This walk starts in the centre of Sandwich by the Quay and heads East along the old town wall for a short distance and then cuts up through the town. It is one of two walks that focus on Sandwich – this being the shorter of the two at 3 miles. As I write this blog article I regret having attempted both of these walks on the same day – the blister on my left foot is looking decidedly balloon-like and I am unable to stand properly. Still, no pain, no gain I guess.

The weather stayed fine and sunny, albeit with some clouds, all day and both walks are worth doing… though we did get lost… more on that later.

The town itself has some oddities – well worth visiting just for a nice wander around a quaint town.

This telephone is in full working order, though I would suggest only using it in an emergency as the smell inside left me feeling quite ill. It was also at this point that the blister on my left foot started getting quite painful…

It is always nice to see some big lenses and big cameras about, but I always wonder what the images actually look like.

The walk eventually heads out of town towards Richborough Fort. There are no photos of this as we got lost and ended up walking around a huge field and ending up on the wrong side of the Fort. However, it looked like a ruined old wall and they don’t do a great deal for me. The guide book suggests heading towards the third telegraph pole, but fails to say from which side of the field and there really wasn’t a very well trodden path. Good luck if you attempt this walk.

After walking under the main road the walk then crosses over the railway. With a recent story of a schoolboy being killed ringing in my ears I did feel slightly apprehensive crossing this, since the visibility is not great, as shown below.

My apprehension was justified however, as thirty seconds after crossing the track screeched with noise and a train flew past.

As walks go, this one was quite boring. The other Sandwich walk was more enjoyable though that may be because I was in agony by the end of this one. No doubt the fitter amongst you will easily do both in a day and enjoy them, so don’t let my whining put you off.

It has been a good few years since I was last in Sandwich and that was a flying visit to the Red Cow pub as I was fiddling with their website at the time. I regret having not looked around Sandwich properly as it is a pretty little place, but I have always viewed it as just being ‘on the way’ to other places. I can see now that this was a foolish thought as it seems a great place just to visit and wander aimlessly around and reminds me a lot of Rye. It is steeped in history and has some wonderful buildings to have a nose at.

This walk is one of two walks that focus on Sandwich – this one takes you out of town to the sea in a large loop. Both walks start at the Quayside car park.

After leaving the Quay the walk tracks along the old town wall and then heads out towards the sea through some amazing reed beds, and looks like a great location for some bird watching. Nestled along the route is Sandwich Marina.

The walk eventually leaves the course of the river and heads across land towards Sandwich Bay, cutting it’s way directly through Royal St. George’s Golf Club

I have to say I am not overly impressed with Sandwich Bay – I had hoped that it would be nice and clean what with it being so close to the uber-expensive golf club, but, alas, it was full of rubbish for the most part.

The route snakes back across the golf course and past the club house to eventually pick up the outward part of the walk. A word of warning – FLIES. There were millions of the little buggers. Perhaps it was the warm day and time of year, but be warned, they were almost choking us at one point.

We finished this walk at Little Cottage Tea Rooms right by the car park. After 4 miles walking through flies, we had earned a nice lunch. The food was great but we were lucky to get a table as they are a very popular choice. Ring and reserve a place if you are planning to try this walk on 01304 614387. If you can avoid the flies (somehow) this is a nice walk – mostly flat but quite picturesque.