowing the hilltop road.
The Channel Tunnel Rail Terminal is always interesting to look down on, and the descent into Folkestone, along its beach and harbour and then up through the Old Town to the station are really interesting. 17.00 train for 1, 18.00 for the other. w=overcast-and-windy-but-dry
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