Jane’s Walk 2025 – Day 11

Back to Whitstable and we continue our walk along this heavily reinforced concrete walkway. This continues to carry on for 2 miles after leaving Whitstable and although now is only used by walkers, runners and bikers, according to pictures displayed nearby, it was enjoyed by families for bathing in the early 19th century.

As the shoreline turns south here the cliffs, made of sandstone and clay, have eroded badly so the path heads up to the top of these cliffs. We walk through pleasant woodland and parkland much used by dog walkers.

This takes us to the imposing site of the 2 towers of St Mary’s Church of Reculver. St Mary’s is one of the oldest Saxon churches in the country. Sadly only the towers are left.

According to Simon, our host of last night, in 1801 the mother of the then landlord of the area did not like the church and insisted it was moved and the stones used to build a church in Hillborough nearby, leaving the towers only which were used as a lighthouse.

One legacy of the church is the Alexandrines, the spring cabbage that was imported by the Romans and now grows around the towers!

We now walk away from the sea shore through the fertile land of East Kent, much of it reclaimed in medieval times with a series of dykes criss-crossing the land for drainage and now a haven for birds. This is a beautiful and peaceful area.

At one point we walk along the side of one of these dykes with a lovely grey heron swimming beside us. I managed to swiftly secure Moses who would have loved to have joined it in the water!

We cross the mainline through a tunnel and pass an intriguing old wooden windmill attached to a recently restored house. The sails have been removed but you can see how the top revolved to catch the wind.

After crossing the busy A298 the path takes us through the middle of a large apple farm, all the many varieties being ready to harvest.

We stop for lunch in the village of Bowden Gate. Here we meet up with Bob and Margaret whom we stayed with on our walk down the Severn last year in Worcestershire.

Bob, a successful farmer, had his first farming job nearby, so sweetly came all the way to visit it for the first time since the 1950s and join us on our walk for the afternoon.

We have a happy afternoon chatting through well-kept farmland, getting a little lost in a lovely old wood, having missed the turning, but this was soon rectified and we agreed that the detour had been worth it.

Eventually we walked down some steep steps to cross over the Greater Stour river to the end point at Grove Ferry Inn.