A short walk around Stodmarsh nature reserve was Christopher Somerville's featured walk in the Weekend section of Saturday's Times. "Keep an eye out for the beavers", it starts. See https://www.christophersomerville.co.uk/?p=2618

Every year there is one grey miserable day before spring truly starts. Maybe that day was today. It didn’t rain all the time, but it was always drippy and never warm. The wood anemones were very plentiful - at their best both outbound from and inbound to Fordwich - but always closed into bells rather than open as cheerful stars, thus muting their effect. They would have looked glorious in sunshine.

Still and all, there were plenty of signs of spring for the 7 who braved this walk - three on the high speed train and four on the Charing Cross train. Chiffchaffs and chaffinches sang, the verges were crowded with red deadnettle and chickweed, and the great green transformation of the trees and shrubs is starting.

I was looking forward to lunching at the Rose Inn in Wickhambreaux, having happy memories of doing so many years ago. What I had not realised - or checked - is that in the interim it has gained entry into the Michelin and Good Food Guides. That meant £20 mains (mainly fish) served without any veg (£5 for side dishes), so £30 for a proper meal. Nearly all my companions, I noticed, stuck to starters to save money. My bad, as the young say.

Better news in the afternoon. The Red Lion in Stodmarsh, which until recently was another high falutin’ gastro hangout, has changed hands and is soon to reopen with “good traditional food”. It is only 1.4 miles further on.

In Stodmarsh four of us decided to do a little side trip to the nature reserve, and the other three also joined us. Here we heard some exploilsively loud Cetti’s warblers, saw a possible marsh harrier, and heard more chiffchaffs and chaffinches. No obvious signs of beavers, but this was one place which had been enhanced by the recent monsoon conditions. I have never seen a wetland looking so romantically wet.

After Stodmarsh two of us got left behind. We negotiated a field of calves, watched warily by their mothers, and squelched through more woods carpeted in “wooden Ms”. In Fordwich, unable to summon any of the others in the group on the phone, we stopped at the very cosy George & Dragon for tea and pud (me) and beer (my companion). Then on to Canterbury, with a nice finish along the foaming brown Amazonian torrent of the Great Stour.

We got the 19.23 high speed train after a sojourn in the Cargo Shed. I think the rest of the group got the 17.37 to Charing Cross. (Feel free to file a separate report…)

6 walkers met at the exit of Canterbury West and enjoyed perfect walking weather: warm and sunny with a cooling breeze .

The group split into three pairs with the back-markers clearly in no hurry and no doubt tempted to tarry - as we all were - by the fascinating narrow, twisty streets in the ancient heart of Canterbury.

With not much cover from the sun, many field borders and few woodlands, some windfall apples from the orchard took the edge off our appetites as we made good progress to lunch at the Red Lion: we enjoyed a hearty meal without too long a wait.

The afternoon walking featured a number of quaint villages and then hugged the river bank back into the centre of Canterbury where - regrettably - most of the favourite tea stops were closed. The 'Spoons, however, was open so hot drinks and a light meal were a welcome distraction whilst waiting for the next train and a swift return to London.

Though 14 miles we enjoyed an undemanding walk in very pleasant Kentish countryside.

Anyone interested in doing the late start short cut?

Depends on who you are

A few of us will be doing the late start from Bekesbourne. You are welcome to join us.

Hi. Early on in the guide there is a (keep your options open) reference. How do we do that, please? New to group. Thanks.

You can finish the walk "early" (after 11.4 miles, so not that early!) at Sturry if you want. If you buy a day return to Sturry (slightly more expensive than one to Canterbury), you have the right ticket for both the outward and return journey: this keeps your options open: you can either finish at Sturry or go on to Canterbury if you want. But if you are sure you will do the whole 14 mile Canterbury Circular walk, then it is cheaper just to buy a day return to Canterbury. That is what I meant.

Thank you, Walker.

