We visited this village a couple of weeks ago. The town has a duck pond in the centre of the roundabout, in the centre of the village. They have a model of the solar system in the main rec field (free parking by the field) but we only came across Jupiter – a football match was on so we didn’t bother looking on the other side of the field. There are the remains of a palatial residence that once rivalled Hampton Court and there is nice walk from the church to the train station.
We’ve done this area before, although last time when we parked at Hampton pier we went the other direction. Today we walked towards Herne Bay.
This is a nuclear bunker in Essex –Secret Nuclear Bunker. I emailed the owners and they kindly let us bring CC in. She whined a little at times but seemed to enjoy the smells. Very interesting stuff. Although the bunker was decommissioned in the early 1990s the feel is more 1970s or earlier – the digital equipment was removed at the end and most of what is on show is telephonic systems etc of an earlier time. There is no tour, you just take a hand held guide and walk yourself around. There is a café at the end and when no-one is there it is an honour system entry fee (£7 an adult). Also on the property are quad bike hire for kids, zip wire and paint ball type activities for children.
Today we went to the Oare Gunpowder Works Country Park near Faversham. Gunpowder was manufactured here for several centuries and the site is now valuable for wildlife. There are marked trails through woods, mill ponds and remains of industrial works with information boards explaining the site. A little muddy but pretty good considering the rain we’d had recently. Couscous loved it.
Today we went to a local reserve where I have my first published piece of photography on show. I took a photo of a mesolithic hand axe found in the reserve and it’s now on an information board. Of coarse we didn’t find the board but I now know where it is and will go back when it hasn’t been raining. There is a main road to the farm house from which a number of paths lead off. Couscous seemed to like it and did some chasing after cars and cyclists – with me in tow behind.
We went to the dachshund racing day at Great Dixter. Couscous was a little aloof but others were racing away.
The nature trail here is worth a walk. The start is from the oast house / café / Wildhouse Trust visitor centre. There is a variety of bird and other wildlife. The reservoir can be seen better from the road just round the bend.
The landscape here is different from other areas of Kent in that the ground is sandy not stoney-Couscous preferred it. The park is full of grass fields with thick growth of ferns either side. Dogs aren’t allowed in the house but the park is vast so it’s no bother. This is Kent’s last medieval deer park. The deer are very pretty but can be a little too friendly. We saw one that was hassling a woman and toddler for their picnic food. We took Couscous up to them to see if it would move away from a dog but instead it was very curious and stomped its hoofs enough to make us back off. The oddest thing was a lack of rubbish bins outside the café area. I intend to return to visit the house and its collections.
On the Isle of Sheppey we stopped first at the sea front at Sheerness, parking near the Neptune Snooker Hall. There is a good path around the coast and at low tide there is a sandy bit. Dogs are allowed all year round. Further around is the sea front at Minster which is more popular and you can swim – which means no dogs on the beach in the summer months (but it’s a pebble beach anyway). There are no public loos but there are pieces of gym equipment all along the path for everyone to use and further up there are beach huts (we’ll check those out next time).
There is a pub and cafe along this stretch and local shops not too far away. Here we saw identical twins in their 60s walking arm in arm and wearing exactly the same outfit from head to toe (hair colour and style, sunglasses, handbags, clothes and shoes).
A sandy beach that allows dogs all year round. We parked for free on Wear Bay Rd then followed a path behind the restaurant (friendly staff, take away coffee and bathrooms), past the martello tower and through the bushes, along a well trodden path, to get to a concrete path along the beach.
It was a little weird as there were people camped right by the path/on the beach, screaming and swearing at their kids who were too close to the edge of the path (at this point there is a bit of a fall to the beach – the girl was also in pink pyjamas). Further down it is easy to get to the beach and although others were camping the beach widens out so you don’t have to go near the tents. Luckily there was a pipe with clean water flowing as I forgot Couscous’s water bottle but otherwise there are bins and nothing else. There appeared to be a camping ground behind the bushes but it wasn’t signposted so who knows. Nice view of chalk cliffs and generally a good half-day trip.
