Sevenoaks Ramblers organises a variety of walks on Wednesdays and Sundays in the wonderful countryside around Sevenoaks. Come and join us!
Following in the footsteps of keen local walker Charles Dickens, we take the England Coast Path/Thames Path from the RSPB Cliffe Pools Nature Reserve, with the Thames estuary on our left and on our right the Cooling marshes, which inspired the 'dark flat wilderness, intersected with dykes and mounds and gates' that pervades Great Expectations. Wetland wildfowl, birds of prey and the odd sheep are likely to be our only companions. At Egypt Bay, we turn inland amid, as one footpath sign has it, 'curlews, convicts, contraband' to pick up the Saxon Shore Way. We head for Cooling churchyard, the setting for the novel's opening scene in which escaped convict Magwitch terrifies young Pip (and, incidentally, Jools Holland got married here). We return to Cliffe.
Please bring a picnic lunch. Refreshments at The Horseshoe and Castle, Cooling, or in The Six Bells at Cliffe at the end of the walk. Please dress for brisk sea breezes.
Largely flat; slight incline on Saxon Shore Way offers exhilarating panoramic views; muddy farmyard; a few stiles.
Meet in free car park, with free toilets, next to St Helen's Church in Church Street (B2000), Cliffe. Go straight along the B2000 and entrance is on the left, just before The Six Bells pub. Park here or considerately in nearby streets. Please car share if possible. For a lift from Shoreham Station, or to be put in touch with a car share from the Sevenoaks area, please WhatsApp the leader.