Perfection. It does exist and this was it. Lovely hot sun . Beautiful villages. Fields of yellow oilseed. Fresh green tree foliage. Verge flowers. Loads of wood anemones, sadly now going over. A decent display of bluebells before Fordwich. Varied birdsong. No mud for the first time this year. Two glorious afternoon stops in pub gardens, one alive with chirping sparrows, the other by the River Stour in Gordwich.

16 were reported on either start for this walk, making w=32 in all. Charmingly, the Canterbury starters had just passed the railway line when the Bekesbourne train rattled over, so the later starters were just a bit behind the early ones and we all - or a substantial contingent of each group - came together to have lunch at a big table in the garden of the Duke William pub. It was nice for fast and not so fast, early and late-starting walkers to come together in this way and walk together in the afternoon. The pub staff were lovely. As one walker said: “You knew as soon as you came in that this was going to be a nice pub.”

Some stopped at Sturry. At least some of went on to Canterbury and had dinner in a pub.

When you are researching walks and writing them up, it is a day such as this that you dream of. Thanks to all the people who turned up to make it so memorable.

32

Be sure to use the pdf directions https://www.walkingclub.org.uk/walk/canterbury-circular/SWC_Walk_121_Canterbury_Circular.pdf

Of the three lunch pubs, the Duke William is the largest. The Rose is medium sized, quite popular, but a charming place. The Red Lion in Stodmarsh is small and charming: definitely ring to check they have space before relying on eating there, however.

In Fordwich, given that it is winter and you are unlikely to be spending time in the Fordwich Arms' charming riverside garden, the nearby George and Dragon is a better choice for tea: when last I looked it did puddings in the afternoon, while the Fordwich Arms only does hot drinks: it is also a cosy place.

Fordwich/Sturry makes a good place to finish. If you want to complete the walk to Canterbury and the light is fading, the cycle path route mentioned in italics is perfectly doable in the dark, I would say

5 grey but dry in morning turning to persistent rain after lunch

5 off the train at Canterbury West for one final walk in 2017. We set out in dry but gloomy conditions and made our way out of Canterbury through some pretty uninspiring residential areas. Once out of the city, the path was clear and easy to follow, large arable fields on either side, but happily, we were walking on tarmac rather than trudging through mud.

Tables at the Rose Inn in Wickhambreaux were all reserved save one small table. Three of us managed to squeeze around that and one other was accommodated at the bar, with the one picnicker joining for a drink. It is a very pretty little pub, the food was good, and the staff friendly and accommodating.

It was raining as we left the pub and it continued to rain all the way to Sturry. Paths were clear and well-marked, but conditions muddy and slippy. We passed through a farm with what seemed like endless lines of polytunnels, bare of both plastic and plants at this time of year, and on through an apple orchard. The afternoon has some lovely sections through woodland. Two, and possibly a third, finished at Sturry, with the other two continuing on for a Canterbury finish. The rain eased off and we were soon in the outskirts of the city. The return into Canterbury was better than the outward route, through more woods, and eventually along the River Stour with the Cathedral. We could have easily made the 15:25 train, but opted to take tea at Patisserie Valerie (where they'd run out of all cakes except fruit tarts).

A not too strenuous walk, with pretty villages and buildings along the way. Might make an interesting day out in summer/early autumn when all the various crops and fruits could be seen.

🐾🐾 Max and me hoping to come on this lovely walk! ☮

12 and one well-behaved dog on this walk on a lovely sunny day (we will not mention a slight chilly breeze at times). The idea of making this a Canterbury Circular was an interesting one and will be written up in due course for other SWC-ers to try. A nice start through the historic town centre, some shrugging off of the suburbs, then flat farmland which slowly got more picturesque.

It was once we got onto the old Bekesbourne Circular route that things got really scenic, however. Wickhambreaux in particular is picture-perfect. One half expects Elizabeth Bennet to come striding out of one of the houses on its village green. Instead the Rolls belonged to someone from the Great British Bake-Off who I had never heard of, who was drinking outside the pub.

