Length: 19½ km (12.1 miles), or 14½ km (9 miles) for the Short Walk (see below). Toughness: 2/10
09:40 Ramsgate train from Victoria (Bromley South 09:58), arriving Faversham at 10:50.
Trains back from Faversham to Victoria are at xx:37 (fast) & xx:44 (slow). You could also buy a “Plus High Speed” supplement at Faversham and take the xx:00 to St Pancras, but it's only marginally quicker.
I hesitate to call this walk around the North Kent marshes ‘new’ because much of it duplicates the various endings of the Teynham to Faversham walk (#299), as well as the route in a Faversham publication which has regularly featured on this site. However, if you thrill to the sight of massive lumps of concrete scattered around woodland you'll enjoy the new section through Oare Gunpowder Works Country Park.
There are three or four possible lunch places, all quite different. It feels right to support the old-fashioned Shipwright's Arms in Hollowshore as it relies heavily on passing trade from walkers on the coast path, but its food offerings are pretty basic (no Sunday roast). In contrast The Three Mariners is really an up-market restaurant masquerading as a pub. The middle ground is occupied by The Castle inn and The Cafe by the Creek. The last three are all close to each other in the small village of Oare, twenty minutes beyond Hollowshore.
There are plenty of refreshment places at the end of the walk in Faversham, which you can reconnoitre on your outward route through the town.
Walk Options: When you reach Luddenham on the afternoon leg you can choose whether to complete the full walk via Uplees and Oare Marshes (another two hours) or head straight back to Faversham (less than an hour).
You'll need to bring the directions from the L=swc.420 page.
2 comments:
N=13 at the station. The weather was w=cloud-and-sun-with-a-cold-wind 2
took the shorter marsh route, the rest, made of sterner stuff, set off round the coast into the teeth of a biting northeasterly. Now we know how Scott felt. He, of course, had no respite, we had the Shipwrights Arms, a quaint olde place at the end of Oare Creek. Like stepping back in time. Good beer and unpretentious fare.
When we reached Oare we caught up with some who had sped on to sample the pubs there. 1 more joined at Oare, making us n=14
But then the Oare crowd went off in a different direction round the marsh leaving us to follow the interesting new loop to Luddenham church, which, as I’ve said before, needs a good dust.
Then we headed back to Oare, eschewing the second marsh loop. No amount of whimpering would persuade the others to stop in any of the many pubs we passed on the way back to Faversham. Instead it was tea and cakes. Sigh..
Nearly forgot to mention the trip round the Gunpowder Works Nature Reserve, where we learnt how to make gunpowder, and, more importantly, polish it.
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