Reculver - Maponimoes, Marshes and a very Merry Christmas!

Reculver marked our second foray into Kent, although both myself and BAM (Best Aussie Mate) have walked on the Kent coast several times with our walking group 'The Odd Weekenders' and we're about to embark on a separate project to walk the Saxon Shore way, which runs 163 miles around the coast (well, mostly!) from Gravesend to Hastings.

I have a real soft spot for Kent, as it was the part of England I first stayed in, when I was working in the strawberry farms around Maidstone, many moons ago.  I always enjoy going back there, although the changing politics of the past few years has made Kent seem more isolated and further away from London than ever!

Lodging and victuals

But Kent isn't that far from London at all - at least when the trains are working!  I'm quite delayed in writing this blog post, so the walk itself took place just before Christmas, which meant my being accompanied on the train, late on a Friday evening, by a very glamorous BAM, who dropped into her work Christmas party, before hoofing it down to Kent with me.

Dilapidated house in the heart of Brexitland (not our hotel!)

There's very little at Reculver, by way of accommodation, so we decided to overnight in Herne Bay instead, staying at the Premier Inn Canterbury North.  BAM is quite fond of the Premier Inn and our Chester walks have seen her rising through the ranks of the Premier Inn's card-holding customers, so she gets all kinds of discounts and special treatments these days. She's like Premier Inn royalty now!

Not intimidated by Her Premier's royal presence, I enjoyed a couple of celebratory Christmas drinks at the hotel's on site restaurant, as we exchanged Christmas gifts and played maponimoes, spreading our European map and flag cards all over the table, in what could only be described as an act of open rebellion in that heart of Brexitland.

Premier Inn Canterbury North to Reculver (3.1 miles/5 kilometres)

We started out bright and early the next day, crossing over the railway line, before turning right onto the Reculver Road, leading all the way down to the coast.

It's an easy walk from Herne Bay to Reculver, along the cliff top at Reculver Country park, you get a wonderful view of Reculver's main attraction, the remains of St Mary's Church, its twin towers rising dramatically above the surrounding landscape, with the waves crashing on the seashore just below.

BAM walking towards Reculver

I feel that Reculver is pushing it a bit, as far as chesters go and it's fair to say that the chester connection is barely noticeable in the modern toponym that the village has carried into the 21st century.  But I can vouch for Reculver's chester credentials, as it was the site of a Roman castrum, which they called Regulbium, which became Raculfcaester and eventually, Reculver.

The twin towers of St Mary's, Reculver

Ruins of St Mary's at Reculver

The current ruins of St Mary's date back to the 12th century and the original Anglo-Saxon church on this site was built in the 7th century, being constructed from stone in the ruins of the Roman castrum. Reculver was an important place, once upon a time and I can't help wondering if it could have ended up being the capital of England, if history had dealt it different cards.

Map of the Kentish coast in Roman times

One of my favourite things at the site is a map which shows what Kent looked like in Roman times. Reculver was surrounded by the sea on several sides, being a port on the Wantsum Channel, an ancient body of water that separated the Isle of Thanet from the rest of England.  The land underneath the Wantsum Channel has now been reclaimed, which explains why the Saxon Shore way, which we were following for the first half of this walk, suddenly turns inland, as it follows the original shoreline, known to Romans and Saxons alike.

All of this got me thinking about the fact that there aren't many European capitals that are on the sea - London, Paris, Berlin, Rome - they're all a safe distance from invading armies!  Reculver would have been a seaside capital, in the tradition of Dublin, Venice, Barcelona and, as we gazed across the empty landscape towards Thanet, I tried to imagine a city of millions spread out in front of me - a kind of, London-by-the-Sea!

Reculver to Grays Farm (1.7 miles/2.8 kilometres)

So far, so familiar territory.  The real adventure was leaving the coast at Reculver and following the Saxon Shore way along the former Wantsum Channel, passing under the railway again and coming up to the road at Grays Farm.

