Highcliffe, Barton on Sea, Milford on Sea, Lymington, Bucklers Hard, Beaulieu, Hythe, Southampton, Netley, Hamble le Rice, Warsash, Hill Head, Lee-on-the-Solent, Gosport, Portsmouth, Portsea Island, Havant and Emsworth.

The weather for the week ahead seemed to be good so I decided to go the next day. I didn't book any accommodation as I had decided to take my campervan instead. It was an experiment to see if I could walk for a day and then return to the van by bus or train, then move it to my finishing point, ready for the next day without any problems. I did a quick on-line check of the bus services along my intended route and it seemed possible.

 

I drove the campervan to Highcliffe in Dorset, which was at the end of my previous Dorset coast walk and parked in a quiet residential road. I started walking in the afternoon and soon I was at the Dorset Hampshire border at Chewton Bunny. My OS map showed a meandering inland footpath from Chewton Bunny to Barton on Sea but I decided to walk along the beach past Barton on Sea before returning to the path to Milford on Sea, which was where the Solent Way began. It was hot so at the far end of the Milford front I stopped for a beer at a smart bar restaurant overlooking the sea. Then, as I walked out along the shoreline towards Hurst Castle, I noticed a suitably remote parking spot on a road at the very edge of the mud flats where there was already about a dozen campervans and motorhomes camped. I did a little more walking and stopped at Keyhaven where I had a beer in The Gun Inn. I decided not to walk the 2 miles to the bus stop as I was keen to get the campervan parked up for the night, so I took a taxi back then drove it to the 'casual camper park' at Milford on Sea. I dropped off to sleep that night listening to the sound of the sea.

End of day 1: About 6 miles walked that afternoon.

Day 2: Milford on Sea to Beulieu

Next day was an early start. I walked through Keyhaven again and continued alongside the water's edge all the way to Lymington. There was a cloudless sky and the sun was hot but a luckily a cool breeze was blowing. At Lymington I had a light breakfast at a cafe overlooking the waterfront. My left big toe was feeling sore. On investigation I found that the insole of my left boot had worn into a hole and my toe was rubbing on the edges of the hole and had produced a large blister. After stopping off at Mountain Warehouse to buy some replacement size 11 insoles, I dealt with the blister, applied a Compeed plaster to the raw skin and walked out of town. The walk was through fields for nearly 4 miles and then along hot country roads for just over 4 miles to reach Bucklers Hard on the Beaulieu River.

The two rows of houses that lead down to the river at Buckler's Hard are very photogenic. I lunched then rested in the sun on the large area of grass near the river where I fell asleep for a while. Later, as I walked on it became very hot as there was now very little breeze. At Beaulieu I missed the bus by minutes due to my resting for too long at Bucklers Hard. Unfortunately, although it was only mid afternoon it was the last bus of the day! So I had no option but to take a taxi back to the campervan at Milford on Sea. There was no phone signal in Beaulieu but the very nice receptionist at the Montague Arms Hotel ordered one for me. She must have noticed that I was very hot, probably red-faced and dripping on the floor, so she said that I could wait in the reception are for my taxi. Back at the campervan I decided to stay for another night at the Milford on Sea 'casual camper park' before driving to Beaulieu early the next day to continue the walk to Hythe, where I would take the ferry across to Southampton.

End of day 2: About 18 miles walked today.

Because I had decided to do this walk at very short notice I didn't do much research before I left home, so when I checked for the ferry times on-line that evening for the next day's walking I was surprised to find that the Hythe ferry was no longer running. In fact it had stopped running in August 2024! I decided not to do the walk from Beulieu to Hythe, but to drive straight to where the ferry would have taken me to in Southampton. As it was mostly a roadside walk to Hythe and not a coastal walk I wasn't worried about missing it out. I intended to return later anyway to walk from Beulieu to Hythe via Calshot when there is a coast path from Beulieu to Calshot. The England Coast Path route there has yet to be secured.

Day 3: Southampton to Portsmouth.

I woke early and drove straight to Southampton and was parked in a long stay vehicle park near the start of Southampton Water by 7am (£6 for 24 hours). I'm not sure what I was expecting to find in such a built-up area but I was pleasantly surprised to find myself walking along a wonderfully quiet path southwards along the edge of Southampton Water with no intruding buildings or noisy roadways. It was cool and slightly misty and there was plenty to see even though the tide was out.

At Hamble le Rice I just missed the little ferry boat that crosses the the River Hamble to Warsash. I thought that I had plenty of time to get a coffee and a pastry at the nearby cafe before it returned. I was about to take a sip of my coffee when I looked out of the window at the cafe an saw that the ferry was already on its way back. I couldn't drink my coffee quickly because it was too hot so I hurried, with coffee in one hand and a pastry in the other, back to the ferry, which had already arrived. I drank a little coffee during the very short journey and didn't have time to eat much of my pastry. I finished my snack ashore. There was then a 1 mile walk along the other side of the River Hamble back to Southampton Water. It was still a quiet path, much of it along the shore line before routing along the road at Hillhead for a short time, then passing along the long promenade of Lee-on-the-Solent. I have never seen so many benches in one line before! The path then stays close to the shore at Gosport until it reaches the ferry to cross the mouth of Portsmouth Harbour to the Spinnaker Tower.

