Leaving Deal along the promenade reinforced the view that this town is very special, it is quiet, calm and although involved in tourism, it is not ruled by it. Working fishing boats along the beach are a rare sight.
The first of our day's ascents took us above St Margaret's at Cliffe above the chalk walls and gave fine views towards Dover.
We stopped at the National Trust's White Cliffs visitor centre and watched the to and fro of ferry traffic in the busy harbour.
Our decent to the poshed up sea front marked the end of the NCN 1 which we first encountered on the north coast of Scotland in May. The usual Portrait Bench sponsored by Sustrans was there to greet us and at first sight Sue guessed the personalities to be Ian Botham, the Queen and James Bond. The last was most accurate as Ian Fleming was a former resident of Dover. What she thought was a cricket bat was actually an Olympic torch carried by sports man Jamie Clark and, although she has won the heart of many Brits over the years, Vera Lynn is not exactly Royal!
So onto the NCN 2 which has a difficult start trying to protect cyclists from the continuous stream of traffic that exits the ferry terminal onto the A20. We were directed up the old Folkstone road and eventually given our own track parallel to the main road. This climbs to the cliffs at Samphire Hoe country park in an amazing and exposed position.
News reports suggested that Operation Stack was no longer active but the long lines of trucks trailing down the hillside into Dover suggested otherwise- it looked terrible for the lorry drivers.
The A20 disappeared inland while we remained cliff-bound with spectacular views. We paused at the Clifftop Cafe near Capel le Ferne and had a long chat with a couple of 70+ men about cycle touring and hill walking.
After decending to Folkestone the route took us through Lower Leas coastal park, this is a very impressive corridor development of gardens play and picnic areas between Folkestone and Hythe.
Leaving Hythe we stumbled on a mobile food store selling noodles. To our delight it was run by Noiy from Isaan in NE Thailand. She made us a great Pad Thai which we ate while trying to convince her that 14 years was too long to be away from her homeland.
The Royal Military Canal and a few quiet lanes later and we were in Dymchurch situated in Romney Marsh.
The Ship Inn provided a good pub meal.
Figures:
Distance:- 49.8 km
Cycle Time:- 4 hours 2 minutes
Average speed:- 12.3 kph
Total Distance:- 5134 km
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