Westbere lakes - Canterbury

It was a dull day and rain had fallen on the island most of the morning but I was restless and needed a walk. I owe this one to Lorna Jenner and her book Waterside Walks In Kent and her easy to follow instructions. So it was a stop for a cup of coffee at The Olde Yew Tree pub in Westbere - too late for lunch and not in need of a pint so the coffee and the friendliness went down well. I have been there before and as far as I can recollect the food was worth a bite or two. The intention was to walk to Fordwich and back past the lakes and the river with a short diversion to Fordwich itself.

The walk starts from the pub car park turning right and taking the road down to the railway past some new houses; very attractive places too and down to the railway line. Cross the line avoiding the choo-choos and follow the pathway. Unless you are a prize plonker there is no chance of getting lost and as you follow the Great Stour river you will see the spire of Fordwich church inn the distance.

The river is lined with willows and the banks are covered in plant life including polished bullrushes. Darting in and out of the bushes that hang close to the water are moorhens who call warnings to each other as you approach.

The water is clear and in the occasional sunshine mirroed the trees on the banks. Even on this dull cloudy day the river was impressive and I wished I hade explored it before the August and September rain set in.

Follow the path until you reach the road and the bridge. You dodge the cars across the second bridge into Fordwich and come upon the George and Dragon pub which I recommend as a place to call in. It has a large car park and will do meals and beer so maybe a stop there first and call in for lunch. Take a walk up the river from Fordwich toward Canterbury perhaps and then after lunch take a stroll in the reverse direction to my walk. If the Yew Tree is open have a drink and wander back past the lakes.

The town hall at Fordwich is open to visitors between 10 and 4 each day. It is close by the river and Fordwich's marina and the pub opposite - too up-market for me.

Anyway, I had a look around Fordwich and of course realised that it was a town with a town hall and some narrow roads lined by old buildings. It was once a major town and so I heard was also connected with smuggling. Naughty people.

From the town hall look up river to the small bridge - the one you have to dodge the cars to cross and enjoy a tranquil sight. It would be pleasant to travel the Stour by small boat. Maybe I could persuade two friends and borrow a dog?

From Fordwich walk along the main road - you turn right from the path at the bridge and opposite the Fordwich Garage there is a pathway which leads across sports fields - you use the stile beside the miniture railway and cross to where there is a crossing of the proper railway. You follow the path until you get to Westbere; the footpath is obvious, into Westbere and back to the pub. There are some delightful homes in the village including Ashby Cottage pictured and the church of All Saints with its wildlife friendly cemetary.

As an afternoon stroll it was excellent and left me with a desire to investigate the Stour more and in contrast to walking the hills of the Pilgrims Way it was a pleasant change. I enjoy walking the hills.

Country Park at Teston - a short stroll

Walking by the river Medway can be either a disappointing excercise or a most pleasant experience. The country park at Teston is a place where a pleasant experience can be found. In fact it is compulsory. When I was a lad the Medway was the sort of river your grandparents warned you about but I found it a river that although dangerous as rivers can be, was a tranquil river in good weather and exciting in bad. On this day we saw it in its tranquil, sun drenched mood with boats moving gracefully on the water, people fishing and families picnicking on the grass.

I was interested in the Teston lock and the weir hoping to see it working but instead it appears that there is nobody in attendance and I suppose if you want to use the river you have to limit your trip to either above or below the lock. As it is for the footslogger it is a pleasant sight especially watching the ducks fighting the fast flow on the weir. It was fun watching one of the birds battling against the rapid flow and no amount of instructions advising it to go with the flow and fly up made any difference. It seems that ducks, like cats do not understand English (you tell a cat to stop murdering that rabbit and it ignores you) It was a sort of duck surfing that they all seemed to be on the verge of doing yet wary of actually doing it.

We met up with people enjoying the day in their own way - less frantically than the ducks and as tranquilly as the swans who cruised like small sailing boats and occasionally diving headfirst into the water to feed.

Others, as I said took a different view. The lady with the glass of wine and her husband declared that the time was wine or beer o'clock and raised the yard arm high enough for the sun to squeeze underneath it. I fully approve.

Some went fishing and we saw the inevitable man and wife with children fishing; which means that man fishes; wife tends to the children; wife and children get bored. The two families we saw did not look happy. The young man with the smile was extremely happy and seemed as if he was indulging in the sport with the right attitude - you are not there to feed the family but to have fun murdering fish if you catch them or otherwise just sitting by the river contemplating your naval. What's wrong with that?