There I had a meal and then needed two buses and a taxi to get back to where I had parked the campervan that morning. I slept at the vehicle park. The nearby flyover was noisy but that didn't bother me. It had been a good day's walking.

End of Day 3:About 20 miles walked today. Another very hot day.

Day 4: Portsmouth to Emsworth

Another early start. Using the Apple Maps app I had chosen a quiet spot a short walk from the coast in Eastney, Portsmouth, to park for the day but from there I had several miles westwards to walk to where I had ended my walk the previous day which had been at the Spinaker Tower. There I turned back eastwards and walked along the promenade, passing Southsea Castle and the South Parade Pier. I stopped at a small kiosk on the promenade for a coffee and an omelette bap which I ate sat on a bench in the warm sun. Nothing else was open yet. Unlike the previous mornings it was already very warm.

Back at Eastney the path turned inland through the streets for a short while before reaching the shoreline of Langstone harbour. From then on it was a pleasant walk along the waterfront, passing the remains of a large structure partially buried out in the mud. This was the remains of a Mulberry temporary portable harbour as developed during the Second World War for offloading cargo onto beaches in France during the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944. The pleasant walk continued until I neared the very noisy A27. Shortly after, the path continued around the perimeter of Farlington Marches for 2 miles before retuning close to the A27 again. I lost my way slightly here and found myself heading into the centre of Havant so I decided to do some food shopping before returning to the path. I had a pint in the The Parchment Makers then continued out of town, back to the coast and on to Emsworth, where I walked around the perimeter of the Mill Pond, a feature of the town. There I stopped, very hot, to rest and eat my recently purchased pasty. As I arrived in the Centre of Emsworth I spotted a number 700 bus already at the bus stop. I knew that this express service would take me back to Portsmouth Bus Station near where I had started earlier that day, so I ran to catch it. I did not explore Emsworth as had been there before. Back at the bus station I was able to catch a local bus part-way back to where the campervan was parked.

End of day 4: About 18 miles walked today. It turned out to be the hottest day of the year so far.

That's the end of my walk along the coast of Hampshire on the Solent Way. About 60 miles walked in four days.

Emsworth, Warblington, Langstone, Hayling Island (Ferry Point and Sand Point), Langstone, Emsworth, Thorney Island (Longmere Point), Southbourne, Chidham Peninsula, Bosham, Fishbourne, West Ichenor, West Wittering beach.

While walking the south coast from Dorset to Kent I left out a section from Emsworth in Hampshire to West Wittering in West Sussex. See map above. I returned later to walk this missing link. I have added it at this point to keep my walk a continuous narrative and in geographic order.

The Shipwright's Way and local footpath on Hayling Island. The Sussex Border Path on Thorney Island. Local footpaths on the Chidham Peninsula. Local footpaths and The Lipchis Way to West Wittering.

 

By the time I arrived at the start of this walk it was already nearly 11 am. I had started out early from home but due to traffic, and annoyingly, two roads near Chichester with the same name. One being about 8 miles from where I wanted to be. Of course I chose the wrong one on my sat nav, so I had an extra 16 mile drive through more traffic. I parked my campervan in a quiet spot in Warblington and walked to the St Thomas a Becket Church, which I had passed through on my earlier walk along the Solent Way to Emsworth. Then I followed the foreshore path to Langstone where the Solent Way intersects with the Shipwright's Way, and I crossed the Langstone Bridge on to Hayling Island. I turned right at the end of the bridge and continued along The Shipwright's Way.

The Shipwright's Way is a 50-mile long distance path from Alice Holt Forest to Portsmouth. I chose to use part of this route to take me from Langstone Village along the western edge of Haling Island to where there is a ferry across the Langstone Channel to Portsea Island to the west. From the ferry point I would then be turning east. I had walked close to the Portsea Island ferry point on a previous walk on the other side of the channel. The channel leads to Langstone Harbour.

The tide was out so there were a lot of exposed mud flats and flocks of waders at the distant water's edge. After about 4 miles of pleasant easy walking on good paths the path came into West Town. From there the main route, as marked on the Shipwright's Way map that I had downloaded, follows the road west to the ferry, which is the way I went. But I found that the last part of that route had a poor footpath and then no proper footpath at all for some of the way, so some walking in the road was required. I stopped at The Ferry Boat Inn for lunch. There was a cold wind blowing so it was too chilly to sit outside.

