A day in the Garden of England

Blue sky, green fields and the obligatory oast houses

A combination of birthday celebrations and prior commitments have thrown my plan of getting at least ten bikepacking trips away in 2025 into real jeopardy. Nearly the end of May and only 2 under my belt. So taking advantage of a cheaper long weekend ticket (and my newly bought Senior Railcard) I hopped on the 10.30 from Victoria to Ramsgate. This trundles north and saw me arrive at Wye round about noon.

I took the route from the ever reliable Laurence McJannet Bikepacking book, but planned to add a few km on the middle section to get to the coast.

GPX below

WyeGravelBike20250525120450.gpx

Download GPX • 4.06MB

The route combines chunks of the Nortn Downs Way, bridlepaths and (mostly) quiet roads. It also has a fair bit of climbing, 950m over 61km, so not negligable. But late May is a fantastic time to be out and about in Southern England. Spring and the flowers are out in force. And Kent truly is the Garden of England - my route saw me pass apple and cherry orchards as well the traditional Hop Vines (?) and the more recent Grape Vines. It's also a pretty industrial garden - with poly-tunnels filled with row upon row of strawberries - also in evidence.

The nurdling through Faversham was a bit of a drag - but bearable. Less bearable was the wind when I got to the coast. Not totally surprsing I guess, given that the London Array dominates the horizon at Seasalter. My original plan was to bivvy there (and grab a cheeky pint at the Sportsman), but despite not getting started until after midday I was there by 15.00 - a bit early to call it a day, even by my lightweight standards. The force 4 that snatched my words in the video underlined that this was a poor idea. Few things are less conducive to a good night's kip than a wind gusting over 20 knots. My sleep on a bivvy night is sporadic at best, so my preference is to make day 2 super short - ideally less than 10km. Another 30 to go hardly optimal.

So I decided to push on. The weather was great for bikepacking - t shirt but not too hot; acres of daylight and despite some recent rain, hardly a puddle to be seen. Like every great day, the time simply slips by - the views are invigorating; the climbs are doable and the trail rideable. So much so that by 18.30 I found myself in the beer garden of a rather delightful pub called the New Flying Horse back in Wye

There are few better places to while away time than an English country pub garden on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Fact.

Now it may be that I have recently turned 60, but, sitting with a bag of Taytos and a pint of bitter shandy, my thoughts turned homeward. One of the issues I have found with bikepacking in the South East is the lack of empty space. Away from National Trust places or Country Parks, it can be hard to find spots that aren't overlooked or very noisy. If I'd done a bit more homework I would probably have stopped at Wye Downs. Laurence suggests the rather excellently named Scoggins Hill near Oversland at about 40km. But with the next train at 19.22, I succumbed.

Feeble, I know. But at least I got a great night's sleep.

Rest assured, my next trip will require a bit more backbone - a 3 day epic across Dartmoor. Watch this space.