18/06/25 - Saxon Shore Way - Stage 11 - Rye to Hastings

Saxon Shore Way (SSW) Complete

The final day on the Saxon Shore Way - with the Royal Military Canal delivering me to the sea-side for a spectacular conclusion.

Hunting for the Royal Military Canal at Camber Castle

Sea View opening out at Cliff End

Typically for the SSW, there are no refreshment stops on the way. Not close enough to Winchelsea. Nothing passed at Fairlight Cove. Hastings Country Park simply providing some unneeded ups and downs.

To be fair, entering Hastings from on high - and ignoring the cliff railway - is a fitting end to 11 days and 160+ miles. 

Hastings - Tonight's playground

As this is a rather brief blog, I may as well complete the summary.

The SSW has taken me through many new towns - Rochester, Faversham, Whitstable, (a diversion to) Margate, Sandwich, Deal, Folkestone, Rye and Hastings. My favoutite had to be Folkestone. Very much admired the arty vibe and what they have done with the Harbour Arm. A model for investment in the leisure economy for any local authority.

The pubs - so many micros, some doing it better than others. A unforgettable experience at the East Cliff Tavern in Folkestone. I can guarantee that this won't be repeated should I ever be lucky enough to visit again. Time waits for no man. 

The beer was that good that I moved onto cider. Thankfully Shepherd Neame disappeared after the first half and by the time I reached the edges of Sussex, Harvey's Best was found in plentiful supply. Goachers and Gadds new breweries. Cask Jaipur for £2.29 a pint became the beer of the second half thanks to the JDW promotion.

The walking improved in the second half. Progress through the Medway towns was slow, as they merge into one. The coastal walks into Deal and Hastings were wonderful. The inland sections of the coastline from 2000 years ago were largely devoid of refreshment stops. We'll not mention trying to cross Dover on foot.

Would I do it again? There is no need, but I would like to revisit the area to walk from Margate to Ramsgate.

Walk Details

Previous Stages - Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3, Stage 4, Stage 5, Stage 6, Stage 7, Stage 8, Stage 9, Stage 10

Distance - 12 Miles

Geocaches - 13

17/06/25 - Saxon Shore Way - Stage 10 - Hamstreet to Rye

Stalked 

Two nights in Rye. Home of the Mapp and Lucia novels. Kind of made sense for an extended Mappiman stay.

It's stunning: walk medieval cobbled streets, drink in ancient pubs, and admire the ever-changing architecture. Eat the best curry I have ever had at the Mahdi Spice. I don't say that lightly - and I will never have a biryani with dal again.

Bread crust removed to reveal a pot of joy

Not without slight disappointment though. I’m here on a Monday and Tuesday, but the Ypres Castle—much admired on social media and a place I am desperate to visit—doesn’t open until Thursday.

Jeffrey Jon Bell, why do you forsake me?

I'm getting ahead myself - and the pubs will probably need a separate blog. First the walking.

The train whisks me back to Hamstreet.

Early walking on the Saxon Shore Way (SSW) is through Gusbourne Vineyard. Field after field, with information boards explaining what’s growing (or not), alongside jolly grape pickers working the vines.

English Wine

For the first time in days, the SSW has civilisation on route. I reached Appledore by 11 am—just too early for the pub on the wide high street. Half a mile on, and the Ferry Inn is a very civilised opener. Harvey's Sussex Best showing how close I am to the border.

A wonderful pint. In my Top 3 beers, if you are interested.

Sussex Best, very nearly in Sussex

A prolonged liquid pre-lunch before hitting the trail again. I get to understand how the Romney Marsh drainage system works by walking along Reading Sewer, before rejoining my old friend, the Royal Military Canal for the final stretch to Rye.

Military Canal Walking

Do you ever get the feeling you are being watched?

My son and his girlfriend have returned yesterday from five months in Australia. They are in the same county as me, but it is a 2 hour trip from Horsham to Rye. I never thought for minute that jet-lagged, and with a meetup planned for the weekend anyway, they would make the journey. 

Armed with vague information from Mrs M of my card transactions they want to surprise me when I settle down for a post walk pint.

I'm being followed

They are too late for me at the Globe Inn Marsh. They follow me on my hunt for afternoon tiffin, with laughs provided when my pork‑pie quest from 'Simon the Pie Man' came up empty.

Eventually, they give up the chase and ask if I am coming down at my digs in the Hope Anchor.

A re-union that made my trip and now I've got company for Rye Pubs!