By the mid afternoon the sun was shining and it became a little warmer. I walked eastwards along part of the Shipwright's Way and then continued along the length of the South Hayling beach, passing around Sandy Point and the lifeboat station to arrive at Black Point. From that point are no public footpaths heading northwards along the eastern side of the island so I could walk no further. I was then looking across the channel that leads to Chichester Harbour. I returned on a number 30 bus to the Langstone Bridge and the mainland. The tide was now high and the sun was setting. I walked back along the now wet foreshore sparkling in the early evening sun, to my campervan at Warblington and moved it to the campsite at Southbourne where I had booked a pitch for the next two days of walking.

End of day 1: About 12 miles walked today.

I took an early bus from the campsite back to Emsworth. I intended to follow the footpath around Thorney Island, which is actually a peninsula. I was intrigued about this walk as the majority of Thorney Island is MOD property and and access is only allowed along the perimeter path.

For the walk around the island I was using part of the Sussex Border Path as the island was not on the England coast Path. Heading south from Emsworth the path first threaded its way through the marina between the rows of laid-up boats. It was sign-posted but I found myself following several dog walkers ahead of me. The weather was promising with patches of blue sky appearing. It wasn't very long before the dog walkers veered off to the left their regular poop loop, leaving me to continue along the water's edge. Once again the tide was out so there were mud flats stretching away to my right. The path had good views of the Emsworth Channel as it was along the top of the sea defences. After about a mile I came to the Great Deep, a large channel that completely bisects the promontory, crossed only by the seawall. I assume that there was opening or a sluice below to allow the tide to flow through. After crossing the channel I came to a barbed-wire topped fence and a gate. There was a warning sign stating that there were no facilities of any kind ahead and that walkers requesting to continue must keep to the path around the edge of the island. I pressed the intercom button and made my request to the guard room, somewhere on the island. There were no buildings nearby. I was warned to keep to the path, and then I heard the gate unlock.

The path remained along the top of the sea defences bank. Inland there was a ditch and a fence and beyond that there were fields with cows grazing. After just over a mile the path arrived at Walker Point. Less than a mile further on the bank became impassible due to dense bushes and the path was sign-posted slightly inland. I came to a path with high hedges on both sides where there were two soldiers and an impressive military vehicle parked touching both hedges. I thought that I had taken a wrong turn. When I enquired, I told that I was on course and to just squeeze past the monster. After a while the track became an open pathway again. At Pilsey Sand there was a white sandy beach which I started to walk on but a sign warned that the beach was restricted for bird protection purposes. I took the path that turned away from the beach and arrived at Longmere Point where, shortly afterwards, the path turned northwards along the Thorney channel.

On the eastern side of the peninsula the shore was very marshy with many muddy pools and channels. The path ran between hedges for a short while then opened out with views across the Thorney Channel. After about a mile the path passed West Thorney and its church. Then after another mile arrived at the MOD fence again and another gate. I pressed the intercom button to request to exit. A voice said "it's open". I pulled the gate open and crossed the Great Deep once again. The path continued along the sea wall and at Thornham Marina I bought a coffee and a very nice bacon bap which I ate, out of the wind, in one of the little wooden open-fronted huts that were provided for diners. I had made some cheese rolls for my lunch but I couldn't resist a bacon bap. I then walked to the inland end of the Thorny Channel which then became the Prinstead Channel and the Nutbourne Channel.

 

The Chidham Peninsula.

After walking from Prinstead to Nutbourne and around the inland end of the two channels I continued south again and out onto the Chidham Peninsula. There were plenty more mud flats here but the tide was then on the way in. Continuing south at Chidham point the path left the shore and followed an embankment created slightly inland for flood management purposes but it returned to the shoreline later. Here the path ran along the foreshore and can be flooded at high tide. I had checked the tide times and had plenty of time to get round. At the end of the peninsula, Cobnor Point, the footpath turned north onto a raised bank with the foreshore being on both side of it. The path then threaded slightly inland through an activity centre and a youth sailing centre before returning to the shoreline just after a sailing jetty. After another 3 miles walking north I reached the inland end of the Bosham Channel, which is very close to the A259, along which I then walked back to my campsite at Southbourne.

End of day 2: About 14 miles walked today.

I returned by bus to the point on the A259 that I had reached the day before and walked the short distance to the start of the footpath to Bosham. Once again the morning was bright but cloudy and the tide was out. Along the banks of the Bosham channel there were several interesting and abandoned quays and slipways. At the centre of Bosham, the houses along the waterfront were on a raised bank above the road which had a warning notice about the road becoming submerged during some high tides. Here I stopped at the Shoreside Cafe for a coffee and to check my onward route.

So I was not able to continue the walk to Ichenor. I had an alternative route although it was several miles longer and inland. For this I walked due east along public footpaths through farmland to the banks of the next channel, the Fishbourne channel where I then walked to its northern end to cross at the bridge there.