In effect the idea of a river walk is to see river things and to enjoy the water. We saw fish; we saw ducks and swans and boats and enjoyed speaking with people.

But as an outing or a day out walking beside the river is a pleasant exercise and one which we must do again. So watch this space for another in depth water visit.

The stone bridge at Teston which is not monitored by traffic lights yet seems to manage the traffic quite well enough thankyou.


It was pleasant to re-visit the river and understand that although the river is dangerous when roused it can also be a most relaxing and pleasant place to wander. For two middle aged intrepid walkers it was, in the words of the weirdo in Life of Brian - a doddle.

Oare Marsh Walk - a search for sausages and chops

The village of Oare close to Faversham sits at the head of Oare Creek overlooking the creek and the marshes down to the shore of the Swale. For an October day the weather was more akin to late summer day. We parked at the Three Mariners Pub with the intention of lunching there later and, shedding warm clothes, we set off along the Uplees road enjoying the clear skies and the cool breeze.












Saint Mary's at Luddenham.


The intention was to walk past Broomfield Farm on the road and then take the pathway across from Little Uplees to Luddenham Manor and the church thereby. The walk was interrupted at Little Uplees when as we passed an orchard where sheep were grazing we saw a lamb (last year's lamb) trapped in brambles by the hedge. We spoke to a local resident, a casually dressed man who told us he would contact the farmer. The farmer arrived and with his daughter attended to the distraessed animal who did what sheep ususally do - panicked and freed herself with a ripping sound from the brambles. She ran off to join her friends and the farmer and his daughter cut the offending brambles away. Boy scouts and Girls Guides doing their good deed for the day - no shilling but a friendly local contact.


The church and the Manor with the farm alongside is well worth a visit. The church has a visitor's book which is worth signing and also a locked begging bowl set in the wall for donations. Please put a penny or two in as they need the money and the place is worth the effort. You can even play the organ there if first you pump it a little.


Now for the sausages and pork chops.


There is a farm shop that sells meat produced on the farm and so I bought some sausages and my sister bought some pork chops. The quality of both was high and we discovered that not only do they feed their animals from food produced on their farm but that the farm itself is one of the most well organized and managed farms I have seen for many a year. The animals look healthy and clean, the pig sties are large and clean, the fences and the buildings look well maintained and all things such as hay, straw, implements and machinery appear to be well managed.



I was looking for decent sausages and my sister likes farm produce - you know where it comes from and at Luddenham it is presented well. The place reeks of quality! From the farm and the church we followed the map, downloaded from faversham.org/walking with the title Walk on the Wild Side. The guide is clear and the walker will find the descriptive passages useful.


The Three Mariners Public House - the food here is scrumptious. The staff welcoming although on the day we went - extremely busy.






We took a second bite at the cherry and took the path alongside the creek ( all part of the Saxon Way) keeping to the Oare side and wandered down to Harty Ferry Cottages via the bird sanctuary past the twitchers watching the sweet little dicky birds. On the walk back we had a look at St Peter's church in Oare and we can reccommend stopping there for the view alone. There was a fashion shoot for a wedding gown going (or something) with two pretty young women making their creative mark on society who allowed me to take pictures of them against the setting of the landscape, and I have to admit the photographer had chosen well.







St Peter's church - you can see the wedding gown.
















The girls sorting out the photo shoot







The amazing thing about this particular walk, apart from acquiring some decent sausages, is that we encoutered some pleasant people, the weather was excellent - we even ate blackberries along the way - good food at the Mariners but most of all some spectacular views topped off by the marvellous display of birdlife (we are part time twitchers).






A View taken with the girls and their photo shoot set up.












This view of Oare Creek and the boats is a fine example of what to expect on this particular walk. Even at low tide the place is interesting but a high tide when the boats are afloat and the sun shines on the water the view from the church is spectacular and as I remarked to the two girls - what a lovely place for a wedding.

Our two walks covered approximately 11 Kilometres and we spent approximately 5 hours messing around looking at churches, taking photo's assisting sheep, buying meat and eating a tasty lunch - oh and not forgetting the Shepheard and Neame beer consumed by yours truly.

In all a good day.