I stayed at a holiday inn in Sittingbourne. The main reason for this is their large buffet breakfasts that not only fill me up but provide a supply of dried fruit and bananas for walking. Unfortunately no dried fruit or even fresh fruit so had to eat half a dozen boxes of cereal to compensate.
The path out of Sittingbourne led me through miles of industrial estates until I joined the creek again or I would have joined the creek if the seven foot steel security fences would have let me.
I followed the path into a fenced in yard and was just going round it to check I hadn’t missed a gate when the owner appeared and told me the path was diverted closer to the creek. I retraced my steps where o found there was no gap between the security fences and the creek and no signs either.
I worked out an alternative route but decided to ring Kent Council’s Public Rights of Way (PROW) department and report this.
After being on hold I got a lovely lady who set about recording my difficulty. The first thing she wanted to know was the path number. I told her I had no idea but it was on the Wnland Coast Path and the Thames Saxon Way. She had neither of these on her lists.
I gave her my GPS coordinates but she couldn’t use those ( wrong format) . “Ok”, I said “it’s just off a road junction , you can find it there”
“No I can’t”, she said, “my map hasn’t got roads on it”.
“What has it got on it” I asked.
“Woods, ancient monuments , parks and footpaths “
After a few minutes cross referencing my position with a wood and a ruined church, we finally worked out where I was on her map.
She took the details of the blockage and then discovered it had already been reported as blocked. I suggested and she agreed that a sign there might be a plan to help walkers. We had a chat about my walk and I rang off.
Two minutes later I got to the cycle track I was to follow which had been flytipped to a depth of about a foot for twenty yards. I couldn’t face ringing back again so I ducked my civic duty and hoped someone else would report it.
Once clear of Sittingbourne I was back in the marshes on yet another sunny day. I passed through Conyer which had some really nice new, and I suspect very expensive waterside houses.I managed to get dinner in Faversham along with a pint of the local Shepherds Neame beer. The brewery is huge and is right in the middle of Faversham.
Then a couple of miles walk to wild camp and wait for the forecast rain. The tent kept it out and I slept contentedly.