I turned south to walk along the banks of the Fishboure Channel, across the slipway and the disused lock gates at Salterns Lock at the Chichester Ship Canal entrance, where there are houseboats moored. The footpath then passes the marina and shipyard, all very interesting.

At West Ichenor, where my ferry/water taxi ride would have taken me, the Fishbourne and Bosham Channels become the Chichester Channel, I stopped at the Ship Inn for a pint and a snack before continuing on for about 4 miles to West Wittering beach, which was where I had started my West Sussex coastal walk earlier in the year. I walked along the wide sandy beach a short way and then walked back into the town to catch a number 52 or 53 bus to Chichester then a number 700 bus back to my campsite. It had been a pleasant three day walk. It was cloudy but bright for most of the walk, with glimpses of sun now and then, with mostly just a light wind but no rain.

End of day 3: About 13 miles walked today.

About 39 miles walked in two and a half days.

West Wittering, East Wittering, Selsey, Bognor Regis, Littlehampton, Goring-by-Sea, Worthing, Shoreham-by-Sea, Southwick, Portslade-by-Sea, Hove and Brighton.

There was another good week of weather forecasted so I decided to use it to walk the West Sussex coastline. Using my campervan instead of booking accommodation worked out very well on my previous walk so I decided to do the same from now on.

 

Arriving at about 9am, I parked the campervan in the all-day car park behind West Wittering beach. (Gates locked at 8pm.) The beach is wide and sandy with large pebbles higher up. The tide was going out so I walked on the firm wet sand. It was sunny with a few clouds but there was a cold north-easterly wind. At East Wittering, 10am, I found the Drifters cafe just opening so I sat outside and had a very nice scrambled eggs on toast. I continued on the footpath above the beach which later made a 4 mile detour inland around the Medmerry Nature Reserve before returning to the coast just before Selsey. I didn't see many of the birds featured on the reserve's information board but I did hear some very strange noises from within the reeds.

I'm not sure what I was expecting to see at Selsey Bill but I was disappointed. I was hoping for at least a cafe or somewhere that I could stop for a coffee and a snack, but there were just ugly broken concrete slabs and groynes, and with no beach access the path detoured inland around the house that was built there. I then walked northwards along the waterfront, looking for somewhere to stop for lunch but I didn't find anywhere, then suddenly I found myself walking away from Selsey. I didn't realise that there were no facilities along the waterfront here. I didn't have time to walk into the town centre so I walked on. The sun had disappeared by then and I was now walking directly into a cold north-easterly wind. I put on my fleece and hat. I continued on until I reached the start of Pagham Harbour, then caught buses back to West Wittering. (Number 51 to Chichester then number 52 or 53 to the Witterings. I found a campsite on-line at Sidlesham and and drove straight there. It was only a mile from where I finished walking that day.

End of day 1: About 14 miles walked today

It was a clear sunny sky and a light north-easterly wind as I walked from the campsite to Pagham Harbour and began to walk its perimeter. But by the time I reached the start of the beach at Bognor Regis it became quite windy. My map showed the path to be above the beach but I preferred to walk on the firm damp sand near the waters edge. Arriving at the centre of Bognor at about 9:30am I stopped for a Wetherspoon breakfast at The Hatter's Inn.

Leaving Bognor behind the path became pebble-strewn and more difficult to walk on for a time, then there was a lot of bank erosion for a few miles. Turning inland to walk along the bank of the River Arun the path was scruffy and hap-hazard until reaching the footbridge to Littlehampton. Then on the other there was a smart, wide, new-looking walkway taking me back to the beach. From here I returned to my campsite by bus. Number 700 to Chichester then number 51 to Sidlesham. On-line I found a campsite at Littlehampton and booked a pitch for two nights.

End of day 2: About 14.5 miles walked today

I drove from the campsite at Sidleston to Littlehampton where I parked on a road where there were other motor-homes and commercial vehicles parked as I was not able to book into the Littlehampton campsite until the afternoon. I had noted this road the previous day as being a likely spot to park, even overnight if I hadn't found a suitable campsite. Leaving Littlehampton, some of the path was on shingle and pebbles so I walked on the firm sand near the waterline. After a couple of miles the path improved, some of which was on grass, and the last section was the promenade at Worthing. It was a very pleasant walk, especially along the beach. As the morning wore on it began to get hot. I went to The Three Fishes for a late breakfast. It was a Saturday and the town was very Busy. I only had about 12 miles to go to get to my final destination tomorrow, Brighton, so I decided to return to Littlehampton on the number 701 bus, where I booked into my campsite and spent the rest of the day relaxing.

End of day 3: Only about 8.5 miles walked today. Lazy.

