North Sea Cycle Route - Dover to Chatham
Deal Beach
Ride overview
Stage 1
The first day of this fabulous adventure along England’s eastern seaboard, is a journey of gentle pleasure along the coast and through the countryside of Kent, from the famous white cliffs and wide shingle beaches, to the gentle undulations of the downs and sheep-grazed salt marshes. You ride along the old Wantsum Channel, once filled with sea and ships and now covered with fields of grain and fruit orchards. But it’s not all nature, for there are exquisite old houses whose walls are bowed with age, pretty villages with delightful pubs, historic towns, old ports, and more castles than you care to count. And if that was not enough, there is Canterbury, with its UNESCO World Heritage Cathedral and Abbey. The route uses the narrowest of lanes as well as traffic-free cycle tracks along the coast. Some of the tracks are firm under tyre, but they are not all smooth and asphalted, so a gravel bike for this stage, (as well as for the whole route to the north) is advised. Consider using a minimum of 28mm tyres or anything up to 35mm.
To read the full blog post for this ride click here.
Ride Practicalities
The route is well signed as NCN 1 throughout.
Recommended stop after Day 1, is at Chatham, but this will depend on the number of stops you make to visit the many castles, cathedral and other sites along the way.
START/FINISH: Dover seafront/Chatham docks DISTANCE: 124km TOTAL ASCENT: 811m TERRAIN AND SURFACES: A mix of quiet roads, cycle paths and traffic-free cycle trails. Most of the cycle tracks are not asphalted and although firm to ride on, they can be lumpy and bumpy. Nothing that 28mm+ tyres cannot cope with. RECOMMENDED CAFÈS/PUBS: Deal; Route One on the Prom, Fordwich; The George and Dragon, Canterbury; The Parrot, The Good’s Shed, Whitstable; The Pearson’s Arms, The Lobster Shack, Faversham; The Bear Inn, The cafe by the creek GOURMET RESTAURANT: Fordwich; The Fordwich Arms, Seasalter, The Sportsman, ACCOMMODATION; Travel Lodge at Chatham CAMPING/CHAMPING; For a small fee, you can ‘champ’ inside the church at Fordwich. (Tea and coffee facilites provided, along with camp beds and blankets). Camping at Painter’s Farm, near Faversham. Wild camping along the coast, whilst illegal, is possible NEARBY MAINLINE TRAIN SERVICES: Dover, Canterbury, Faversham, Sittingbourne, Chatham, LINKS TO OTHER ROUTES: NCN 1 stage 2
Ride Notes
To read the blog for this ride, click here
Be reassured; everything is better after Dover. As you prepare to embark on this mammoth ride, you’ll stand beside the cold, grey sea on a concrete slipway listening to the screech of gulls, and the rattle of lorries as they haul their loads up the ramps of the cross-Channel ferries. Amidst the din and depressing gloom of Dover town, you may wonder if you’ve done the right thing in choosing this route. However, all things improve radically, once you’ve climbed the hill to the castle. There, you’ll look over the fabled white cliffs and across the busiest shipping lane in the world to France. And crowning the hill is the mighty fortress, England’s bastion; Dover Castle. There’s been a fort on the site for at least 2,000 years, and although you may have only covered two kilometres, it’s well worth visiting.
Port of Dover
After the castle, you begin the first section of cycle track. It’s a little rough and countryfied, before a narrow lane takes you down to Walmer, which along with Deal is notable for its low-slung castle, shingle beaches and tidy Regency architecture. Walmer Castle is still used by the Warden of the Cinque Ports, a title given to a person who overseas the traditional jurisdictions of the Cinque Ports.
Between Dover and Faversham, you’ll see many information boards relating to The Cinque Ports. It was an early medieval association of south coast ports, (originally Hastings, New Romney, Hythe, Dover, Sandwich) who were allowed special privileges from the King in return for supplying ships and men for an agreed number of days per year. It was a method which gave a measure of independence to the towns and a sort of ‘stand-by navy’ for the king.