Emotional Mappiman, Ambushed

Walk Details

Previous Stages - Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3, Stage 4, Stage 5, Stage 6, Stage 7, Stage 8, Stage 9

Distance - 11.7 Miles

Geocaches - 2

 

16/06/25 - Saxon Shore Way - Stage 9 - West Hythe to Hamstreet

Canal Dreams

Easy bus journey from Folkestone to West Hythe, timed to perfection to meet the breakfast offerings at Unit 1. Get in quick on a Monday morning before the local rambling group overpower the place.

Then it's decision time... To be true to the Saxon Shore Way (SSW), I would have to climb up a busy lane with no pavement to walk about a mile on the ridge, only to drop back down to the Royal Military Canal I am stood next to.

Easy navigation canal walking it is. And what a feat of engineering the Royal Military Canal is.

The Royal Military Canal was constructed between 1804 and 1809 as a defensive measure during the Napoleonic Wars, running 28 miles from Seabrook near Folkestone to Cliff End near Hastings. Built to deter and delay a feared French invasion, the canal formed a barrier along the vulnerable Romney Marsh, allowing British troops to move quickly along its northern bank while impeding enemy progress.

A Military Canal

There's next to nothing to report on this leg of the SSW. I have headed inland - with the Romney Marsh below. This is an area of land reclaimed from the sea through sea walls and drainage.  It looks far more interesting on the map than in real life. OS Maps showing no greenery and a maze of waterways. Occasionally, the nuclear power station at Dungeness comes into view.

Romney Marsh

For the walker, it's just sheep fields and woodland. No civilisation, nowhere for refreshments and only a trail of geocaches to provide entertainment until the railway station at Hamstreet whisks me to Rye.

And what an amazing place that is!

Walk Details

Previous Stages - Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3, Stage 4, Stage 5, Stage 6, Stage 7, Stage 8

Distance - 11.5 Miles

Geocaches - 22

15/06/25 - Saxon Shore Way - Stage 8 - Folkestone to West Hythe

How to Escape Folkestone?

I left the Saxon Shore Way (SSW) about 4 miles to the east of Folkestone. How to resume? I have the grand idea over scrambled eggs to get an Uber to the Battle of Britain Museum. In the app it showed 'busier than usual', followed by 'try again another day'.

Looking at the map, I can access the path on a footpath that steeply ascends Creteway Down to the north. Like many an idea of mine, it is flawed. Very badly overgrown and my Rohan Stretch Bags take a right battering with the thistles. At least I wasn't wearing shorts, I would have been cut to shreds.

On high, the path shows itself as a series of ups and downs as the 2000 year old shoreline moves further away from the current position of the sea. Sugarloaf Hill and Caesar's Camp providing an early morning workout. 

The M20 dissecting Sugar Loaf and Caesar's Camp

The views are dominated by the never ending Channel Tunnel Terminal. The SSW seems to completely avoid any civilisation, so nothing is passed and no refreshments available. Only one pair of walkers seen all day. 

I declared the walking over at Shepway Cross for a steep drop down to the Royal Military Canal, which will be my friend for the remainder of the walk. There, in West Hythe, is the incredibly popular ‘Good Beer Guide tick’ pub, Unit 1. Packed to capacity with families in an outside garden.

Shepway Cross

The heat required German Keg. A well-received Krombacher before the bus back into Folkestone. 

Krombacher with a water chaser

Walk Details

Previous Stages - Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3, Stage 4, Stage 5, Stage 6, Stage 7

Distance - 13 Miles

Geocaches - 5

14/06/25 - Saxon Shore Way - Stage 7 - Deal to Folkestone

Dover is Over

The longest day on the Saxon Shore Way (SSW). Yet, surprisingly little happens.

A circuitous exit from Deal, investigating the unexplored southern part of town via Adventure Lab Caches. The military history; ancient castles and the Royal Marines.

Beach launched fishing boats

Deal Castle...

... and Walmer Castle, a little further down the coast

The Zetland Arms is passed a little too early. I may have been tempted if it wasn't a Shepherd Neame pub. No one needs Master Brew for breakfast. It's Special or nothing.

Likewise, the Coastguard Pub at St Margeret's Bay. Double digit miles to go, I'll keep plodding.

St Margeret's Bay - the SSW forces you down and back up again

Then Dover comes into view. And stays in view for a long time. The sky has a weird haze - almost fog-like - a hangover from last night's storm probably. Photos of large passenger ferries moving in and out of the harbour walls are poor. I can't bring you the White Cliffs of Dover, as I am on them.