My last walking day was again bright and sunny. I started early and returned to Worthing by bus. At Shoreham-by-Sea the path crosses the River Adur via a footbridge. At Southwick I missed the path and ended up walking on a narrow pavement along the scruffy and busy A259 for a time until correcting my mistake by crossing to the seaward side of the harbour at Portslade-by-Sea onto a more pleasant stretch of walkway. The final part of the walk was on the wide promenade at Brighton, which was very busy. I nipped into town to get a late breakfast at The Bright Helm.

End of day 4: About 12 miles walked today.

That's the end of my walk along the coast of West Sussex. About 50 miles walked in three and a half days.

It was an easy walk, not as peaceful as countryside walking and there was plenty of walking on pavements and promenades, the advantage being that it was not necessary to keep looking down as is often necessary when walking on uneven country tracks or rough ground. But it was pleasant and interesting. I avoided the pebbly sections on beaches by walking on the firm, damp sand near the water's edge when I could. In fact I chose to walk there often, even when I did not need to.

Brighton, Rottingdean, Newhaven, Seaford, Seven Sisters, Beachy Head, Eastbourne, Pevensey Bay, Bexhill-on-Sea, Hastings, Rye Harbour and Camber.

I based my campervan at a campsite that my wife and I had been to before at Normans Bay (Normans' Bay on the OS maps), near Pevensey Bay. Because there is a tiny railway station about half a mile away I would be able to take a train to the start of this walk at Brighton, then travel from and to Eastbourne, Bexhill, Hastings and Rye. Much quicker and much more comfortable that buses. I used an app to buy my rail tickets in advance each day.

 

The 07:13 from Normans Bay got me to Brighton by 08:19, plenty of time for breakfast and coffee or two at The Bright Helm before I started walking. There was plenty of promenade walking and the weather was fine and there was plenty to see. There had been heavy rain the night before and the concrete path below the cliff behind the Brighton Marina complex was awash with puddles of water and was hiding very slippery chalky sediment. I should have ignored the Coast Path signs and walked through the complex instead. After about 7 miles I reached the start of East Sussex. After more walking along the base of the cliffs the path ascends and continues along the top of the cliffs towards Newhaven. Here the path turns inland alongside of the harbour for a mile where it crosses the town bridge. It was now very hot and inland there was very little wind. Walking back towards the beach involved walking along scruffy paths, dirty roads, across a railway footbridge, along a narrow ally, and across a footbridge over a muddy creek before the path opened out onto waste ground and then to a very distressed, broken concrete, shingled strewn path behind the beach between Newhaven and the outskirts of Seaford. At Seaford I took a number 12X bus from the Library bus stop to Eastbourne where I had a pint at The London and county near to the station before taking the train back to Normans Bay (16 minute ride).

End of day 1: About 15 miles walked today

I returned by train to Eastbourne then took a number 12A bus to Seaford where I set out along the coast path along the seafront. This is also part of the Vanguard Way as far as the Exceat Bridge. At the end of the beach the path ascends to Seaford Head and passes a golf course and then the Seford Nature reserve. Here it meets the Cuckford River at Cuckmere Haven and follows the fiver inland for a mile or so to cross it at Exceat Bridge.
There I stopped at the Cafe in the Seven Sisters Visitors Centre where I had a coffee and a massive Eccles cake before setting out to walk along the Seven Sisters and past Beachy Head. The next 6 miles of the path is also part of the South Downs Way until just after Beachy Head. There was a strong wind blowing from the south west, and the clouds were racing over the high cliffs.

At the Birling Gap, a depression in the line of cliffs, there was a car and coach park and there were many visitors walking along the cliffs beyond, mainly Japanese it seemed, and they were getting blown all over the place, especially the ones that were walking in the opposite direction to me to get back to their coaches, with their heads down and their coat hoods gripped firmly against the wind that they were walking almost head-on into. Further on there were groups people who had stepped over the safety rope to pose and take photos nearer to the cliff edge.

It was a glorious sunny day with the roar of the wind and with the shadows of the clouds racing across the sea and then over the huge rolling grassy hills.

Just after Beachy Head, looking back, there was a last view of the lighthouse and the towering white cliff. Shortly afterwards there was a steep zig-zag path and some steep steps leading down towards the sea and then a very pleasant sheltered walk through a grassy, shrubby area to the outskirts of Eastbourne, followed by a 1.5 mile stroll along the sea front to arrive at the pier, where I then walked into the town to the station (via the London and county for a pint) followed by a return train journey back to Normans Bay.

