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Ralph Cox•Follow
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September 27, 2022

Corner to Corner, Day 58: Sittingbourne to Dover

https://www.cycling4charity.org.uk Great route, apart from Crab and Winkle Way, which must be aimed at mountain or gravel rather than road bikes, and gravel section of Route 1 after Canterbury. We didn't get punctures; I chose to be more anxious after 2000+ miles. Rain in the afternoon. Postponed 4th corner, tip of Dover harbour, till daylight tomorrow.
Distance
61.3 mi
Elev Gain
2,280 ft
Time
6h 50m
Private dwelling, former pub. http://www.dover-kent.com/2014-project-b/Mounted-Rifleman-Luddenham.html
0:26
Church and chimney in Faversham to investigate. Spotted in passing: Grade I listed St Mary of Charity church, & part of Fremlin's Brewery. CHURCH: Norman with centuries of restoration. Wikipedia entry extends its fascinating history. http://www.stmaryofcharity.org/2.html & https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faversham_Parish_Church BREWERY: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fremlin%27s_Brewery & https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1240601?section=official-list-entry
Former Fremlin's Brewery buildings in Faversham. 8 Historic England entries for the brewery: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/map-search?clearresults=True#?search=Faversham,%20Swale,%20Kent
Historic England's map maps and identifies these five as Thornfield Oast in Hill Head Road, Goodnestone, Swale, Kent; OS maps do not. This Geograph entry confirms these as part of Poplar Hall Farm with more info and a link about oast houses: https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/794633. This link includes more photos at different angles: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Oasts_in_Goodnestone,_Swale
0:10
Sign beside the church: "Keep battery storage off Graveney Marshes" https://savegraveneymarshes.org
0:27
Maunsell Forts, north of Seasalter, Whitstable. Curiously not recorded on OS maps. https://www.whitstable.co.uk/whitstable-sea-forts#:~:text=Whitstable%20Sea%20Forts&text=Sitting%20off%20the%20coast%20of,are%20Whitstable%27s%20Maunsell%20Sea%20Forts.
Our road: lower than the sea bank and sheltered from the wind
Some parts of the Crab and Winkle Way were tarmacked, though others were like this, which I felt risky for our tyres which have now done 2406 miles up to yesterday.
Then it became this....
Chancery in Canterbury
Access to Canterbury Cathedral is via £14 and one entrance. I spoke with Natasha saying I was cycling round Britain corner to corner, and had planned a visit to at least see the outside of the cathedral on rhe route to the final corner, and Natasha kindly let me in to do that. I sought her out on the way out, gave her a card and thanked her again. She had already told her colleague what we were doing.
Oak in the grounds
I felt Route 1 north east out of Canterbury from Northgate to near Fordwich grossly unsuited to road bicycles. Thankfully, no punctures.
St Mary's, Stodmarsh. 5 miles east of Canterbury. Built in 12th and 13th century, modernised in 1880. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stodmarsh
4 kudos
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