21st November 2022
I was going to go for a cold swim in the docks with Jannicke but I got so stressed out trying to book in on the Actio app that I eventually gave up. I had wasted so much time frigging about that I was now too late to join the Military Outdoor Fitness Sunday Running Club. So I went for a walk instead!
The funny thing is we just park in the Shorne Wood Country Park and then walk straight out of it. There is nothing wrong with the park, but on a sunny Sunday there are just too many people. So we march right out of the car park entrance and turn left following the clear Darnley Trial markers.
Possibly one reason that this walk is not frequented very much is that you do need to cross the A2 “Motorway” twice. So the walk starts of a little bit grim and noisy, but stick with it because it does get better. Once the traffic noise dies away you will find yourself walking in pleasant hilly woodland with hardly a sole around.
I am totally useless at turning on my Garmin watch so the tracking map above starts when I remembered to activate the tracking feature and the red streak at the end is where I forgot to turn it off! The great thing is with this 10 km route is you don’t really need the map, it is very well signed, so I reckon it would be a perfect training run for something like the Steyning Stinger Half Marathon
There was enough mud to make the path interesting but still very “runnable”.
The stated length is 10 km but it could be easily lengthened by adding a loop around the Country Park at the end.
Details
Shorne Woods Country Park is just off the A2 in Kent. It costs about £2 or £3 pounds to park for the day. You can spend 20 minutes fumbling with your mobile phone on the app or just bring some good old fashioned cash and bang it in the slot. The car park is locked quite early, so check when it closes before getting locked in for the night. There are toilets there and a place to wash down your dog, which is handy, especially if you have a dog. There is also a café, but the food was so awful when I last tried that I haven’t ventured in since. And its not just me, Trip Advisor doesn’t do it any favours either.
The new award winning building that houses the café is currently under scaffolding and undergoing major works so perhaps the award wasn’t to do with longevity?
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