Greensand Way stage 9: Great Chart to Hamstreet

Here it is, the final push! The last 14-ish kilometres to finally reach the end of the (I’m sure you’ll agree) magnificent Greensand Way. Today was the last stage, running from Great Chart, just outside of Ashford, to Hamstreet on the edge of Romney Marsh.

In the bag:

• Tea, Earl grey hot

• Snacks (not going too far today)

• Walking pole

• Hat, gloves, scarf- chilly out

• 1.5l bladder of water

• 50cl Greensand Ridge gin and a tin of Fevertree tonic

I obviously don’t take gin with me generally speaking, but today is a celebratory day, marking the completion of my 2020 mission. And face it, any excuse right now, right?

Today’s map is still OS Explorer 137; it doesn’t cover the last couple of km, but I can live with that, and the ever excellent OS App has me covered.

This final leg isn’t a long one, just 14km (8 and a bit miles); took me about 2 hours and 45 minutes.

Great Chart is a lovely little village with a nice looking pub (tier 3 so no cheeky breakfast for me) and the obligatory historic church. Obviously a place of much philanthropy with alms houses (for ‘elderly persons’). The GW comes through Great Chart, straight up the high street and then takes a left through fields on well waymarked paths.

This first section of this leg skirts around the south of Ashford; to the south is more or less open country that eventually merges into Romney Marsh. You’d never know there was a major conurbation behind you; the wide open space ahead speaks of the wild country that runs down to the coast. And you can’t beat low winter sun to make a decent photo!

The GW tracks across open fields more or less the whole way to Kingsnorth. There is a little bit of time on a quiet country lane or two, but other than a few sheep, glorious isolation in green fields. Lots of stiles too, not all of which were in good repair and at this time of year very slippery. My stick saved me from a tumble more than once!

Coming into Kingsnorth, which marks more or less the halfway point, is the first significant village since Great Chart. I didn’t tarry here, but there was a pretty 13th century church.

The GW strikes back out into farmland and then passes through a large farmyard (with loud dogs!). The path is then clear all the way down to Lone Barn Farm but gets a bit confusing across the planted field beyond it. This is in part because on the map it seems to pass through the farmyard but on the ground it’s waymarked around the yard and up through a planted field with no apparent path. In my experience farmers take a dim view of folk stamping on their crops so I skirted the field and cut up along a tractor track. The result of this was very muddy boots. Thank the lord for fast drying trousers!

The GW is not well marked at this portion and I wonder if actually there may have been an alternative route I might have missed. After mud-fest there’s a left turn towards the A2070 which you follow for a bit on the verge- it wasn’t busy but it is a fast road. From here you cross the railway line and cut through woodland before picking up a lane that eventually takes you down into Hamstreet Woods. And if the previous field was muddy, the woods were a quagmire!!

Quagmire they maybe but they are also very beautiful, even in winter, and evidently popular with families (and a few runners gamely sliding their way through the mud!). There are a number of trails to follow which include nature and wildlife spotting. I did pause for a cup of tea and watch the world go by.

Walking out of Hamstreet Woods its a mere 3 minute walk to Ham Street station and the end of the Greensand Way.

After the previous two epic stages through Kent this felt like a short jaunt, but was probably the most wild of all the stages. Similar to stage 8, there isn’t much to ‘see’ but you get a proper feel of a working landscape. You’re also only 6 miles as the crow flies from Camber Sands (on the map below you can see the Royal Military Canal towards the bottom; this runs through Hythe and Folkestone, former stomping ground); I like to imagine a little salt on the air!

It’s genuinely been an adventure and I’m so pleased I stuck with it. In the coming days I’ll put together a little retrospective of the whole experience and introduce the 2021 challenge, but for now will pause to enjoy my Greensand Ridge gin on the way home!

Here’s the map.

And for one last time, at least in 2020. Ladies and gentleman my mad-as-box-of-frogs cat. In the sink.