Coastwalk

Sandwich → Margate

Distance: 16.6 miles
Ascent: 360 metres
Duration: 5 hours 10 minutes

A sudden blast of white
« Deal | Whitstable »

And so to the reason I'm in Margate. If you've known me for more than a month in the past five years you'll have guessed: I'm spending this weekend constructively. Back to the Kent coast.

I took the train from Margate to Sandwich this morning, thereby committing myself to what I expected to be a fourteen mile walk. (It weighed in three miles heavier, what with getting to the walk endpoints and all.)

And these are the things that I have seen:

• A rapidly expanding chemical plan owned by Pfeizer
  Is this where that most spammed about product was invented? Is the redevelopment a direct result of the legitimate sales of the pill?
• The White Cliffs of Thanet
  Sure it doesn't have the same ring to it as Dover, but why do we never hear of these cliffs? They're more majestic and accessible than Dover, full of inlets, tunnels and deep-cut narrow smugglers' paths.
• The ghost of the International Hoverport
  Closed since 1982, now an expanse of abandoned concrete sloping into the sea.
• A port that has seen better days
  And presumably the reason for the 'European regeneration fund' signs everywhere
• A courting couple paddling
  He smokes cooly; she's wearing a smart red coat and clutching a tiny, tiny handbag. (She's more convincing than he.)
• A sky full of birds, swirling in the late afternoon sun

It was a busy and exhausting walk, but one I'd gladly repeat: full of interest an variety.

On a geeky note, the promise of widespread wireless Internet access hasn't be honoured. There are two sites in Margate whose online presence claim Wi-Fi, but on the ground neither provides a signal. My idea of updating from the road might have hit a small problem.