This is the part of the Kent Coast Walk that I have been dreading, knowing as I do that it involves not just a significant amount of rood walking that’s well away from the coast (because of a river and a nature reserve), but also a section along a very busy road. I was keen to get it out of the way as soon as I was able though, and not wanting to wait until I was well enough to tackle the full 7 or so miles to Ramsgate (because as it was, this was going to be the longest walk I’d done since October), decided to avail myself of the relatively new Thanet Parkway station (opened in the summer of 2023), to allow an early finish at Pegwell Bay.

I didn’t feel that it was fair to drag anyone else along with me on a walk that even I didn’t want to do, and I didn’t want to waste a sunny day on it, so on my first free and dry Saturday, I set off by myself to catch the bus to Sandwich. As I wandered through the medieval streets to the quay, I had a moment where I wondered whether I should just potter about there instead, but my mind was made up.

Down to the Babican Gate, originally built in the 14th century as part of the town’s historic defence system, and where (until 1977) tolls used to be collected for those crossing the river,

and over the bridge, reluctantly saying goodbye to Sandwich’s prettiness, and heading for a grim hour of so of very tedious walking.

It really was every bit as bad as I feared; first passing along the edge of a housing estate, then a fishing lake, before the road headed through the middle of the Sandwich Discovery Park – once the headquarters of Pfizer Pharmaceuticals – with forbidding fences topped with barbed wire along either side.

I tried to be positive and live up to the name of my blog by looking out for little moments of magic and breaking up the greyness was some pink blossom,

a bank of violets,

and a clump of daffodils growing against the steel fence.

Shortly after taking the daffodil picture, I noticed that there was a sign on the same fence warning that it was a Prohibited Place under the National Security Act 2023, and that any suspicious behaviour, including the taking of photographs, could result in arrest! Did taking a photo of daffodils count as a suspicious activity? Was my behaviour being monitored on CCTV and was a team of security officials about to swoop down and question me? Luckily nobody appeared, but I was keen to get out of there as quickly as I could!

It might have been ugly, but at least the rood so far had been relatively quiet. On leaving the park, the Coastal Path joins the busy A256 – the main road between Dover and Thanet.

It entails walking along the cycle path as cars tear along the dual carriageway and I can tell you that there was absolutely no magic to be found anywhere. There was a very nasty smell (sewage works nearby?) and just litter, discarded dog poo bags and wintry bushes.

To get through it, I put on my headphones and caught up with the latest happenings in Ambridge (not much in this particular omnibus episode it has to be said), and willed the walk to be over.

At one point, I caught a fleeting glimpse of the muddy banks of the River Stour and an old rusty boat marooned on a bank behind some sluice gates. In theory, a newly created section of coastal path should turn off the road round about here and follow the river bank instead, but a dispute with the landowner means that it has been blocked off, so on I trudged along the road.

The site of Port Richborough is hidden away behind some industrial buildings here, and during World War 1, a huge secret military depot was built and a railway track constructed, so that special train ferries could convey tanks and artillery to the continent. It was used as a base again during the Second World War, and was where the parts for the mulberry harbours were constructed. (see Kent Coast Walk Part 3 where the remains of one of these harbours is visible at low tide!) The only evidence now is a sign on a warehouse, although later on when I reached Pegwell Bay there was an information plaque and you could look back and see the remains of the metal pilings of the ferry terminal in the distance.

Just as I was starting to think that nothing could save this walk – because at least if I had been going all the way to Ramsgate I would have been finishing with a pleasant stretch along the coast – and less than half an hour into The Archers omnibus, the footpath suddenly turned onto a quieter side road, and then through a kissing gate into the Stonelees Nature Reserve, part of the Pegwell Bay Country Park.

As the grassy path wound its way through the reserve it was impossible not to be struck by the contrast of what had gone before, It was so peaceful, with just the sound of bird song (along with the squawks of a few parakeets in the trees), and by the time I caught my first glimpse of the sea, with the cliffs of Ramsgate in the distance, I had almost forgotten how awful the previous part of the morning had been.

Through a gate and into the Pegwell Bay Nature Reserve, the coastal path followed a clear track along the seaward boundary. By this point, my spirits had definitely lifted and I was having a lovely time, although I instantly wished that I had packed my binoculars. I never have them with me when I need them, and although I had looked at the route beforehand, I had been so focused on the bad bits that I hadn’t really taken on board the fact that the path would be passing through a nature reserve. (This is the story of my life and something that I need to learn a lesson from!) I’m not very knowledgeable about birds, and I wouldn’t have been brave enough to venture into the bird hide in case there were serious ornithologists in there to judge me, but I do have a childish delight in just like looking through binoculars and seeing things made bigger!

But I was mostly really cross that I hadn’t bought my binoculars because the tide was out and there were vast sand banks at the mouth of the River Stour, and that’s where the seals like to congregate and there might have been some seals to spot! How i would have liked to have seen a seal but at least I have a good reason to go back!

Due to bad timing of trains, I grabbed a mocha at nearby Njord Cafe and had a 10 minute sit down at the bar in the window, gazing across the road at the bay, before I needed to head to the station, takeaway cup in hand. Thanet Parkway isn’t far as the crow flies, but is a good 20 minute walk via a very circuitous route in order to access the bridge that crosses the railway line. I’d had a fleeting moment when I thought that it would be good to press on to Ramsgate, but I am getting more sensible at knowing my limits, and I had just enough left in the tank to get me there as it was.

Up until now, the Camber Sands to Dungeness leg of the Kent Coast Walk has been my least favourite, again because of the necessary diversion away from the coast and for long sections of road walking. This one leap frogs it and definitely takes the top spot! I’m glad I did it, because I wouldn’t have the same sense of satisfaction if I don’t finish the entire coastal path, but it is a relief to know that it is out of the way and I never have to do it again! When I do return to explore Pegwell Bay more fully, it will definitely not be on foot from Sandwich.

You can read Kent Coast Walk Part 7: Deal to Sandwich here