I am now back in sync with the official National Trail guidebook, for the first time since stage 4 when I extended that beyond Oxted to Westerham. The significance of that is that today was going to be a short one at only 10 miles and with very little climbing it was going to be a very easy day after the 26 miles (the Garmin number) in inclement weather on my walk into Canterbury two days ago.
Heading South East from Canterbury to Dover the NDW shares the route with a number of other named rights of way. There is the Elham Valley Way which leaves the NDW and heads south to Hythe at Patrixbourne and St Augustine's Way which traces the route of St Augstine (first Archbishop of Canterbury Cathedral and founder of the English Church in the 6th Century) from Ramsgate to Canterbury. There is also the wonderfully named "Via Francigena" (road from France) which is an ancient walking / pilgrim route from France to Rome via Switzerland and obviously with a connecting route from Canterbury.
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| Sharing the route with the Via Francigena (rectangular way marker) |
I had a short diversion in order to connect my overnight stop at the Canterbury campsite and at the point I crossed the railway line that runs between Dover and Canterbury and onto London I spotted what can best be described as a large concrete Toblerone. These are Dragons Teeth or WW2 anti tank defences, placed at strategic locations, presumably here to stop advancing German tanks from accessing the rail line and providing them with a direct route into London.
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| Dragon's Teeth at the rail crossing near Haystack Wood |
Today's route was largely across fields, either sown with crops or pasture for livestock. I was struck at how large a couple of the fields were and wondered how much this landscape must have changed over the hundreds of years that pilgrims have been walking these routes. I like to think that the landscape has changed but the routes and the motivation for people to travel them have not.
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| Crossing huge fields, hedges long since removed |
The guidebook refers to a final view of Canterbury Cathedral as you leave the city. My own route deprived me of this view and so I still have not seen the Cathedral, although given the mist today I probably would not have had the pleasure even if I had been on the official path.
A lunch stop was provided by the village of Woolage in the form of a large village green and picnic area. This reminded me of villages and towns in France that often have such facilities but are rare in the UK. Woolage Village was built in 1912 to house coal miners at the nearby Snowdown Colliery on the Kent Coalfield. I wonder whether the park / green area was part of original design or a later addition. Like most other mines in the UK it closed in the 1980s.
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| Woolage village green |
My route ended today at Shepherdswell rail station where I was to get a train back to Bekesbourne for a short walk back to the campsite. Shepherdswell station is also the location of a branch line built to serve the collieries connecting them with the main line. The branch line is now run by the East Kent Railway running heritage trains for tourists. The terminus houses the Colonel's Cafe, named after Colonel Holman Fred Stephens the engineer who built this part of the railway.
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| East Kent Railway at Shepherdswell |
The Colonel's Cafe was a large, works canteen sort of affair and on my visit its only customers were indeed workers from the railway. One large tea and huge slice of fruit cake later I left to get my train back up the line towards Canterbury.
Today, was a very short day and I was left thinking that I could have completed Canterbury to Dover in one go, returning to Canterbury by train from Dover. However, it was nice to have a leisurely stroll rather than a forced feat of endurance. I was back in camp before 1500 hrs.
AW
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