Dover Patrol on the headland

Then there is the town itself. Whoever Dover was designed for, it wasn't the pedestrian. Crossing roads is near impossible - they are practically motorways, with fast vehicles and central reservation barriers. The signage, when you need it most, disappears. The Good Beer Guide Pubs that are open are up on high in town and away from the SSW. I’m not about to turn this blog into a political rant, but the type of people loitering on street corners might explain why BOOKING.COM is suddenly demanding proof of my nationality at check-in.

Inspiration from Churchill comes to mind. If you are going through hell, keep going.

Crossing Dover on Foot is not for the faint hearted

The cliffs are gained via a precipitous staircase at Western Heights. Where there is a Young Offenders Institute marked on the OS Map. I suppose they have to go somewhere, so may as well be Dover.

A frequent series of Geocaches takes me towards Folkestone. Which is a huge, sprawling town. The odometer clicks onto 15 miles and the watch 3 o'clock. That's plenty, I say to myself. 

The bus can take the strain for the last few miles from the Royal Oak Pub.

This, at the cost of the Battle of Britain Museum, which I can resume my journey from tomorrow. 

Walk Details

Previous Stages - Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3, Stage 4, Stage 5, Stage 6

Distance - 15 Miles

Geocaches - 27

13/06/25 - The Good Beer Guide Pubs of Deal, Kent

2 Micros, a Trad and a 'Spoons Tea

I've wanted to visit Deal. Famous for smuggling, naval history and the only pier in Kent open to the public. It was ITV crime series Liar, with its never ending drone footage, they really whetted my appetite.

A lengthy first day resuming the Saxon Shore Way and I am here for the pubs. Three in the Good Beer Guide but first I need feeding.

The Sir Norman Wisdom - a JDW offering chicken in a basket and cask Jaipur for just over a tenner. My budget planning in full swing.

Pint - a thing of beauty for the obscene price of £2.29

A modern 'Spoons

This is Kent. There are going to be a lot of micros and we have two over the road from each other.

Knowledge required for The Just Reproach. I am experienced enough with micros to know that I need to find the chalk board on entry but this outlet throws up confusion. There is no bar. You need to look around for a server, who will probably identify you before you identify them. You order, they disappear to back room and bring back a pint that has definitely been gravity dispensed. That easy to fall into conversation with strangers that I have failed to record what it was. Most likely a traditional Kentish Ale, offering the highest ABV per £. That is my modus operandi and I am sticking with it.

The bench to my right was my home

Architecturally impossible to tell the difference between this and Smugglers Records over the road. Less choice on the cask but (from what I noticed) a much bigger selection of international bottled beers and keg offerings. One single cask (Howling Hops Party Wave), on display in a fridge, with the tap the only thing added since delivery from the brewery. Not hard to get in the Good Beer Guide, is it?

Not the first record shop I had drunk in

A peruse of the records. Nirvana's Bleach going for £36. I vow to have a sort out of my garage when I get home to fund future adventures.

A view from a window sill, leaning on a plate glass window

A pretty walk along the terraced buildings of many architectural style that is Middle Street. I am looking for the Ship Inn. The name that is always a guarantee of pub quality.

Unlike pubs with "Railway" in the name

Everything I look for in a pub. Low ceilings, atmospheric low lighting from candles in old brandy bottles, nooks and indeed crannies around a central bar. A second Gadds of the day, Number 5, leaving me with two questions. Will I ever see lacings, least of all a head on my beer this week? Was it really £3 a pint.

Time to head home for nature's fire-work display that is a quite spectacular thunder and lightening storm. Locals told me it was the best/worst that they have ever seen. Dover, where I am heading tomorrow, has parked cars floating down residential streets.

13/06/25 - Saxon Shore Way - Stage 6 - Thanet Parkway to Deal

Journey Resumed

It's taken three years to resume the Saxon Shore Way (SSW). Naturally enough, I left it at a pub. The Oyster Pearl at Seasalter. A convenient bus stop proving too tempting to pass.

I mused about continuing, though it was never really in doubt. However bored of Shepherds Neame I became and uninspiring the walking of the first stage was, I am never one to leave something unfinished. Plot spoiler. I am glad I did. The second half is far superior.

The reason for the lengthy delay was more to do with the rail strikes. Impossible to plan a multi centre journey if they call a strike on travel days. Things have stabilised over the last 12 months and an incredible four train, five hour journey pulled into Thanet Parkway exactly on time.

