As you may be aware we have had a couple of sweltering weeks in the UK. So the irony of leaving home today in a torrential downpour says more about the selection of my walking days than the British weather. I’m pretty sure it would have been too hot to walk last week anyway!

The rain stopped by the time I got to the station ticket office and bought my ticket to Ramsgate – only £18.90 return (with railcard and “not via London”). I did have to comment on what good value this is, if only all journeys were such good value. It didn’t seem quite so good when the 9:07 train turned up with only four coaches, rather than 12 (or at least eight- I can’t remember), so it was standing all the way to East Croydon.  I intend to catch the Super Loop bus (SL5) between Croydon and Bromley South. While this doesn’t save me any time, as the Margate trains are hourly, it should reduce the risk of either of the “not via London” trains being late. Standing on the train gave me a good view over the shoulder of a man who (I presume) was revising his Highway Code. I think there may be some new signs since I last looked at it!! It was a seamless transfer from the train to the bus at Croydon, the bus stops right outside the station so I didn’t even need to put my coat back on for the 20 metre dash through the rain. Interestingly, the bus had a “sunroof” which helped assess the rainfall intensity. At Bromley South I had nearly 40 minutes to wait – the bus saves so much time – so I headed into a Cafe Nero opposite the station. I was meeting my brother, Jon, for this walk. So while trying to order a coffee, and text him to say I was early and having a coffee, I completely missed him standing next to me. He didn’t notice me either!

We caught the 10:57 Margate train, although only as far as Chestfield and Swalecliff station. So after an hour of catching up on the train, we headed off walking. We both started in tee shirts, but after crossing the road outside the station, the first rain squall hit. I sheltered in the doorway of a pizza place and found my coat. I think today will have mixed weather! We soon retraced my route back to the coast path, and the weather started to brighten up. The smell of the sea was quite over powering. Even though I’m walking the coast it seemed like I haven’t smelt it for so many legs of the walk. We thought it might be too do with the weather conditions, although it might be the mud!.

It was a fairly remote stretch to Herne Bay, and we could see what we (I) thought was a warship stationed off shore. It seemed to be stationary, but as we got closer it was clearly a man made structure. It turns out it is the old pier head. Herne Bay must of had a very long pier at some point. Research shows that the pier was over a kilometre long, but was damaged in a storm in 1978 and removed in 1980, only leaving the Pier Head which is what we could see.

Herne Bay looks like a nice seaside resort, with older shopping streets inland and a historic feel to the seafront with concert pavilions in nice gardens. There is plenty of sculpture and history, in particular to Amy Johnson who was the first woman to fly solo from London (well Croydon actually) to Australia. She is remembered here as she was killed in 1941 when her plane crashed into the Thames Estuary.

The most important thing we needed to do in Herne Bay, was find a bakers for lunch. From the map I had selected Dunns Bakers. I was hoping for a cornish pasty, but had to survive on a ham and pickle roll, and a flapjack. Although, had I looked properly before ordering I may have selected a “wiggle worm” instead of the flapjack. It seems that you have to have a humorous cake offering in Kent! We then walked past the “booby cakes” bakers, and I think wiggle worms are better.

We left Herne Bay though the quiet streets before getting back to the grassy esplanade. There was a statue to the inventor Barnes Wallis, like Amy Johnson he wasn’t a famous resident, but it was a monument to the trials of the “bouncing bomb” during the second world war. The bombs were trialed along the coastline, where they would skim or bounce across the water surface and they could be recovered during low tide.

After a short length of promenade the path headed up onto some nice greenery above the cliffs. We could see some towers or chimneys on the horizon. The map said they were Reculver Towers which didn’t shed much light on what they may be. Initially they looked to be industrial, and as we got closer, maybe a fortification of some sort. It turns out it is the ruin of an Anglo-Saxon monastery, which was remodeled as a church in the 12th century. Its certainty an unusual and striking place for such ruins.

We took the opportunity of eating lunch near the ruins, as we were just about halfway. The weather had turned out quite nice and we ate with blue skies. It wasn’t long after this when the skies started to darken behind us. As we walked we could hear occasional thunder.

Then it started to rain, the thunder became continuous and we were subjected to a ferocious hail storm that must have lasted for over ten minutes. We got our coats on, but we were both in shorts and the freezing hail really stung our legs. It was pretty unbelievable in it ferocity. The path became flooded and the water running down our legs filled our boots. Even my light jacket gave no protection from the sharp stabs from each piece of hail. We were on a completely open stretch of coast, there was nowhere to hide. I think we were lucky that the hail was coming from behind, onto our right shoulder, because if if it had been in our faces it would have been really hard to continue.

First the hail stopped, then the thunder became more distant and eventually even the rain stopped. We just carried on walking, absolutely soaked to the skin. I don’t think I’ve been in anything quite like it before, or at least for a long time. By the time we reached the civilisation of Minnis Bay, the sun was starting to come out, we were beginning to dry and the only evidence of the storm were huge floods covering most of the sea front. We stopped any tried to empty the water out of our boots, but despite being soaked through no water came out.

From here into Margate the coast is fairly developed with housing coming right up to the low cliffs. That said, the walking was not unpleasant with a choice of walking on the broad concrete paths at the foot of the low cliffs, or on nice greens at the top of the cliffs. We alternated a few times. The walk along the bottom gave good views of the sea, and many strange constructions within the cliffs. While along the top, views of many fancy houses ranging from thatched cottages, magnificent old “piles” and many gleaming glass modern boxes.

The final run into Margate confirmed that the tower block that we had seen on the horizon for most of the day, was indeed in Margate, although close up it looks like it has been transplanted from the old East Berlin! There seemed to be lots of construction going on, with the main one being the conversion of the magnificent buildings of the 1791 Royal Sea Bathing Hospital.

Finally we made it to within 200 metres of the railway station and decided to stop for a pint (although to be fair there wasn’t too much deciding to do!). It was good walking with Jon, and he is off in the autumn to walk in the Dolomites. So the 126 metres of ascent on this walk, should put him in good stead for the 23,000 metres he says is on his route – although I feel sure it must be a typo! We had to rush the last bit to the station, which looks very fancy and I will grab some pictures of it next time.