The Saxon Shore Way
Third leg: Sittingbourne to Faversham 15 miles
17 August 2004

Cow parsley lines the start of the walk

Exactly a month after Trailwalker, and ten days after the death of my mum, I needed to walk again, so it was off to Sittingbourne to pick up the Saxon Shoreway. It was reasonably easy to find the route from the station, although there were a few moments of worried walking through industrial estates before I saw the sea again. I took a short cut through a rather rowdy caravan camp and past a disused oyster pond before sighting the Swale opposite the site of the old Elmley ferry. The ferry here used to take people, horses and cattle over to the Isle of Sheppey.

Old ferry point

I wasn't too sure what I was feeling: too jangled up from the previous month and a long bed-side vigil. But it was good to be out in the open, and facing long stretches of the unknown. Once Swale-side, there was a mile of straight walking along the coast. It was warm and breezy, and I was mostly alone with my thoughts.

Looking ahead - straight ahead

When I paused to look around me, I saw butterflies, including this lovely blue one, resting on the grass.

Unidentified blue butterfly

It was only 15 miles but this walk seemed hard: an accumulation of tough times over the past month. Soon the path headed landwards along Conyer Creek, heading towards the pretty village of Conyer. I'd love to have seen Conyer creek in Roman times, when vineyards grew next to the water. 

Conyer via the creek

As I drew nearer, I saw the boatyard and an accumulation of pretty boats and creek-facing cottages.

Closer to Conyer

I skirted the boatyard and came round the back of the village. There was a tempting pub but it wasn't time for lunch so I ploughed on, joining a very nice dog walker taking his two pointers out for a stroll. I was pleasantly surprised when he leashed his dogs, and we chatted for the next mile as he explained that he only let them run free when he was near the coast. He let me walk well ahead before letting them off their leads when we saw the sea again. We said our goodbyes as I headed out towards the Swale and Fowley Island in the channel.

A painted lady among the ragwort

Now it was back straight along the coast for a couple of miles, with butterflies lining the route.

Looking back the way I'd come

This was once a saltwater marsh, but they built seawalls after the floods in 1953, so the land is now freshwater, and a great haven for birds.

The path curves inland

Halfway along, I paused for my lunch, and huddled up by the remains of yet another disused jetty. On the opposite bank is the Ferry Inn, so there must have been traffic here once. A few other walkers were out and about - first time on this walk that I saw more than a single person out enjoying the landscape.

Lunch spot by the skeleton of the jetty

After a hard boiled egg and cheese sarnies, I walked on to Harty Ferry. The sun was out by now, and this part of the walk was buzzing with birdwatchers.

Looking over to Sheppey

As I stood close to the water, a man and his two dogs came close and the dogs dived into the water, clearly loving their swim. Sadly, I didn't get a pic of them.

Speed limit at Harty Ferry

Rounding the corner, I was heading inland again, passing several bird watchers lugging impressive telescopes and cameras on tripods. 

Freshwater marshes

To my lefthand side was the Oare nature reserve, and the old ferry cottages. Seawards is the mud and sand of Horse Sands.

Creeks towards Oare

This was a gentle walk in towards Oare, and I really got the feeling of leaving the sea behind and coming into shelter. There's a good boatyard at Oare, strung out along the creek.

The seaward end of Oare creek

The path pulled me slowly towards solid land, past Norman's Hill on the right, and a lovely church tucked up on the slope.

Norman's Hill

And soon the village was in view. I felt quite tired - probably not surprising given the last few weeks. I sat down on a bench by the road to consider which route to take.

The end of Oare creek

Consulting the map, I had two choices. Either follow the shoreway back along Oare creek and then down Faversham creek, or take the road into Faversham. I was weary, and I don't ever want walking to feel like a slog (unless it's Trailwalker) so I headed the Swale Heritage Trail into Faversham. It was a lovely route, and led slowly down into the biggest surprise of the walk so far: the cinque port of Faversham.

One of the beautiful streets

Faversham is absolutely lovely. I couldn't believe, as I wove my way through the town, that I'd never clocked it before. Row upon row of old houses, all looking fabulous in the summer sunshine. I vowed that I would return and stay for a weekend. Peering at my OS Explorer map, I managed to navigate my way to the centre of town, and was stunned by the town square and the 16th century Guildhouse.

Faversham's Guildhouse

There must have been some market going on earlier, as the streets were full of vans and lorries loading up. Reading up afterwards, I discovered that Faversham has had a charter since Saxon times, and it got rich through ship building and gunpowder production. Oh dear. How the British have always been good at arms manufacturing. I wandered up through the town to find the station, passing a lovely bakery (sadly closed) on the way past.

It was a great end to a tough walk - not physically difficult at all, but I felt emotionally a bit mashed up. But it was very good to be out again. I look forward to returning to Faversham for leg 4, and at other times.

On to leg 4