On Sunday feeling the need to do something we haven’t done for a while we headed down to Sandwich for a long walk. It’s just over an hour from us, and that might seem a daft thing to do just to go for a walk, but we were both looking forward to being somewhere we’d not been before, or not been for many a year if we’d even been there before. The Kent Ramblers site have a number of walking routes, and while there were some closer to home, the call of the sea must have been calling us - and so we followed their Walk 67: Sandwich and the sea, by the time we finished a nearly nine mile walk (or fourteen kilometres).
It’s been a while since we’ve followed a walking route, and with my troublesome toe still not quite fixed but not interfering with walking, we were both looking forward to it. We’ve done some walking holidays in the past in Portugal and in France - the sort where you walk to your next accommodation while your luggage is transferred by road, but not for a while.
We set out from the Gazen Salts car park easily finding the start of the route and the first metal bridge. Though like all of these walks we’re keen to get onto the next written instruction and begin to doubt ourselves wondering if we’ve gone too far, or missed a turning. Rarely we have, but even so it’s always a topic of conversation, along with the picturesque scenery.
We passed many families returning along the path above, some on foot, some on bikes and some with dripping ice creams. We’d chosen to walk on Sunday as the weather looked the best that day, and it definitely turned out to be a warm, but not too warm, one. The path soon opened up into an open field with a clear indication of our route ahead.
Metal bridges featured several times on this walk and on each I think we paused to take in the fauna and the reflections in the darkness of the water, just breathing in the nature.
There were regular markings and reminders we were following one from the many network of public footpaths, something we see less of where we live but take for granted across the countryside. This walk led us across a golf course - a first for me, which was also a second for me later in the walk when we crossed another - and that too was clearly marked as the walk directions said it would be.
We walked past some small thatched buildings, and across the fairway having first checked for passing ‘traffic’ and exited the course on the road running parallel to the beach. And as you’ll see not only did we get to see the sea, we were also treated to some pretty spectacular skies and cloud formations.
Heading back inland and across the second golf course of the day we were now heading towards another footpath, following a short way on the road. It was here MOH asked why we were walking along the road, and here we realised we’d not turned where we should, thankfully it was less than 20 steps or so to get us back on track - and once again that track was clear.
The walking notes warned this might be overgrown, and they weren’t wrong. As the path continued we were walking through longer grass with purple fronds at the top, it was quite the sight and not something I’ve seen before. We walked past fields of now flowering asparagus crops, and at one point to get to a kissing gate we had to navigate some stinging nettles. With shorts on, this was trickier and more painful than if we’d had our legs covered more, but we were soon on our way again.
We opted to do the longer route and so turned left and headed past the hay bales and alongside the stream, crossing another metal bridge and then shortly after an unattended level crossing. We’d seen (and heard) a couple of trains in the distance as we walked and realised the direction we were heading. Safely across the railway we were soon admiring the hedgerow sloes and hawthorn berries, and smaller than usual blackberries which were starting to ripen.
We headed back into Sandwich along the City Walls, which would also make a great short stroll, and were starting to feel the distance we’d walked. We were also hungry, so plans were agreed to fix that. The city walls brought us right back to the Quayside where the route directions start, and from there we headed to the Drill Hall which we’d spotted when we set off for a stone baked pizza and a beer - both of which were very, very welcome and a good end to the day, along with the 20k steps we clocked up on our way!
All in all it was a fabulous day out.