Travel Itinerary 

The eagle-eyed may spot that I was meant to alight at Minster. Just a mile from the Saxon Shore Way, but close analysis of the map in later planning revealed that it runs on the opposite side of the River Stour. There is nowhere to cross the river until Sandwich - 5 miles down stream or Pluck's Gutter, 2 miles upstream and in the opposite direction needed. Annoying, but salvation comes in the form of Thanet Parkway. A station that is just 3 minutes from Minster and doesn't even exist on my elderly OS Map.

If only they made it easy to exit as a pedestrian. An instant first wrong turn and double back after finding non-existent paths.

The coast is reached quickly and although not on the banks of the Stour, I am walking more or less in parallel with the SSW. Gentle river paths replaced by skip hire businesses alongside a busy main road that thankfully has the newly formed English Coastal Path running alongside.

The White Cliffs of Ramsgate from the English Coast Path

It's a joy to pick up the SSW at Sandwich, the first of the Cinque Port Towns I will visit over the week.

The Cinque Ports are a historic confederation of coastal towns in southeastern England—originally Hastings, New Romney, Hythe, Dover, and Sandwich—established before the Norman Conquest to provide ships and men for the crown in exchange for privileges like tax exemptions and self-governance.

A beautiful looking town, which I entered by crossing a fortified bridge.

At last, over the Stour.

I hit the New Inn — listed in the Good Beer Guide — with Gadds No. 3 to kick things off, chased with water.

Too hot to sit on orange chairs

Lots of wood.... typical Kentish Pint

The River Stour whisked me down to the seafront for the easiest walking possible all the way into Deal.

Cap flaps deployed on walking hat, but I will spare you that image

The pier marking the end of today's walking.

Plenty of Good Beer ticks to be had, for a separate blog. I vow to stop at the first pub seen. This is the Foresters. A single cask, community local packed with locals. Like most community locals, it has the oddest pub rules.

Just what happens on a Monday night at the Foresters?

I wasn't going to trust cask TT Landlord on a hot day in an unknown pub. Stella - like the locals - taken with a sea view before finding my digs for the night.

Time to consider whether I’ve overstretched that budget-conscious goal I set

What it lacked in en-suite, it made up for with free biscuits

Walk Details

Previous Stages - Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3, Stage 4, Stage 5

Distance - 11 Miles

Geocaches - 7

11/05/22 - The Good Beer Guide Pubs of Whitstable and Herne Bay

Pubs - 6

Good Beer Guide Ticks - #671 to #673

Walking the Saxon Shore Way came to an abrupt end at Seasalter's Oyster Pearl. A combination of aching legs, bad blisters and a highly efficient public transport system.

An afternoon drinking in Whitstable before heading to our digs in Herne Bay to check out the micros.

First an apology to Kent CAMRA. In planning, I used the 2022 Good Beer Guide (of course) and an old CAMRA book called "Fifty More Great Pub Crawls" to create our afternoon.  It was the latter that recommended a couple of pubs that had us asking "How the hell did this get into the Good Beer Guide?"

The answer was.... they hadn't. Our instincts to quickly leave the New Inn, Prince Albert and to a lesser extent, the rather pretty but Shep's led Smack Inn were fully justified.

I also missed a Good Beer Guide Tick at the 12 Taps.  Doh!

The Ship Centurion, High Street, Goachers Silver Staru

Perfectly located. Opposite our bus stop.

And look at this beauty....

Everything you could want from an old school boozer. A delightfully friendly welcome from an enthusiastic and knowledgeable landlady. Great beer.... I will miss Goachers in my Midland home town. Horse racing on the TV. The promise of a regular meat raffle.

Pubs are just so easy to get totally right.  It's a wonder there aren't more doing it.

Pub Life

Lunch

I'd asked on a Facebook walking group for Kentish recommendations for food and pubs. There was a general agreement that Whitstable's Chippy - V.C.Jones should not be missed.  It's all about the beef dripping, apparently

Lunch

It was an old school delight - and other afternoon patrons couldn't get enough of it. The chips were good but the fish was not a patch on any Midlands chippy. Sorry Kent, our batter is better.

Full-up and getting to the next pub with a 70l Rucksack after a week on the Goachers, was a problem.

Yes, with much hilarity, I got stuck.  Children pointed.

Old Neptune, Marine Terrace, Harveys Sussex Best

Right on the Saxon Shore Way (if you don't use a bus)

I waxed lyrical about Harvey's Sussex Best on the train down to Kent and was hoping to find it so I could prove it's quality. After two pints, my walking partner agreed it's one of the best beers money can buy. 

Liquid Perfection

The pub was a hoot. A combination of three cockneys on rose wine holding court at the end of the bar, a jukebox and a frenetic turnover of customers - most better Ramblers than us - made for plenty of banter.

