The White Cliffs of Dover and beyond

Dover to Sandwich over the cliff-tops

Phew - a long walk at 17 miles, but very enjoyable. Carol, my favourite weather lady, was pretty positive that the far eastern corner of Kent would miss the deluge of rain that most other parts would get and she was right because we didn't put on waterproofs all day and walked in a mix of high cloud and sunshine.

Making an early start and driving to Dover meant that we started the walk about 10-00am from central Dover and parked close to the rail station as this was where we would return on the train. Walking through the town we hit the sea-front and basically kept the sea on our right all the way.

Dover docks are simply massive and as we made the big pull up the cliff path we had a view directly down into the docks with the cars and lorries looking like ants as they scurried to and fro the ships which were loading.

Dover Priory where we started the walk



Climbing up to the top of the White Cliffs
 

Looking down from the cliffs into the Port of Dover

The views along the cliffs and over to France from the cliff tops were amazing. The path was good and undulated  as we walked "The Tops" and then started the drop down into St. Margaret's Bay. It would have been absolute heaven if Trevor hadn't insisted on a continuous rendition of his Vera Lynn favourite  "Their will be Bluebirds over...."

Looking back at Dover Castle



Stopped for a well earned Ice Cream in St Margaret's Bay



South Foreland Lighthouse

The climb up out of St Margaret's Bay was hard as it was a stepped path which went almost vertically up the cliff face but once up the views and walking made up for it.

Finally we descended down again to sea level at Walmer and from here on the cliff section finished and it was a flat straight walk through Walmer and onto Deal promenade where finally Ivan decided at 1-30pm and 10 miles walking that we should stop for lunch! We found a local pub, "The Anchor" but there was nothing much to say about it, being a seaside place and full of tourists! But two pints and a lunch later meant we could head off for the final 7 miles to Sandwich.

Deal in the distance. The wild flowers were amazing.

Looking down at St Margaret's Bay



Back at Sea Level again at Walmer

Walmer Castle built to keep Napoleon out!

Tl
The Old Lifeboat House at Deal

The Deal Timeball - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deal_Timeball

I can't say the walk around Sandwich bay is very exciting.  The path followed the sea defence wall and basically we had a shingle beach on our right and golf courses on our left.  The path was compacted gravel which was very hard on the feet! Eventually we took a left turn, walked through the Famous "Royal Sandwich Golf Course" and followed the path a couple of miles into Sandwich and the train station where we caught a train back to Dover and the car. It was a very quite journey home in the car as 17 miles was the longest walk we have attempted so far.


Stats for the day were ...

Date	Steps	Distance (mi)	Time (Hr)	Calories	Average speed (mph)	Elevation gain (feet)	Elevation lost (feet)
05/08/2013	33,676	17.0	6:05	1,931	2.8	1,507	1,521