North Downs Way - Harrietsham to Canterbury

On the second of three days walking from Rochester to Dover, via Canterbury along the North Downs Way - this day's walking was from Harrietsham to Canterbury. For the previous day please click the following link : Day 1 - Rochester to Harrietsham.

The previous night I had stayed in Ashford, so the first task of the day was to stop off and get some drinks and food for the day, before heading to the train station for the train - which would take me out to Harrietsham station.

As I had found out the previous day, the paths around Harrietsham are pretty good and there is a footpath direct from the station up to the North Downs Way - which was already busy with everyone out on their early dog walks, and remarking on how warm it was for the time of year. And so it was a very short and enjoyable walk back up to rejoin where I had left the path the night before.

Turning right back onto the North Downs Way, it was only a short walk to find the first point of interest on the day, in the form of Brother Percival having a rest on a bench on the path :

Meet Brother Percival - he doesn't talk much

The North Downs Way will alternate between being a countryside route that explores the downs and a route that follows the old "Pilgrim's Way" and here as the path starts getting closer to Canterbury, the path tends to have more of a Pilgrim's Way vibe.

This means the path starts to alternate between very quiet country roads, farm tracks and footpaths as it heads along which is said to be the old pilgrim's route. Of course if you go back even further in time to about 500BCE then this route would have been the old Harrow Way (or at least somewhere roughly near this point would be).

That Harrow Way began at Seaton in Devon, went past Stonehenge, round to Farnham and then following a similar path to the North Downs Way rounds to Canterbury and Dover.

The Pilgrim's Way is more a modern (Victorian) invention than a strictly defined historical route, but undoubtedly pilgrim's would have wanted to head through the towns on the way and to walk along the sandy routes of the downs rather than the chalky mush you often find in the surrounding areas. And the towns being followed were pilgrim towns so it is good enough to call it the Pilgrim's Way.

Once out past beyond Lenham the path becomes more of a countryside route - rather than a route passing the outlier houses in the villages - and the countryside opens up again.

Passing beyond Lenham

By this point Maidstone is well behind, and although Ashford sits ahead as a larger town, this feels very rural and you feel you have really broken out from the slightly more urban vibe of the first half of the previous day.

Now, its time to settle in as the fields pass by and other than briefly crossing small roads, you are largely left to yourself until you come up to Charing - where once again there is a rail link for those doing smaller sections of the trail. 

After Charing the route heads out along a quite road and then through fairly attractive woodland bordering the fields below - and for this stretch you are once again back around more people out for a walk.

But as you pass Westwell you again start to head out through quieter countryside and through fairly polished farmland as you begin to head towards the well manicured town of Boughton Lees.

The farmland just past Westwell

Manicured roads heading through Eastwell Park before Broughton Lees

Eastwell Park is a bit of a posh spot and indeed it was a royal residence for Prince Alfred at once point (when the Manor was bigger) - who was the fourth child of Albert and Victoria. At one point he was second in line to the throne so the area has decent royal connections, with Victoria having visited the property while he lived here.

In fact you can now stay at Eastwell Manor (a smaller but still impressive rebuild after a fire in the 1920s) - and while it looks a little posh for the likes of me, I did check the prices (what else better do I have to do on a walk?) and its pretty reasonable (£129 for a one night stay for 1, £189 for two in a cheapo double room, £359 for two in the most expensive rooms - with prices rising on more popular days). Just remember to bring a smart change of clothes though, as they won't serve you dinner in your hiking gear 😆.

After Broughton Lees, the good countryside continues to be on show and it is straight back into chalky fields for the next phase of the walk.

Fields after Boughton Lees

After a period of time wandering through this countryside, it is time to head up again and into King's Wood - formerly a royal hunting forest, hence the name - which involves a decent amount of climbing once again, but remains a pleasant wood to walk through.

King's Wood

From here the route drops down before heading on towards Chilham which is a pretty picture postcard village with a very popular pub (with some nice old cars outside when I visited). Again this provides a handy on/off point for people doing a shorter section of the route.

This really marks the beginning of the final run into Canterbury and things do start to feel slightly less rural again as you head through Chartham Hatch and then start to navigate past the A2 on your way into Canterbury.

Here do you find a busy town with plenty of traffic (which is a bit of a culture shock compared to the medieval town with taverns and ponies that you have almost come to expect by this point) - but once inside the town you can pull off the main route through and have a wander of the backstreets to the cathedral - which I was able to sneak into without making any payments.

Canterbury cathedral - you apparently have to pay to visit unless you just wander in

And here in Canterbury it is time to find some food and settle down for the night before the last push on to Dover tomorrow.

Click to see the route writeup for day three - Canterbury to Dover

Disclaimer: This writeup provides a narrative of what to expect rather than a route guide to follow. The route is covered by the 179 and 189 OS Landranger maps - while there is also a North Downs Way guidebook which includes OS mapping (links redirect to Amazon). The route is in general well way-marked.