Part 5 – Dover to Hythe

Dover to Hythe

PART FIVE

Part 5:

Dover to Hythe

Distance: 23.3km Ascent: 440m

Highlights

• Exploring the castle and history of Dover • Samphire Hoe Country Park • Seeing the sound mirrors up close on the clifftop • Visiting the Battle of Britain Memorial • Visiting Terlingham vineyard • Looking out over the Channel Tunnel

Terminal

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Advice

• Follow the cycle lanes out of Dover to avoid riding on the busy roads • Some sections of the coastal path become footpath only, so you will need to follow the cycle path at these points • After heading inland, the A260 crossing can be busy. An island in the middle aids crossing here • If it’s been wet and you have skinny, slick tyres, either take care on the off-road sections (especially the descent to Hythe) or opt for the alternative route down

Navigation

Leaving Dover is straightforward as you follow a well-signposted cycle route beside the road and along the coast. Approaching the outskirts of Folkestone you weave inland and along higher ground, where some simple navigation is required, before heading back down to the coast where it all becomes simple once more.

Nature

Vegetated shingle is a Natural England UK Biodiversity Action Plan priority habitat as it is rare and valuable for wildlife. The wildlife areas here promote natural colonisation and encourage a natural balance in the ecosystem. The White Cliffs of Dover and the hills of the North Downs are formed of chalk, which comprises the skeletons of microscopic marine organisms called coccoliths that accumulated on the sea floor over 90 million years ago.

Area introduction and route summary

Dover is one of Britain’s best-known ports, standing proudly at the foot of the iconic white cliffs. Previously named Dubris during Saxon times, Dover became a fishing port and was one of the Cinque Ports that homed England’s first long-serving Royal Navy. The town is often described as the ‘key to England’ due to its defensive significance, and with Dover Castle standing guard since the eleventh century, it has been a gateway to the realm for some 900 years. With more than 80 acres of grounds to explore, battlements to walk, rooftop views to see, secret wartime tunnels to explore, and an underground hospital, it is worth taking time to visit on your journey through this part of the country, the closest point to mainland Europe.

On the chalk cliffs to your right is an area known as the Western Heights, home to a vast hilltop defensive fortification from the 1800s known as the Citadel.

Dover to Samphire Hoe

The route leaves Dover snaking between the marinas and with the gentle sound of the mast stays tinkling. You then join a cycle path that separates you from the hectic flow of traffic to and from this busy port town. On the chalk cliffs to your right is an area known as the Western Heights, home to a vast hilltop defensive fortification from the 1800s known as the Citadel. This military barricade was built for protection from Napoleon, but in 1952, after the Second World War, it was converted into a prison and later became a youth detention centre. In more recent times it served as an immigration removal centre but was closed down in 2015.

Just outside the defensive ditch system which surrounds the Citadel, is the Citadel Battery, with three 9.2-inch breech-loading guns, mounted in large concrete emplacements. It remained armed throughout the beginning of the twentieth century and was manned during the Second World War, with magazines for the guns located in vaulted rooms directly below the guns. Although the entrances have now been filled with earth, many of the Citadel's original buildings remain preserved and you are able to walk in the area, and also hopefully cycle soon. Following the National Cycle Network (NCN) 2 out of Dover, you cross a bridge over the rumbling A20, to a junction where a big, dark and intriguing tunnel on your left drops down into the cliff, with cars queuing up to disappear into its gaping mouth. This is the entrance to the UK’s newest strip of land, the 30-hectare Samphire Hoe nature reserve, which was created in 1997 using 4.9 million cubic metres of chalk marl excavated during the digging of the Channel Tunnel. Designed both for people to enjoy and for wildlife to thrive in, it’s popular with anglers and walkers, as well as home to a huge variety of wildlife and nationally rare plant species, including the early spider orchid. There is also a gentle 2km cycle route around the perimeter of the reserve, passing beneath the cliffs, past lakes, and along a high sea wall. You’ll also find a café and toilets here. If you are tempted off-route, please note you should use the footway through the tunnel and it’s recommended cyclists walk.

Samphire Hoe

Samphire Hoe to Hythe

Sadly, the North Downs Way trail along the edge of the cliff tops is not accessible by bike, making Houghton Battery accessible by foot only. However, continuing along the decent surface of the NCN 2 makes for easier going, and you also pass right by a sound mirror at Abbot’s Cliff. These early warning detection systems were invented to give advance notice of approaching enemy aircraft. Although you won’t hear much from it now, you can still sit and appreciate the innovation and the view. Shortly after, the route joins a path beside the road, which delivers you to Capel-le-Ferne, with wonderful views over the English Channel and refreshments at the Clifftop Café. A wonderful spot – if you don’t suffer from vertigo, as it clings to the side of the cliff, and boasts a stunning panoramic vista. Back on the move again, you will shortly cross the entrance to the Battle of Britain Memorial site, a highly recommended stop-off. It’s set high on the cliffs and makes a fitting site for a monument to the aircrew who flew in the Battle of Britain, from July to October 1940. A central statue of a seated airman looks out across the sea, to where the Luftwaffe would have appeared from the Continent in 1940. The airman in the statue wears an Irvin flying jacket to hide his uniform and disguise any nationality or rank, and is surrounded by the badges of all the Allied squadrons and other units that took part in the battle. A memorial wall contains the names of all the aircrew known to have flown during the Battle of Britain, listed in alphabetical order, without rank or decoration, to highlight and respect everyone who contributed to the RAF’s victory. There are also some wonderful replica aircraft and plenty more to see inside the Wing, as the visitor centre is called. It was opened in 2015 and shaped to look like the wings of a Spitfire plane, complete with its famous uplift. Cycle parking is available outside, while inside you can visit the Scramble Experience, a hands-on attraction that uses audio-visual effects and video wall to show something of what was experienced in the battle. On the first floor, an open balcony reveals more superb views across the Channel to France, and the Cockpit Café cooks up some fine refreshments too. There is also a well-stocked souvenir shop, if you have room in your luggage for any gifts, that is.