Deal Castle
Most of the riding along the coast is on traffic-free cycle paths between the salt marshes and the sea. It is a breezy ride, under huge skies, with the smell of salt and sea in your nose. Gulls wheedle above you, sheep nibble in the marsh. In the historic towns, there are any number of cafés and pubs to stop off at should you wish.
Golf will be quite a feature on this ride and Royal St. George’s is the first of several Championship courses which you’ll pass as you ride further north. As you approach its links, you’ll see a large board outlining the many rules which must be obeyed both by cyclists and members of the golf club. Observe the 20mph speed limit as if your life depended upon it, and proceed to the safety of the Cinque Port of Sandwich.
Richborough Roman Fort, once the Gateway to Britannia
After Sandwich you head inland, following the coastline as it was in the Roman and Saxon times. You ride past the remains of Richborough Fort, a Roman port and fort, through which most of its army and supplies arrived. The riding is along very narrow lanes which angle around fields and orchards. What you are riding on was The Wantsum Channel, which separated the Isle of Thanet from the mainland, and was until its silting up a thousand years ago, full of shipping.
Fordwich is the sort of place that makes you pull up with delight. There are with two pubs, one of which is Michelin starred, wonky cottages, a chalk stream and St Mary the Virgin, a Champing Church; that is to say, you can sleep inside it. Camp beds, blankets, tea and coffee facilities are all provided. Use this link to book.
Fordwich
Canterbury needs little introduction; its cathedral is the centre of the worldwide Anglican Community and was a pilgrimage destination on a par with Rome until Thomas Becket’s shrine was destroyed by Henry VIII. The city’s streets are beautifully preserved especially around the Butter Market, where in times gone by, bulls were tethered and taunted by dogs. It was believed that the meat was made more tender if the bull was treated this way.
The way out of the city is up a hill, past the University and along a cycle track, known and the ‘Crab and Winkle’. It rides through Blean Woods, one of the largest areas of ancient broad-leafed woodland in southern Britain. Whistable, whilst not on the route, is well worth visiting - a classic seaside town of weatherboarded houses, picturesque sea-front and of course its fabled oysters which can be eaten in many of the towns pubs and restaurants. If you go into the town, head out on the road to Seasalter to re-join the official route.
‘Red Devils’
The Sportsman at Seasalter is another ‘destination’ Michelin starred pub. A meal here is memorable but will need significant advanced booking. The riding onwards to Faversham continues on windy and windy lanes, and off-road tracks which ‘ziggle’ their way around the sheep-filled marshes. The quality of the light is fabulous, reeds rustle and the warblers sing. You ride past stumpy towered churches and isolated farm houses of great antiquity. It is a beguiling landscape, and in autumn the hedgerows are filled with fruit.
The town of Faversham has more listed buildings than any other town in England, and also the nation’s oldest brewery, Shepherd Neame. It was from the small port that James II fled into exile in 1688. The town’s abbey was founded by King Stephen to house his Royal body, but it was never so used as his corpse was tossed into the sea instead by the townspeople. For over 400 years the manufacture of gunpowder was the principle industry. The powder primed the cannons of many battles, including Waterloo.
Faversham
The final thirty kilometres mix muddy creeks, huge skies and extensive marshes, with some very grotty southern towns. There is nothing to delay you as you ride through Sittingbourne, Rainham and Gillingham. Fortunately most of the riding is on the traffic-free coast path, which you follow into Chatham.
You may be all history’d out by the time you arrive Chatham, in which case leave the Royal Naval dockyards until the morning. They are the world’s most complete example of an historical dockyard from the age of sail. It was a vital cog in the defence of the Empire, providing the Royal Navy with ships, supplies and repairs. There’s much to see including two sheds where ships were built and which were for a hundred years or so, the largest enclosed space in the world.
Every route on this website has been carefully researched as well as ridden. However situations on the ground can change quickly. If you know of changes to this route, or cafes, pubs and the like which you think other cyclists need to know about, feel free to share your thoughts below.
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