After the long plod from Ramsgate station down to the harbour, this 10km section begins with the descent into Pegwell Bay. Leaving the white chalk cliffs behind, the walk remains flat as it curves round the bay, past Richborough and away from the coast into the village of Sandwich.

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History of the area

Ramsgate began life as a fishing and farming hamlet, and was formerly known as Ramisgate (1225) and Ramesgate (1357) amongst others. The town has had a colourful history, with Roman and Viking invasions (1st and 5th century) and St Augustine landing and bringing Christianity to England (597AD). In 1749 work began on the construction of the harbour, which was completed over 100 years later. As a result of George IV using it extensively, Ramsgate was designated a Royal Harbour - the only one in the UK. It also saw heavy use as the main embarkment point during the Napoleonic Wars and the Dunkirk evacuation.

The town is now home to 40k people and has fishing and tourism as the major industries, although the former is now in decline. Ferrys operate from the busy terminal, with 4 sailings to and from Ostend (Belgium) per day for passengers in cars. It is hoped that in 2009 work will begin on high speed rail services to London, with a commuting time of 63 minutes. The resulting boom in buy to let has seen property prices rocket, large houses being converted into flats, and parking becoming a real problem in residential areas.

To the south of Ramsgate is the Pegwell Bay nature reserve - an important habitat for wildlife, and another hotspot for bird watchers in the region. It was also host to a hovercraft terminal operated by Hoverlloyd from 1969 to 1982 - with 40 minute crossing times to Calais, compared to the equivalent ferry service of 90-100 mins. Unfortunately soaring oil prices and reduced commercial advantage during the seventies led to its demise, and the terminal was demolished. The groundwork still remains however, and the hovercraft pad, car marshalling area and approach road are still clearly recognisable.

Richborough was formerly a major fort protecting the Wantsum Channel from invaders. Now silted up, the major feature of the area is the derelict power station. Built in the 50's and 60's, electricity was generated from coal (1962-71), oil (1971-1989) and the experimental fuel Orimulsion (1990-1996). The disasterous environmental impact of the latter eventually ended up costing Powergen £3-4m in an out of court settlement, and the power station was shut down.

Occupying the land where Richborough Port once stood, the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer now has one of it's major Reasearch and Development sites. As East Kents largest single employer it employs around 4000 staff, although at one time this was 6-7000 - outnumbering the residents in the local Sandwich village. The port itself saw action during the world wars, including acting as a ferry port for troops and munitions to cross the channel in WW1, and as a refugee camp and Marine base in WW2, before being purchased by Pfizer in 1954.

The walk

Ramsgate to Pegwell Bay is scenic and easy walking. It is worth walking down into the bay to look at the hoverport remains, although the wet saltmarsh underfoot means a trip back up to the cliff top by the Viking ship is necessary. It is possible to drop back down to the coast to the north bank of the Stour estuary and sneak a peek at the old port remains, although whether this is public land is not overly clear. Unable to cross the river, I headed back up to the A256, down Ramsgate Road and into Sandwich - 5km without the sea in view.

Ferry terminal at Ramsgate
Pegwell Tunnel, with Richborough power station in the background
Pegwell Bay hotel
Pegwell Bay
The old hoverport terminal in Pegwell Bay
The hoverport landing platform
Viking ship
The nature reserve
"Line of pillars"
Remains of Richborough Port
Richborough power station
Pharmaceuticals at Great Stonar
Stonar lake

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