Reclaimed land in the Wantsum Channel

The A299 hurtled beneath us, uninterested in the details of our journey, as these roads rarely are.  It's an impressive road, all the same, and was built in the 1930's as an unemployment relief project, easing the pressure on Canterbury, where previously, all traffic to the Isle of Thanet had to pass through.

The A299 aka The Thanet Way

Grays Farm to Boyden Gate (2.1 miles/3.3 kilometres)

It was a very beautiful walk from Grays Farm to Boyden Gate.  Although it's winter, you could still get a sense of Kent as the Garden of England and we passed through lots of orchards, some of which still had apples on the trees.  Like East Anglia, Kent is surprisingly depopulated and we really felt this in the lonely landscape around the Chislet Marshes, with no sign of human life at all, just the odd farmhouse and lonely trees in the middle of fields.

Lonely road along the edge of Chislet Marshes

Orchard near Boyden Gate

There wasn't much life in Boyden Gate either, but we'll always remember it as the place where we had possibly the most precarious lunch break ever, perched on a collapsed bench at the end of Chapel Lane!  I had a yummy sandwich with turkey and cranberry sauce - a bit extravagant, but in keeping with the Yuletide spirit.

Fallen apples

Bench at Church Lane, Boyden Gate

Boyden Gate to Grove Ferry (1.9 miles/3 kilometres)

From Boyden Gate, we crossed a field leading to the intriguingly named Chitty Lane and continued along the edge of the marshes, over Walmer's Hill, across Island Road and then downhill to the River Stour at Grove Ferry.

Lonely tree on Walmer's Hill

Riverside at Grove Ferry

Grove Ferry looked like a pleasant place, with an attractive riverside pub and we're familiar with the River Stour, having walked along it once before, from Tonbridge to Hever.  There is another Stour in Suffolk, which is where Constable painted the works around Dedham Vale - I've also been there and I can say that Kent's Stour is just as pretty, if not as well-known as its East Anglian cousin.

Swan boat at Grove Ferry

Grove Ferry to Stodmarsh (2.4 miles/3.8 kilometres)

At Grove Ferry we bade farewell to the Saxon Shore way and picked up the Stour Valley way, heading southwest towards the village of Stodmarsh.

This part of the walk was incredibly beautiful and wild - like being in another country really and so far-removed from civilisation.  Stodmarsh is the site of a well-looked after national nature reserve and the bird life was teeming around the marsh and lakes of the Stodmarsh valley.

Stodmarsh valley

Stodmarsh is an incredibly pretty village and there was some kind of service going on in St Mary's Church.  As we sat on a bench in the village green, we watched handsomely dressed young couples, taking their babies and young children for a walk and a break, no doubt, from the tedium of the service.

St Mary's at Stodmarsh

Stodmarsh village sign

Stodmarsh to Fordwich (2.6 miles/4.2 kilometres)

We followed the road from Stodmarsh, all the way to Elbridge Farm, where I bought some apples, depositing my coins in the honesty box.  The path dipped into a field full of cows, which BAM bravely faced, as I stuck to the road, embracing my bovinophobia!

The path through Trenleypark Wood

At Elbridge Farm, we left the road and followed the Stour Valley way through Trenleypark Wood, emerging at the river again, just outside Fordwich, yet another pretty little village.

We had a lovely meal at the George and Dragon in Fordwich, splashing out on mains, drinks and dessert (must have been the Christmas spirit!) before crossing the river to Sturry, where we picked up our early evening train back to London.

Access for Wheelchair users

Country road near Chislet

The way between Herne Bay and Reculver is pretty accessible and a lovely route to follow.  The former Wantsum Channel is pretty inaccessible, however the roads around Grays Farm, Boyden Gate and Chislet would make for very good wheelchairing.

The Stour valley path is pretty inaccessible to wheelchair users on the Grove Ferry side and the Stodmarsh Road is quite busy, so I wouldn't recommend it, although a visit to Stodmarsh would be worthwhile and the Stour Valley path from Stodmarsh is accessible to a certain point - it could make a nice round trip from the village.  

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