Ascent/Descent: 315/322m
Net Walking Time: ca. 4 ½ hours
Toughness: 5 out of 10
Take the 10.08 Margate train from St.
Pancras (10.15 Stratford I’nal), change Ashford (10.46/11.05), arriving Chilham
at 11.17.
Return trains: Plenty --- from 58 minutes to St. Pancras (C’bury
West) and from 93 minutes to Victoria (C’bury East).
This 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.
This 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.
From there the way is through Church Wood and 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.
For walk directions, a map, a height
profile, gpx/kml files, and photos click here.
Lunch: The Artichoke in Chartham (4.7 km, food 12.00-15.00).
Tea: Plenty of options in Canterbury. See the webpage for details.
Tea: Plenty of options in Canterbury. See the webpage for details.
T=1.28
2 comments:
I mentioned some years ago a vineyard started by a co-volunteer at the RA in Kent. It’s now up and running and you can taste & buy excellent English wines. (Tattinger has bought a large plot 3 m away, the ground is so good for wine production). I suggest to contact them on 01233 813709 or 07905 911186 or info@charthamvineyard.co.uk beforehand if you want that because they are quite small and I would think it needs pre-booking. I went on 2 July with the RA (with lunch, you can try!) and it’s a great place, right between Chilham and Canterbury. ça vaut a petit detour.
n=8 walkers in w=hot-and-sunny weather with some respite from the sun early afternoon due to some light clouds and then from long stretches of walking through woods. All visited The Artichoke pub for a drink, although only 2 ordered food. Some ate their sandwiches in the pub garden (now, now!), others moved on after a drink to eat at the next best picnic spot. The 3 fast walkers turned right to the station upon reaching Canterbury, foregoing the route through the ancient centre and popped into The Goods Shed, right next to the station, a rather glorious licensed indoor farmer's market. We met most of the rest of the group on the platform in time for the 16.41.
Memo to walk author: the Chartham Hatch pub is still closed, with the pub sign taken down, but with signs of being lived in. It may never come back as a pub, despite some apparent local campaigning for it to open again as one.
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