Back to Eastbourne next day on the train, I was walking by 7:45, along the front, past blocks of modern flats, around the square Sovereign Harbour and its blocks of flats, then more blocks of flats, this time with pointed tiled roofs, lined the cliffs. Walking on the shingle beach was necessary to get to Pevensey Bay, which requires a more relaxed stride to avoid sinking into the shingle when pushing forward. At Pevensey Bay I stopped for a snack. I had another eccles cake but it was not a large as the one the day before. As I left the cafe I notice that the north-easterly wind was bringing a huge black thundercloud which was already dropping dark curtains of rain as it approached the coast ahead. As I was now near my campsite I decided to shelter in my campervan rather than putting on waterproofs and keep going. I had to increase my pace and arrived just as the first drops of rain started pattering on the roof. I relaxed in the van for and hour until the thunder, lightning and noisy deluge of rain had passed by. Black and white photography time.

After the storm I continued on towards Bexhill-on-Sea, first passing a "The Home of British Motor Racing" sign. A little more walking on shingle then became necessary and then about 1.5 miles of road walking was done to reach Cooden on the outskirts of Bexhill and where the promenade started. There was about 2 miles of promenading to get to the town centre.

After the downpour I continued on along the front, past the normally photogenic De La Warr Pavilion, out of Bexhill and almost immediately into Hastings. I arrived at about 5:45 pm, had a pint in The John Logie Baird and took a train back to Normans Bay.

End of day 3: About 18 miles walked today

An even earlier start that morning. I caught the 06:51 train to Hastings and followed the England Coast Path signs which directed me past the tall, narrow fishermen's nets huts near the beach to a narrow ally near the entrance to the East Hill Lift, which is the UK's steepest funicular railway (closed until 10am that day). Several flights of stone steps took me to the top of the cliff and the start of the Hastings Country Park. After a pleasant stroll across the open area of the country park in the sun, the route descended through the trees and bushes to become a steep, narrow, winding, overgrown, slippery path still wet from recent rain. I took out both of my walking poles and used them to make sure that I did not slip, especially on the deep steps. The sun was hot and it was very humid with no wind. At the bottom the path ascended again, even higher, then dropped and ascended twice more before descending more gently down and along the cliffs to Fairlight Cove. This was the first time on this walk that I would have called the going 'quite strenuous' but my knees coped well. After about 5 miles from the start of the first descent the path I arrived at Cliff End and the start of a concrete path along the top of the sea wall. There was a cool breeze blowing. I stopped here to cool down, rest, and eat my lunch. At Pett Level I stopped again for a coffee at an outdoor cafe behind the sea wall but there was no shade and no breeze there, so I soon moved on to catch the cooling breeze along the top of the sea wall. Shortly after the concrete path became rough and strewn with shingle and was not so easy to walk along.

After about 5 miles of walking, the path turned inland and continued alongside the River Rother navigation channel. At Rye Harbour the England Coast Path stopped and would continue on on the other side of the River at Camber and the next crossing wast at Rye town. I intended to finish that day at Rye so I continued walking along the road towards it. The station is about a little over 2 miles from Rye Harbour walking along busy roads and I managed to catch a bus for the last mile. There is no bridge to cross the river until Rye.

End of day 4: About 14 miles walked today.

For my last day I drove my campervan to Lydd in Kent, which was about mid way on my day's walk and on suitable bus routes. From Lydd I took a bus back to Camber Sands, which was on the other side of the river from Rye Harbour and was where the England Coast Path re-started.

I walked on the beach from Camber Sands for a while and then along the concrete path on the sea wall. After about 2 miles I reached an MOD Danger Area where the path then diverted away from the coast for 7.5 miles and began with a separate tarmac footpath/cyclepath that ran parallel to the road to Lydd. After about 2 miles the path crossed into Kent. At Lydd, after a short walk around the edge of the town, the path continued along the edge of other side of the Danger Area back towards the coast on a concrete road, signposted for walkers and military vehicles only. Soon the sky became dominated by electricity pylons.

When I was back at the coast, I walked along the beach, past two huge incongruous nuclear power stations, and past the scattered buildings, huts, rusty machinery and patches of low growing plants sprinkled around the acres of shingle, taking photographs. The semi-desolate landscape and sheer open space of Dungeness is great for colour photography and it's also great for black and white photography.

I walked along the beach road to Lydd-on-Sea where I thought that I could catch a bus back to where my campervan was parked at Lydd. But I had to first catch a bus into New Romney and a second bus from there back to Lydd. I could have walked into New Romney but it was another 4 miles and it was a very hot day. Once again I had chosen to walk in what turned out to be a heatwave.

End of day 5: About 14 miles walked today. A very hot day with very little shade.

That's the end of my walk along the coast of East Sussex and a few miles into Kent. About 74 miles walked in five days.

It was an easy walk, apart from The Seven Sisters and Beachy head which was a little more strenuous, but glorious, and the Hastings Country Park and Covehurst Bay area I found challenging. Obviously there was plenty of sea front walking through the towns but also plenty of open coast walking too.

back to the start of East Sussex

back to the top of the page

Lydd-on-Sea, Dymchurch, Hythe, Folkstone, Capel Le Ferne, Dover, Deal, Sandwich, Ramsgate, Broadstairs, Margate, Westgate-on-Sea, Herne Bay, Whitstable and Faversham. (More to do later)

The Kent border lies between Camber in East Sussex and Lydd, so I had already walked about 10 miles of Kent at the end of my previous walk which ended at Lydd-on-Sea.

