Stour Valley Walk – Canterbury to Sandwich

SOUTH EAST

TREK

Stour Valley Walk – Canterbury to Sandwich

Monday 28 August 2017

I left the Kipps hostel at around 8:00 am. The sun was already shining and it looked like it was going to be another very hot day. With another 20 miles to go to get to Sandwich, I had made sure my water bottle was full but in my rush to leave early I forgot to take my malt loaf from the fridge in the kitchen.

Day Three – Canterbury to Sandwich (20 Miles)

The Stour Valley Walk is a long distance path along the valley of the River Stour from the source, through the Low Weald and North Downs and passing by the great Roman ruins of Richborough Castle, to the historic town of Sandwich.

I picked up the Stour Valley Walk path again in the Longport area of Canterbury and followed it into Timpson Wood stopping briefly to look at the remains of a 12th-century Conduit House that supplied water to the nearby St Augustine’s Abbey.

As I walked through the woods I looked at my map and could see that I was almost 800 metres from the Great Stour and that there was a lower path that was closer to the river so I opted to walk on the lower path as it entered Fordwich.

Fordwich looks like a lovely, picturesque village resting on the banks of a river but it is, in fact, a town even though its population is less than 200.

Stone, from Caen, used to build Canterbury Cathedral was landed at Fordwich by the Normans and the ancient Church of St Mary the Virgin contains part of a sarcophagus thought to have contained the remains of St Augustine of Canterbury.

Just after I had passed the church I found my self-battling with knee-high nettles again. I was wearing shorts because of the heat and so my legs were taking a real battering as I found it almost impossible to step anywhere without being stung. This lasted for almost 500-metres but there were so many nettles and the path so overgrown that I couldn’t stop and put on my waterproof trousers for protection.

Eventually, I exited the wood near a place called Higham Farm and enjoyed the luxury of walking in open fields and lanes until reaching Stodmarsh.

Stodmarsh is about 1.5Km from the Great Stour but it is right next to a National Nature Reserve and you walk through this pleasant wetland area and over the Lampden Wall flood defence to get back to the river.

You exit the Nature Reserve at Grove Ferry where there is a nice looking pub called the Grove Ferry Inn behind which is a picnic area.

The name ‘Stourmouth’ suggests that this was once the location of the mouth of the Great Stour as it flowed into the sea and having done some research after the walk it turns out that this is true, well. Almost! This is another point on the walk where you don’t follow the obvious path that follows the Great Stour and instead, you deviate from the river altogether at Red Bridge and walk through fields until you reach West Stourmouth.

The Great Stour and Little Stour converge at Plucks Gutter to form the River Stour. The River Stour and the Wantsume channel then joined to form the Isle of Thanet. At Stourmouth this channel was 4-miles wide.

Once again, looking at my map, I could see that the nearby Saxon Shore Way was following the River Stour 1.5km to the north of my position whereas the Stour Valley Walk was leading me across several miles of fields and fruit farms. This was very flat country and by now the temperature had reached 28 Degrees Celsius.

I didn’t meet the River Stour until Richborough where the Stour Valley Walk connects with the Saxon Shore Way again and follows the river briefly before being routed on to the tarmac road.

There is a Roman Fort at Richborough and a Roman Amphitheatre. As I passed the amphitheatre I climbed the steep grassy slopes hoping to take a look but I ran into barbed wire fences just below the summit that not only prevented access but prevented any kind of view.

Having expended the additional energy on such a hot day with no reward I returned to the path dejected.

For those of you that are inclined the Stour Valley Walk continues to Pegwell Bay. Once there you have to return along the same path and for me, it would have meant returning all the way back to Sandwich to catch my train back to Lenham and collect my car.

Having walked this extra section once before while following the nearby coastal route I had already planned to end my journey in Sandwich.

The Great Stour at Stodmarsh Nature Reserve

Apples, Apples everywhere but not a Cider to drink!

The Route

Distance : 20 Miles

I started day three from Kipps Hostel in Canterbury and stopped in Sandwich. Below you will find the GPX and map for the entire route which is 52 miles.

Click HERE for a GPX file of the route.

David Welch – View Profile

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