#1 Thing Learned..... Johnny Cash was only popular because all of his live audiences were in jail.

Parkerville, High Street, Herne Bay, Butcombe Citra

A Former Music Shop

The evening and we are fully in the land of the micros. I counted 4, we visited 3 and 2 are in the Good Beer Guide. Including this.

A very rumbustious atmosphere full of blokes who have just clocked off work and are working their way through the top shelf, to supplement their gravity poured pints.

There was a lovely looking live comedy/music stage towards the rear but not enough interest for us to hang around to find out if anyone was playing. Wednesday night... unlikely.

Bouncing Barrel, Bank Street, Saltaire DDH Citra

Limited research has failed to establish what this once was.

I've commented before about the stares you receive when entering a MicoPub. Here, the stares started before we had crossed the threshold. The door was open, I was waiting for my walking partner to get supplies and the landlady, and associated customers, were all eye-balling me. A comment that we were visiting if the they would have us, was pleasantly received.  Personal introductions made we soon fell into quite a detailed conversation about the history of Kent Micro Pubs.  It all started in a nearby town.

This is a no bar micro, with gravity fed beers served from a cold room.

We stayed for one, in the vain hope of finding a pub with the football on.

The Firkin Frog, Station Road, Cider!

We failed to find the football..... but guess what... another Micro!

A former kitchen show room.

The first Micropub opened in Herne Bay but not in the Good Beer Guide. This had beer dispensed from proper hand-pulls but the offerings were from breweries that I had never heard off. The last two gravity pulls had put in a mind to either avoid risk or risk everything.

Spurred on my a recent Beer O'Clock Podcast on Cider, I moved to the light side. For the first time since I was a teenager.

It was like there was a party in my mouth and everyone had been invited.

Mrs M is delighted I have another poison in my armoury.

11/05/22 - Saxon Shore Way - Stage 5 - Faversham to Seasalter

Distance - 7.5 Miles

Geocaches - 2

Pubs - 1

Previous Stages - Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3, Stage 4

This is the day that the our journey on the Saxon Shore Way comes to an end. It was always our intention to get about half way. It will be interesting to see if we can get motivated enough to come back and finish it off.

A (half time) summary of our findings at the end of the blog.

Today gets off to a fine start, with breakfast of the week at the Judds Folly Hotel. A weird motel style place, where we have individual lodges and no residents bar. A perfect collection of breakfast items, available for our own selection, buffet style.

Beans, Sub-Sausage.

A couple of miles downhill and through town, where we find Britain's Oldest Brewery - should you not take Bishop's Castle's Three Tuns into consideration. You should, the beer is better in Shropshire.

Home of Masterbrew

It wouldn't be the SSW without a final creek to navigate. Through the boat-yards of Faversham Creek and we hit open sea for proper coastal walking.

Faversham Creek Boatyards

At last, the Coast!

Refreshment stops?  We were getting desperate for a break by the time we reached the outskirts of Seasalter. The Sportsman opens in 10 minutes and those minutes were spent reading their signs that suggested that you could not enter unless you have a dinner reservation. Surprisingly, from the name and an unassuming exterior, this is the Michelin starred Gastro-pub that we had been promised.  

With neither reservations, or the desire to wait for a drinker unfriendly pub - we kept on going.

Where the Oyster Pearl became the last pub reached on foot.

Not worth the wait

London Pride, to summarise our thoughts on the SSW

So thoughts on the Saxon Shore Way.... It's been a challenge of monotonous walking up and down creeks.  Walking many miles but making scant progress.  From this point on though, it appears as though decent coastal walking will allow for some proper progress.  There have been plenty of towns, all new to us and excellent public transport to bail, as blisters and sore legs demand.  

Unfortunately, the pub-scene has not been the greatest when Good Beer Guide Ticking.  We never received the wow-factor that we often get when walking long distance trails in other, undiscovered parts of the counrty.  Far too many micros - not making the most of what micros can offer.  Far too much Shepherd Neame, now up there with my least favourite brewery (Arkells, if you're asking).

On the final blog of Good Beer Guide Pubs in Whitstable/Herne Bay - you will see something that's never happened before. 

I've moved onto cider.  

A roll call;

Best Traditional Pub:   The Elephant, Faversham.

Best Micro Pub:  The Paper Mill, Sittingbourne.

Best Pint: Hopdeamon Skrimshander at the Golden Hope, Sittingbourne

Best Brewery:  Goachers.  Never heard of this Maidstone Micro Brewery before, but enjoyed their Gold and Silver Star ales in multiple locations.