Battle of Britain Museum

Another place of aviation interest nearby, but off the route, is the Kent Battle of Britain Museum, to the north of Folkestone, in Hawkinge. It is home to a large collection of Second World War aviation artefacts and memorabilia, and worth the trip to learn and appreciate “how so much is owed by so many, to so few”.

kbobm.org

Folkstone

If you have time, it’s worth dipping into the vibrant town of Folkestone for a look around. An important harbour and shipping port during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the town has transformed itself into an artistic hub and foodie haven. The cobbled streets of the Creative Quarter are home to over 100 artists and projects, and the former ferry terminal of the Harbour Arm is now a popular destination for street food stalls.

Approaching the outskirts of Folkestone you weave inland and along higher ground, where some simple navigation is required, before heading back down to the coast where it all becomes simple once more...

The route now dips inland, keeping its height to traverse along the top of a steep escarpment, offering great views over Folkestone. The roads are quiet, making for lovely riding, and although it crosses the busy A260, you are immediately back onto singletrack roads. At a fork in the road, there is an option to take a diversion to the lovely family-run Terlingham vineyard. It requires climbing the hillside, but the lofty location of this natural, boutique vineyard is delightful. What’s more, they make award-winning wines and offer tours and wine tasting. The vineyard also has some B&B accommodation. After your visit, you can return to the route via a bridleway opposite the vineyard exit, which will cut the corner and add some off-road fun down the hillside, if you have the tyres (and head) for it.

Also just off the route, on Castle Hill, is Caesar’s Camp, a Bronze Age barrow and castle, probably constructed in the twelfth century. It offers great views over Folkestone, but sadly is only accessible by footpath, so you will have to leave the bike behind. Continuing along the road delivers more impressive views, this time over the Eurotunnel terminal below, with its spaghetti-like multiple railway lines and throngs of cars and lorries winding their way onto the shuttle trains.

The Channel Tunnel

An average of 60,000 passengers pass through the Eurotunnel each day, along with 4,600 trucks, 140 coaches and 7,300 cars. Since its completion, the equivalent of over six times the population of the UK and more than 80 million vehicles have travelled through the tunnel. It was one of the biggest engineering projects ever undertaken in the UK, taking more than five years and more than 13,000 workers to connect Folkestone with Coquelles in France. Running beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover, roughly 50 metres below the seabed (75 at its lowest), and 115 metres below sea level, the project cost £4.65 billion (equivalent to £12 billion today), 80 per cent more than expected, but is recognised as one of the “Seven Wonders of the Modern World” by the American Society of Civil Engineers. However, we don’t recommend you try and cycle through the tunnel like Tour de France winner Chris Froome did in 2014. An alternative method of crossing the Channel is to swim. The first successful crossing was in 1875 by Matthew Webb in a time of 21hrs 45mins. The fastest time was just 6hrs 55mins, set in 2012 by Australian, Trent Grimsey.

Your journey continues down a slightly rough, tree-lined singletrack road, where you’ll need to be alert and keen on the brakes should you meet anyone coming the other way. It’s a fun descent to the small village of Peene, which lies on the edge of the Eurotunnel terminal, where at the bottom, you now join a bridleway directly ahead and the road bears sharply right. At the fork in the bridleway, the route goes left, but if you wish, take the right fork to deliver you to the door of the Elham Valley Line Trust. This is home to the lovely little Peene Railway Museum, formed in 1984 to preserve railway history, along with a miniature railway, a model of the Eurotunnel layout, and of course, a tearoom. Back to the route, follow a permissive bridleway along a weaving singletrack trail which passes through a tranquil and green corridor. There are lots of information boards on the local flora and fauna dotted along this stretch of trail, and between mid-May to early August you could well spot either the common spotted and pyramidal orchids here. Of nearly 60 species of orchid that exist in Britain, almost half can be found in Kent.

From the peaceful and the serene, to crossing beneath and over various bridges with a cacophony of noise from motorised vehicles, you’re soon leaving the drone of the M20 behind you and climbing into the quiet countryside once more. Well, that’s if the military training camp isn’t in action and firing on the ranges. Near the top of the road, the track technically becomes a footpath and the bridleway bears off right, up through a grassy field, but it rejoins at the top by Dibgate Camp. Dibgate Camp used to house a number of anti-aircraft batteries and just to the south was a prisoner of war camp to house German prisoners. It’s safe now,

Hythe seafront

but numerous caution signs remind you not to touch anything, or wander off the public rights of way, for fear of explosions. Do stop and turn 180 degrees though, to see the Folkestone White Horse, created by a local artist using limestone slabs, on the hillside you were riding across earlier. The trail now passes through some deciduous woods to the Sene Valley Golf Club, where a weaving singletrack snakes its way between the hedges. Take care on this surface if it’s wet and you’re on slick tyres. After being delivered down the hill, past the Fountain pub with a rather intriguing advert for Nana Fanny’s Salt Beef, you arrive back at the familiar coastline once more at Seabrook. There are some cafés here, including the friendly Mr Whippet’s café just along the seafront, offering up some great coffee and treats, with benches and a sea wall to perch on while you soak in the far-reaching views all the way to Dungeness. It looks a long way from here, especially when your eye follows the long, arching coastline you are about to follow. However, there are

Folkstone white horse

just a couple of kilometres further to ride of this short but busy section of your journey, into the coastal town of Hythe, where you will be met by a healthy selection of accommodation and eateries.