The Saxon Shore Way starts at Gravesend, Kent, and traces the coast of South-East England as it was in Roman times (note the changed coastline around Romney Marsh) as far as Hastings, East Sussex. It runs for 163 miles in total. We walked it in several stages over a few weekends.
There are photos in our photo gallery.
Sandwich - Christmas 2015
We used the Bell Hotel in Sandwich for our base. It was not the cheapest hotel, but it was great for our needs. There are loads of restaurants in Sandwich; eating out was not a problem.
We arrived at Sandwich the evening of 27 December, so we could begin the walk first thing in the morning.
1. Sandwich to Herne Bay (20 miles) - 28 December 2015
We had breakfast early so we could be walking by 9:00am.
The path followed the river on the whole. It was flat and easy walking, though the path was muddy in places. We aimed to stop every hour or so for a 5 minute break, and enjoy a sip of home-made sloe brandy and a slice of chocolate orange.
We had lunch (home-made) at a picnic site in Grove Ferry.
We arrived at the Huntsman & Horn pub in Broomfield at around 3:30pm, where we stopped for a drink before walking on to Herne Bay. We arrived at our destination around 5:00pm.
From there we got a taxi back to Sandwich which cost us £54 (bank holiday).
2. Sandwich to Dover (16 miles) - 29 December 2015
We started at 9:00 again.
From the hotel we followed the river south, then west towards the coast, then south again.
We arrived in Deal around 11:00am, where we bought 2 sandwiches from Sub-way. We ate lunch at the monument just north of St. Margaret's bay.
The walk follows the coast, and it was windy today. We were glad it was not too cold as well.
We arrived in Dover around 4:00pm and found a pub for a drink. We used the train to return to Sandwich; the journey took 15 minutes and we were back in the hotel by 6:30pm.
We ate at Thai Time in the middle of Sandwich.
Ashford - Easter 2016
Although Ashford is not on the walk, it is the hub for the rail lines in this area. We used the trains for transport while walking the south Kent section of the path.
We stayed at the Holiday Inn, which is less than 30 minutes' walk from Ashford International station. It's also an easy walk to Ashford town centre which can provide food /etc.
We got to the hotel on Thursday evening, and ate at the Trattoria Romana; this restaurant, served excellent food, and they were busy.
3. Dover to Sandling (15 miles) - 25 March 2016
We were up and had breakfast at 7:30am. Then we walked to Ashford International station to catch the train to Dover. We had to use a replacement bus from Folkestone, not because of the bank holiday there was a line damaged by storms this winter. The journey there took an hour, so we were walking by 10:00am. Some confusion getting out of Dover meant we were not really on route until around 11:00; a later start then we wanted.
The weather today was excellent. It was very warm and dry and walking was easy. There were the occasional area of mud, but nothing too bad. Lunch today was home-made sandwiches we bought with us.
Although the walk was measured at 15 miles on the map, a few extra miles would have been added by back-tracking when we lost the path.
We caught the 17:21 train back from Sandling to Ashford. We ate at Pizza Express in the town before getting a taxi back to the hotel. We were back at the hotel by 20:30.
4. Sandling to Hamstreet (15 miles) - 26 March 2016
Trains in this section seem to run once an hour on bank holidays.
We left the hotel at 8:30, and caught the 9:00 train to Sandling. We were walking by 9:30.
The weather was colder than yesterday, and there was a fair wind. Parts of the walk were very muddy and overgrown, making it difficult walking, but we made less navigational mistakes than yesterday.
Today's walk went past Lympne Castle and Port Lympne (a zoo). These things provided a lot of animals to look at. The walk also follows the Military Canal for much of its length.
We were in the Duke's Head pub (Hamstreet) by 16:00.
We tried to eat at The Harvester across the road from the hotel, but it was fully booked. We ate in the hotel instead. It was busy there tonight, there was a wedding party in.
5. Hamstreet to Rye (16 miles) - 27/28 March 2016
We drove to Hamstreet station, and from there walked towards Rye.
The weather was better than we feared, but not pleasant ("Storm Katy" was in full force). It was quite windy and there were a few patches of rain.
We only got as far as The Ferry Pub (Stone in Oxney) before we decided to stop for the day; a combination of sore feet and rough weather meant this was not promising to be an enjoyable day's walk. From the pub we called a taxi back to the car (£30).
We spent a quiet afternoon reading before eating in the hotel.
The next day we checked out of the hotel and drove back to Stone in Oxney. It was quite windy today, "Storm Katy" was still doing her thing, but at least the weather was not wet.
We did not leave the car until about 10:00, and we were in Rye for 12:30. We found a bench in the shelter of the castle to eat our lunch, then had a walk around the town.
We took a taxi from the station back to the car (£20 - Bank Holiday).
We have finished the day at Rye, which has a good station so we should be able to use trains to enable us to complete the last section (from here to Hastings).
Hastings - August 2016
We completed the last day of the walk by driving to Rye, then walking to Hastings. We staid the night in Hastings, and them went back for our car the next day.
6. Rye to Hastings (12 miles) - 20 August
We parked the car on the street in Rye (there is ample parking out of town). We left the car around 11:30, and re-joined the Saxon Shore Way. The Way passes through Rye to the south-west edge of town. We left the town around 12:00, and followed the River Brede as the Way ran south towards the sea, past Camber Castle. From there the path goes to Winchelsea, then follows the 'Royal Military Canal' to the sea.
It was incredibly windy today, strong enough to make it difficult to talk to one another. We were lucky it was warm and dry.
Once we reached the coast, we turned west until we came across the New Beach Club, where we sheltered from the weather with a beer.
The coastal path from Pett Level to Hastings was great. It passes through Fairlight Glen then Hastings Country Park. A section of the path was officially closed due to land-slides; we walked that part anyway, but we had to take care!
We arrived in Hastings at 17:30