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This Week's Walks - Archive

Please see the Saturday Walker's Club This Week's Walks page.

This is an archive of walks done by the Saturday Walker's Club. You should only need to use this page if the SWC website is down.

Friday, 29 March 2024

Chilham to Canterbury

Description: The walk starts beside the Great Stour River and its attendant lakes, visits the church and green at Chartham and passes through hop fields and apple orchards to Chartham Hatch, where picnickers stop for lunch.

From Chartham Hatch the walk continues through Church Wood then Blean Woods Nature Reserve to the parklands of the University of Kent, with fine views down over Canterbury Cathedral. The entrance to the city is along the River Stour, through the Norman Westgate and down the medieval high street and alleys, entering the cathedral precincts through its ornate Christ Church Gate.

 Toughness: 4 out of 10

 Length: 12.5 miles

 Trains: Charing X 9.29; W’Loo East 9.32 LB: 9.38 Arrives Chilham 11.02

London StP: 10.04  arrives Ashford Int 10.41 - 10.50 departs Ashford and arrives in Chilham at 11.02

 Returns: Canterbury West 16.23 to STPancras (change Ashford 16.40)

Canterbury West 16,26 to Victoria

Canterbury West 16.37 to Charing Cross

C West 16.37 STP change Ashford 17.16

Canterbury West 17.23 STPancras (change at Ashford 17.40 train)

Canterbury East: 16.47 to Victoria

Canterbury East 17.47 to Victoria  and so on....

Ticket type: Return Canterbury all stations

 Lunch:  The Artichoke in Chartham Phone01227 738316 which normally does not serve food on Fridays except Good Fridays.  Recommend people book  or Picnic in the recreation ground in which has picnic benches in Chartham Hatch.

 Teas:  Many tearooms in Canterbury

 Evensong at Canterbury Cathedral.

 For walk directions, a map, a height profilegpx/kml files, and photos click here.

T=1.28

 

 

 

1 comment:

JohnL said...

Just #N=6 on this pleasant walk including one from the local Ramblers who found nothing to suit on their website. The weather was as forecast #W=Rain_more_or_less_over_by_11_and_a_sunny_afternoon. The Stour was in full flow and we saw several cormorants by the lakes and in the trees plus a heron and some swans. Two of us had lunch at The Local in Chartham it's 800m off the route but served good pub food at reasonable prices and decent beer. Having eaten too much we took a short cut along the Stour into Canterbury. It was all looking very green in the sun with the willow trees coming into leaf. The others did the full route and atleast one did an extension to the RSBP reserve near Blean Wood and two of them visited the Cathedral. As always Canterbury was very busy with tourists but as every second shop is a bar or cafe there are plenty of places for refreshment. Very good cakes in the Snuggery just inside the West Gate. We caught the 16.37 back towards Charring Cross.