18-August-2026
Steps: 29,166
Miles: 12.2
The maps above tells you that this was not going to be a day of high culture, pub stops and history as there was one village between the towns but there was enough.
The start of the day delivered another lesson to take forward, do not assume the Coastal Path will be on the beach. It was not but we were! We were caught on a commercial beach next to the A20 and railway tracks making getting back on the path a big back track or tough map reading. It was the site of our first row of the trek but we got back on track eventually and it might even of been a short cut and also closer to the sea. In fact the railway track and Channel Tunnel kept use away from the beach all day until Folkestone and up on the cliff tops going up and down.
There were plenty of old defence stations from WW2, I looked in one and was spooked by what looked like sleeping bags and maybe rough sleepers. At one point there was a fantastic large concave concrete structure looking out to sea whereby we could hear enemy traffic. But we were weary.
In Capel-Le-Ferne there was great excitement as we could see umbrellas on the cliff top and it was a café. What an easy decision to stop for a cup of Earl Grey and a chocolate milkshake (and you can guess who had what).
During the walk we saw two fantastical flying machines; one a kestrel rose up the cliff face to be metres away from us where we could see it in all its glory, the other was a propeller driven plane that turned out to be a Hurricane. We were informed of this when we arrived at the Battle of Britain Memorial which was a very interesting and fitting memorial to the “few” where you could recognise the immense bravery of these men and see the planes they were flying when completely outnumbered by the German Airforce. Similar to the Ukraine currently, the assumptions of victory in weeks due to bravery and enthusiasm to protect our lands meant that this did not happen.
Our descent into Folkestone was made easier by ripe plums on the path. The pitch and putt on the hill side looked nigh on impossible with the parched grass and then we were back on the shoreline, albeit at hightide lapping the sea walls. A pint of Harveys, an unwelcome walk up to the train station to pick up the car and we were then on the way home, tired but having thoroughly enjoyed ourselves again.