A nice lunch here in the garden under blue skies and after a chat with the staff at the strawberry (and, it turned out, raspberry) farm, it seemed a shame not to stop for "refreshies" at the Red Lion in idyllic Stodmarsh too. "I was just saying I was a bit bored" said the girl behind the door when a gaggle of customers suddenly materialised. The walk directions say this pub "has a pleasant garden full of chirping birds". They are still there. The noise was deafening.

Towards Fordwich we found a bluebell wood with plenty still out - a nice surprise. I heard a reed warbler scolding away in the Stour reed beds. The somewhat blokey Fordwich Arms laughed when asked for tea but produced pots and dainty China cups. We drank it in their lovely riverside garden.

Some left us here to get the train from Sturry: the rest of us set out to follow the Stour Valley Walk into Canterbury. This is a confident path on the map but more timid in reality: a squeeze through sometimes gloomy trees and shrubs which blocked out the evening sun. Towards the city the path gets lost in a maze of paths and mountain bike tracks: waymarks dried up here. It seemed longer than 4km to me, but eventually we were safe and sound in the Parrot in Canterbury having dinner. As we walked to the station for the 8.25, swifts screamed overhead.

Planning to travel from Charing Cross.

Southeastern have sneakily switched the Ramsgate trains to run to and from Victoria this Sunday, not Charing Cross and London Bridge. I've updated the walk post above.

Just the fab 4 on this walk, (I was Ringo again!). This walk should be (re)branded the

"pints and prayers" walk as you pass through a series of lovely villages each with a church and an excellent pub. We stopped to visit the church in Littlebourne just as the morning service was finishing and enjoyed a cuppa and chat with the friendly parishoners.

By following a clear and well-used path along a field edge we did a variation of the diversion to Ickham by cutting out a rather pointless diagonal field crossing and dog-leg left turn before stopping for lunch and a drink in Wickhambreaux.

After lunch the fabs briefly split into 2x2 groups after taking a wrong turn through a complex of farm buildings into the poly tunnels fields. The gps section were soon followed by the analogue word followers who realised the error of their ways and we quickly met up again to reach Sturry just in time to grab some takeaway coffees and snacks at a local shop before catching the 15.37 train back to London -3 of us changed at Ashford for HS1.

This walk is a little gem and after the dry weather the benign muddy stretches through woodland were easily avoided and by the end my boots were actually cleaner than when we started! Great company and a Sunday well spent in dry and mild conditions.

Yes, agree on everything with Pete (and so does my gps!!): lovely walk with plenty of spires and pubs between the lovely fields; small but great group plus mild weather and little mud made this a pretty perfect Sunday stroll. It is worth adding though that the Duke William in Ickham, on a little detour, has reopened and is now a large gastro pub. It looks splendid and for a (larger) group is perfect. The Rose Inn is more intimate though and is situated on a pretty green with benches where you can eat sandwiches, which we all did.

Can someone update the walk notes please? www.thedukewilliamickham.com

Thanks poster boys for a great year of walking. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all.

Walk updated. Good to hear that the Duke William is open and suitable for groups.

Intend going

Will also try to make it

Looks like a good one to start walking...

if anyone more experimented can confirm, then I'll definitively go

It is a very pleasant and easy walk, if that is what you mean

Am hoping to do this walk if weather stays good.

jfk

8 on the walk. One dropped out at Fordham and another joined at the lunctime pub (The Rose - warm and friendly with proper fires).

Showery in the morning with The rain becoming consistent in the afternoon .

Welcome to the new walker whose baptism by rain and some mud was tempered by wonderful autumn colours and the ancient villages of Fordham and Wickhambreaux.

The group was confronted by a recently ploughed field in the afternoon section and decide to give this and therefore Stodmarsh a miss.

On the approach to Fordham, the heavens opened and sanctuary and tea was found in the Red Lion, another wonderful pub in this area.