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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.

Tuesday 22 August 2017

A Walk on the Wild Side - and a Tour of a Brewery

Faversham Circular Walk

Length: 12 km (7.5 miles)
Toughness: 1 out of 10

London Victoria:  10-07 hrs    Dover Priory service
Arrive Faversham: 11-23 hrs

Return: Faversham to Victoria:  15-33, 16-03, 16-33, 17-03, 17-38, 18-03 hrs

Buy your ticket before 6 pm on Monday 21st and you can take advantage of the South-Eastern promotion which will cost you £ 10 for your return ticket.

For the 11 am brewery tour you will need to take the 09-37 hrs train out of Victoria (Ramsgate service) arriving Faversham 10-50 hrs, leaving just enough time to get to Shepherd Neame's brewery. Note: this earlier train does not qualify for the concessionary fare.


The Four of us on the recently posted  Faversham to Whitstable walk so enjoyed it, and Faversham at the beginning of the walk, that I thought I would post one of Faversham's own walks - a 7.5 mile walk which includes the city centre and takes you through a bird sanctuary and out and back over the marshes on the Saxon Shore Way - a must for twitchers.

Walk Directions; click here and from the header bar select Visit Faversham. From the drop down list select Walking and from the options (in boxes) click on "Walk on the Wild Side" - and print off.

Beer drinkers: Shepherd Neame's brewery in Faversham is one of the oldest independent breweries in England, and I am told their brewery tour and visit ( £12-95) is well worth while and good value. The original intention to take the afternoon tour at 14-45 hrs has been thwarted by its cancellation. The only tour on offer today is at 11 am..  If interested, take the earlier train (details as above), do the brewery tour, then sober up after the free samples by embarking on the 7.5 mile walk.. You need to book the brewery tour in advance: information and booking instructions here.

Enjoy

8 comments:

Marion said...

Intend going but the brewery tour only shows an 11.00am slot.

Marcus said...

It looks as though Marion is correct - when I originally posted this walk there was also a 14-45 hrs tour of the brewery on offer: this has been removed from the programme - so our planned Brewery Tour is off !! For the 11 am tour an earlier train out of Victoria needs to be taken, which does not qualify for the £ 10 concessionary ticket.
Posting and walk title duly changed. No matter - the walk through the bird sanctuary should be delightful and there is plenty to explore in Faversham to give us a full, relaxing and interesting day. Some nice restaurants for lunch, too.

Anonymous said...

... and the SWC walkers go
Doo do doo do doo do do doo..

Marion said...

Sorry Marcus as the weather looks fair i have decided to repeat last weeks Broadstairs folk festival walk as there is so much to see and do around the coastal beaches and cliff walks plus the Margate Dreamland art deco renovations.

Marcus said...

4 on this walk, and on Faversham railway station we met up with our regular SWC walker who was planning to explore Whitstable today: we hope she and her companion had an enjoyable day - as the four of us did. I will wait for 24 hours before activating the "n" equals number thingy, just in case some walkers arrived on the early train to take the tour of the brewery before doing the walk. If you did, please post your number here (without activating the "n" thingy).
As for the walk, it was not quite as wild as I was expecting but still very enjoyable once we were out of the town and on the marshes. w=A-lovely-sunny-warm-day-with-cooling-breeze, near perfect weather for this walk. The route took us along the coast beside the bird sanctuary and nature reserve before heading inland over meadows and farmland before returning to the village of Oare. Unfortunately, the Three Mariners pub was fully booked (it looked nice - note for file - next time book ahead) but we enjoyed drinks and nibbles at the pub next door. Now suitably refreshed, we diverted from the walk's directions and instead did a loop of the Saxon Shore Way - more coastline and marshes - before returning to Faversham. Tea at one of the many cafes in town, then the 17-03 hrs train home.
A lovely relaxing day.

Thomas G said...

1 other on the high speed train that arrived 4 mins after ours (we should have waited). he had sarnies on the seawall and arrived at the pub long after us therefore, reporting that one of the chefs was led away with a severe hand injury, which may explain why they were reluctant to take in additional lunch customers. (as told on today's walk)

Marion said...

Just for the record it was Broadstairs to Margate using the £10 fare that was the big attraction with a 7 mile walk along the Viking Trail coastal path. Plenty of pubs and cafes.

I have had a guided tour of Faversham and the boatyard area previously and can recommend the town museum in Faversham with its displays on the history of gunpowder and explosives featuring Nobel. His financial contribution to the Nobel Prize foundation was established to ease his conscience concerning the huge loss of life incurred by humanity as a direct result of his invention and factory production of explosives. Its quite a sobering experience. Did the walk see any of the old production sites? I can't recall their whereabouts.

Marcus said...

n=5