This longer walk divides into two main parts: Herne Bay to Reculver (6km) - which has everything from cliffs, beaches and rockpools to the Towers themselves; and Reculver to Birchington (7km) - which is mostly a monotonous plod along the sea wall, with the occassional highlights of Minnis Bay and the beginning of the Thanet cliffs.

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History of the area

Herne Bay was first recorded as Hyrnan in the 1100's, was home to smugglers in the 19th century, and became a seaside resort in the Victorian era. Its most significant feature (and the reason for HB's development) is the pier. Built by the Herne Bay Pier Company in 1832 (who was created by some smart people who noticed the large passenger steam ships passing by through the estuary to London, and wanted some of the commercial action), the first, wooden pier was over a kilometre long. By 1834 more than 40 000 tourists were debarking at the pier and spending their money in the newly formed town. Unfortunatley the wooden structure was also prone to ship worm, and by 1862 it was closed for access, and 9 years later demolished. The second (metal) pier was built and opened in 1873, at a more modest 100m long. This was no good for commercial use however, and so the kilometre extension (the third incarnation) was built and opened in 1899.

Over the next 75 years the pier had a Victorian boom, and then a somewhat malodorous time - having sections cut out of it during the second world war (which were later rebuilt); being damaged by storms in 1953; weakened by the sea freeze of 1962-3; and having a major fire in 1970. To round things off, the great storms of 1978 and 1979 eventually brought about the collapse of the central section - later further demolished by man to make it safer. All that remains now is the pavillion (constructed 3 years before the rest of the pier collapsed - the insurance company must have been ecstatic...) and the island of the landing platform, over a kilometre out to sea. There has been an ongoing campaign by local businesses to have the pier rebuilt, at a taxpayer/private sector cost of £8.5-12.5m - which has as yet been unsucessful.

Asides from the pier, Herne Bay is home to the worlds first free-standing purpose-built clocktower (1837); a fetching central bandstand (1924), recently refurbished; a Blue Flag clean beach award; 60 000 residents; and the new Neptune's Arm sea defence built to protect Central Parade (1992). The latter was in response to the flood issues of the 1970's, which the council deemed 20 years later to be a 1-in-a-100-year recurring event. The original 1920's sea wall was made of cheap concrete, and the 1960's replacement was built on shingle that would be washed out if the old wall failed. Hopefully the council got it right this time. Either way, it looks nice and creates a little sandy harbour for the kids to play in.

Walking east takes you past the village of Beltinge, picturesque Bishopstone Glen and up to the foot of the Reculver Towers.

The walk

I was lucky again with the weather - it started off warm and misty, ended up nicely hot and sunny - and I managed to aquire a healthy pink finish down my right hand side. There are a few pubs along the sea front in Herne Bay - all shut when I started the walk on Sunday morning - but the Ship is probably worth a visit. There's also a Weatherspoons (The Saxon Shore) just by the Clocktower for cheap food and ales. Providing a convenient break in the walk is the King Ethelbert Inn in Reculver - again, I was too early to sample their beers, but later visits have yielded very decent lunches.