Rye to Folkestone

There can be few cycle rides in England which stay as close to the sea for so long as this one. We attempted this ride in 2015, but were disrupted by traffic jams on the M20 resulting from Operation Stack. This time all went according to plan, parking at Ashford station and getting the train to Rye arriving about midday. After a brief look round this quaint old town,we set off following NCN2 eastwards, with the weather set fair for a great summer's day. A map of our ride is here.

We stuck to the sea wall except where the Lydd and Hythe military ranges required diversions inland - at Hythe, we followed the Royal Military Canal towpath.

We also made a diversion to view the giant concrete sound mirrors at Lade gravel pits: these used to be inaccessible except on special open days, but now the site is under management by the RSPB and open 24x7. It was rather a slog to push our bikes along the shingle paths to the island where the mirrors are located. The swing bridge onto the island was closed, but there are views across to the mirrors - see photos below.

We reached Folkestone around 8pm, late but there was still daylight left. The only hill on our route was the climb up to Folkestone station, from where we caught the train back to Ashford.