I parked my campervan in Hythe as this was where I thought that I might be spending my first night. I took an early morning bus back to Lydd-on-Sea and started walking east. Another fine week had been forecasted and it was already getting warm. There was little wind. I walked on the firm sand near the water's edge rather than the pavement alongside of the road. After a few miles there was a slipway and from then on there was suitable walking on grass, rough track and finally a proper walkway.

After Dymchurch there is a military firing range on the coast, so the path diverts inland alongside the road all the way to Hythe where further on it cuts inland a little more to follow the Royal Military Canal Path to Hythe town centre, where I stopped for a pint at the Red Lion before following the path onwards to the sea front. As I walked out of town and into the outskirts of Folkestone a stiff but warm breeze blew in. At Folkestone the waterfront was very busy and so was the beach. There were queues at most of the food stalls and a band was playing loudly on the quayside.

I didn't linger for long and was soon climbing the steep and narrow path to the cliff-top and shortly afterwards, I arrived at Capel le Ferne. I walked along the cliff to beyond the village and noticed a quiet spot that might be a good place to park the campervan. I decided that I had done enough walking for my first day. It had been a long but easy walk apart from the initial climb to the top of the cliffs so I had walked further that I had expected. I took a number 104 bus back to Hythe and drove the campervan back to that spot.

End of day 1: About 20 miles walked today.

I had a breakfast in the campervan, which was on a cliff overlooking the sea, then I started walking along the cliff top path. In places the path was so close to the edge that heavy steel railings had been provided for safety. There was a cold wind blowing so I added and extra layer until I warmed up. The cliff was dotted with derelict concrete gun-emplacements and lookout posts, and there was also a large concrete listening 'ear'. All reminders of Word War II. France was visible in the misty distance.

At Dover the path drops down steeply before passing underneath the A20 and then climbs an arm of raised countryside that pokes into the town, on the way passing the massive fortifications at Western Heights and the Drop Redoubt which overlooks the town on one side and the harbour on the other. Here are some spectacular views (and a lot of stone steps), finally descending to reach the edge of the Dover shopping centre. As it was now a very hot day I nipped into town for a pint at The Eight Bells and on the way walked slowly through a 'cooling mist tunnel' in the shopping centre. In the pub I decided that Deal was to be my stopping place for the night, and looking at my map I spotted a campsite at Walmer near Deal that had a railway very station close by. I phoned then and they had a vacancy. The bus station was nearby so I returned by bus to Capel Le Ferne and drove my campervan to the campsite, then returned by bus to Dover where I walked through the 'cooling mist tunnel' once again, very pleasant, before rejoining the path as it headed towards the harbour.

At the harbour, the path passed the base of Dover Castle and through part of the old town, then began to ascend, passing close beneath the huge curving flyover that dominates the harbourside, and up a long steep track to the top of the white cliffs, where there are interesting views of the ferry port on the way up and views of the whole of Dover harbour from the top. There followed a very pleasant, but hot, walk along the chalk paths on the cliff top, steep in places, especially when descending to St Margaret's bay (car park jam packed and more cars arriving) and returning to the cliff top via several flights of steep stone steps*. More excellent cliff top walking followed, during which time, my phone welcomed me to France. At Kingsdown the cliffs end and the path dropped down to pass behind the beach. This is where I veered inland through the village then followed local paths across farmland to get to my campsite at Walmer. My phone then welcomed me back to the UK and hoped that I'd had a good trip.
* I realised later that the path did not pass through St Margaret's bay, so I could have continued on the higher ground.

End of day 2: About 14 miles walked today.

My Walmer Campsite was about 2 miles west of Deal Pier. I walked down to the sea front, past Deal Castle and the pier and out into the flat countryside and a long dusty track. It was becoming a hot day but with a light breeze. Later, as I turned inland towards Sandwich, the breeze died and the heat increased. By the time I got to the bridge over the River Stour I was flagging a little and was dismayed to find that I then had to walk several miles along the pavement of a long, straight, dusty road with fast moving traffic a few feet away and with no shade. After about 2.5 miles I missed an opening in the hedge that lead the path away from the road and back to the riverside, but luckily, about 1 mile on, I came to a SubWay where I was able to sit in the cool interior for half an hour with a chicken and ham sub and large glass of iced water. Refreshed, I found my way to the path again which lead to Cliffs End and where there was a little shade over the path for a while. After another 2.5 miles the path came to the outskirts of Ramsgate rising onto the cliffs. After 2 miles along pavements, the path dropped down from the cliffs to Ramsgate Marina. I walked along the waterfront and spotted the The Royal Victoria Pavilion where I went for a pint and to get out of the sun.

