Aba's Place: Walks: Wetbere, Fordwich and Faversham

Westbere, Fordwich and Faversham - Kent

There's an awful lot of water in Kent. I know coz I've got a book called "Waterside Walks in Kent" and it's got 20 walks in it.

So, one fine summer weekend by the sea in Whitstable, we decided to check out a couple of them (unfortunately forgot to check out the beach in Whitstable - right on our doorstep too!).

The first walk began in the village of Westbere at the Yew Tree pub, and involved walking to Fordwich passing lakes, river, lush greenery and meadows along the circular route. Both Westbere and Fordwich are interesting little villages, apparently steeped in history.Lots of really old cottages and other buildings dating back to the 1600's and earlier (the modern looking alarm boxes on some of them look kind of incongruous though!). The Yew Tree pub in Westbere dates back to the early 14th Century.

As we entered Fordwich, I couldn't help but smile at the sign which proudly declares Fordwich to be "Britains smallest town. Twinned with Aire Sur La Lys" (which is a historic Flemish frontier town in France - apparently).

The river and lakes between Westbere and Fordham are really beautiful. If you've got an eye for the birds you might spot the odd Kingfisher - or so we were reliably informed by passing locals chugging along the river in their boat (I wouldn't know a Kingfisher if it jumped up and pecked me however).

Later that weekend we stopped off in the town of Faversham on our way back home. Another beautiful day and pleasant relaxing walk along Faversham Creek. Stopped off at the Shipwright Arms pub for a drink and the staff couldn't have been more friendly or helpful.

Faversham Creek is great - eventually it opens out into the sea. Along the creek there are traces of its industrial past which look kind of quaint now. An old oyster house here, sailing barge there, and various other boats stranded on the mud.

Lots of birdlife about too. When we visited, sitting on the lake was a very regal looking family of swans including some older fluffy looking grey cygnets. There are probably a lot of more glamorous birds around too - I imagine there are lots of tasty worms and other tidbits in the extensive areas of mud in the silted up creek.

As well as the birdlife, on both walks there were lots of beautiful wild plants and flowers. I particularly liked the little red wild poppies swaying in the breeze (perhaps because they were the only plants I could recognise but they looked pretty too).

So, if the other walks in my book are as good as these two, I guess I'll be spending more time in Kent.