You may remember that a few months ago we attempted to walk from Ramsgate to Canterbury…we nearly made it, but stopped a few miles short at Sturry. This weekend we tried again and successfully made it all the way! We calculated it to be ~19 miles. It took us 9 hours door-to-door, but that includes walking to the train station, travelling to Canterbury and lunch…it was actually about 7 hours walking. We survived; weather turned out OK and we only had a little rain when we got to Ramsgate. Feet were complaining a bit by the end and we both had a couple of little blisters but nothing too bad. Only real problem was Sid’s ham strings which were pretty sore by the end and have taken a while to recover. We’re not sure why; maybe because it was soooooo flat, or maybe because we walked about 2 miles on very slippy paths around Stodmarsh which were quite hard work. Despite our little twinges we were very pleased to have completed this walk; a good one to tick off the list for us. Now well be aiming to complete the rest of the Kent coast. Here’s the approximate route we took.
Star moment of the walk was meeting a fellow walker, walking alone, camping and carrying all his kit…he told us he’d started at Gravesend and headed down the Weald way, we’re not sure where he got to or had come from that day, but he said he was now returning to Gravesend, and the whole walk was taking him 5 weeks! He also said he’d done the C2C in Jan/Feb, got frost bite and taken 4 weeks! He also assured us we didn’t need to worry too much about training on hills, just plenty of distance. He wanted to shed some weight so gave us his copy of Wuthering Heights he’d just finished…and we’re going to attempt to pass it on to another walker once we’ve read it!
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2 friends and the coast to coast walk 
Hi I am doing the C2C with my husband starting end of May, and have been reading your preparations with interest. Its hard doing a very long walk, isnt it! We did the Sandstone trail last weekend,near us cos we live in Cheshire, 38 miles over 2 days. And I am still aching, but enjoyed it.
Best wishes,
Joy.
Comment by Joy Miller April 7, 2008 @ 9:06 pmHi Joy,
Michelle is going to be jealous you’re doing it in May. She would quite happily doing it now and I think she may be regretting booking it later in the year! Good luck with your walk.
I have no idea why I ached so bad afterwards. My right hamstring still isn’t quite right but I’m sure it’ll sort itself out. It is difficult doing an all day walk but there’s something distinctly satisfying about getting home and taking your boots off. It’s going to be even more satisfying on the C2C when you get to your B&B, take your boots off and go for a beer! I must say one of the things I’m looking forward to most is getting to the last stop and having a nice beer. Can’t wait. And I’ve even got all that lovely scenery to watch go by before that!
Comment by theshed April 8, 2008 @ 6:53 amWelcome to our blog Joy!
Comment by gleavem April 10, 2008 @ 10:39 amSid’s right I am jealous you’re getting to do it before us…please come back on and tell us all about it when you’re home! Good luck with your training and preparation; we’ll keep our fingers crossed for nice weather for you. I’m hoping for long balmy days in August (not floods like 2007!)
x Michelle