I sipped my pint as I booked my train ticket back to Walmer. I then walked the mile to the station, had a 23 minute train journey and walked the half a mile back to the campsite. As there was a railway station at all of the other coastal towns that I intended to walk to, I had decided to leave the campervan at Walmer and use the train to go to and from the start and finish points. This, I prefer to using buses.

End of day 3: About 16 miles walked today.

Next day I returned to Ramsgate by train and was back in the Royal Victoria Pavilion by 8:30am for a breakfast. I don't usually display photographs of the inside of pubs on this website but I was very impressed by this building.

Shortly after breakfast I enjoyed a walk along the base of the white cliffs but after about a mile, the walkway came to an abrupt end. Having misread the map I realised that perhaps I should have taken a left hand fork up to the top of the cliff some way back. I turned back. But I only had to retrace my steps for about a third of a mile before finding a set of steps that would put me back on the path. There was a 'England Coast Path' sign-post there but I had walked straight past it. It wasn't long before Ramsgate merged into Broadstairs, with no countryside in between, and after about 4 miles of pleasant cliff-top walking I was there.

I walked slowly through busy Broadstairs but didn't stop as I had been there before. Out of town there were a few snatches of countryside at North Foreland before reaching the outskirts of Margate. At this point I had been walking approximately north but shortly after that, the path turned westwards towards Margate. I reached Margate hot and sweaty and nipped into The Mechanical Elephant for a pint and a top up* of my water bottle. It was a really hot day and there had been a hot weather warning on the BBC news.

I was hot and busy in the pub so I didn't stay long. I sat out of the sun in shelter on the front and ate my snack watching the antics of the passers-by. Margate had a packed beach, busy pavements and queues for chip shops and other food sellers I then walked for about 4 miles along the top of an amazingly massive and wide sea wall, which was mostly deserted, except for a few places where it had been taken over by holiday-makers that I assume had been forced onto it when the incoming tide had come in and flooded the beach below. After about 4 miles I stopped at Birchington and took a relaxing and cool train ride back to Walmer. I went to the nearby fish and chip shop in Walmer that evening but the portion was too large and I couldn't eat it all.

End of day 4: About 14 miles walked today. Hot.

Back at Birchington early the next day, there was a cool breeze and a misty sun. The tide was out and there was absolutely no one about. After about 5 miles of walking along the sea wall I stopped to look at the remains of a Roman Fort and St Mary's Church at Reculver where I had a coffee and a snack at the little cafe nearby. I sat outside to rest and eat. It was getting rather hot (again) by this time.

I walked on along the path which was on the sea wall, past mud flats on the right and countryside on the left, then through Herne Bay, which was very busy. There was a little more countryside walking before arriving at Whitstable. The sea wall there was lined with beach huts but the town could hardly be seen until much nearer as the outskirts were on higher ground behind the huts. I had a little wander around town and then went for a pint in The Peter Cushing. I sat in the beer garden to cool down before taking the train back to Walmer.

End of day 5: About 13 miles walked today.

Back at Whitstable for my last day of walking. I went straight from the railway station to The Peter Cushing for an 8am breakfast of scrambled eggs on toast and coffee. Leaving Whitstable, I passed the Old Neptune, a famous pub on the beach overlooking the oyster beds, which were visible on that day due to the low tide. After about 2 miles and past Seasalter I was walking in the open countryside with mud flats on one side and marshes on the other. It was hot but there was a nice breeze blowing. After another 4 miles I reached the mouth of the Faversham Creek and turning inland towards Faversham. Now I had a muddy creek on one side and a huge solar farm on the other. After another 2.5 miles along the bank of the peaceful meandering creek I arrived at the wharf at Faversham where there were a series of boats in various stages of repair or disintegration, moored up and on dry land. From Seasalter to here I only saw two other people. I followed the scruffy path, avoiding rusty pieces of equipment and junk that were left lying around, then walked along some smart paving outside of some tidy waterside residences until I got to the first bridge that crossed the creek.

This was the end of my walk. This is where I will start again next time. I strolled through the town, had lunch and a pint in The Leading Light where I checked the train times and booked a ticket back to Walmer. I had a little time to spare so I wandered around the pleasant town a little more and bought a Henry James novel in the Oxfam Bookshop for 99p before walking to the railway station for a quiet, restful and cool 62 minute journey back to Walmer via Canterbury. I thought that I might read my book on the way but I did what I always do, relax and look out of the window. I slept well that night and returned home the next morning. That was not a very restful journey as it involved much involuntary parking on the M25.

End of day 6: About 11 miles walked today.

That makes 88 miles of Kent coastal paths in six days. And another heatwave.

That's a total of 311 miles of South East coast walked in twenty one days.

back to the start of Kent

back to the top of the page