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Grove Ferry - KentJust past the village of Sturry is another place called Upstreet, home of the Grove Ferry Inn where we started and finished this walk (number 15 from Waterside Walks in Kent by Lorna Jenner). The circular route takes in parts of the Saxon Shore Way and Stour Valley Walk which are well signed. In case you hadn't noticed I'm a bit partial to the calming features of water so a walk between two rivers - Great Stour and Little Stour was a nice little treat. It's obviously good bird spotting territory as we passed quite a few spotters en route and could hear lots of birdlife along the river banks - even if we couldn't see it or always identify it when we did. We did manage to spot a couple of swans with their sweet little grey cygnets -- OK so they're hardly rare but still beautiful to look at. Once the path took us back alongside the Great Stour again we encountered clouds and clouds of irritating little midges which was pretty unpleasant. Needless to say we kept our heads down and our mouths closed! I guess it's an occupational hazard of walking by rivers in the countryside in spring / summer. The beautiful views more than made up for this minor irritation though. By the end of the four and a half mile walk we'd worked up a bit of an appetite and were ready for some food. Traditional Sunday roast was somewhat disappointing at the pub - a bit skimpy on the roast potatoes and we got warned off the desserts by another customer. Never mind, there's a pretty little Marina and picnic area near the pub so if you go prepared you can take in the view while you eat al fresco. |
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