Cantii Way: Rye to Canterbury

Today, I completed my circumnavigation of the Cantii Way with my third and final day-ride,  from Rye to Canterbury. (An overview of the whole route is here.)

I parked at Ashford station, took the train to Rye, and got the train back from Canterbury (West). I did the Rye Harbour/Winchelsea loop (nice ride through the sea shore nature reserve), and also the optional excursion to the Wye Crown - well worth it for the view, although it meant I was pretty tuckered out for the long climb up the road from Wye to King's Wood. 60 miles in all, on a sunny day with a good tailwind. Shout out to the Winchelsea Beach café for breakfast, and the Church Mouse tea rooms in Chilham. Well done Cycling UK for creating this route.

Train from Ashford to Rye

Discovery Centre, Rye Harbour Nature Reserve (has cafe, but not yet open when I arrived)

Rye Harbour NNR: shingle and marshes

The excellent track is part of NCN2 (Fairlight cliffs in distance)

Old Lifeboat station at Rye Harbour NNR

Dungeness Power Stations on the horizon

Mobile homes at Winchelsea Beach

Winchelsea Beach Cafe ....

... does excellent breakfast...

...with little huts to provide shelter from the wind

The coast road beside the Pett Levels (not taken on this ride)

Winchelsea Strand Gate

Winchelsea Church

Gravestone for Spike Milligan, with its inscription in Gaelic
"Dúirt mé leat go raibh mé breoite" "I told you I was ill"

There are many fine white clapperboard houses

Track back to Rye follows the foot of the Cadborough Cliff (now several miles from the sea)

Rye town gatehouse

The 'military road' beside the Royal Military Canal: flat but a bit boring, since.......

 ........the canal can only be glimpsed occasionally

The countryside gets hillier approaching Woodchurch

Woodland Byway, a shady interlude on the Way from Woodchurch to Ashford

Ashford has a good set of cycle paths

Lunch stop in Park, central Ashford

Subway under the railway, Ashford

Not very pleasant shared use pavement

Wye Crown carved in the hillside, best seen from a distance

Road heading to Wye

Wye church (they had the organ builders in)

I made the off-route excursion to take in the views from the Wye NNR at Broad Downs.....

... then back along the North Downs Way....

...to the viewpoint above the Wye Crown (the final few metres are footpath, so leave your bike at the gate)

You don't see much of the Wye Crown from here

Crossing the Great Stour in Wye

Good forest tracks in King's Wood....

...followed by a rather stony start to the North Downs Way........

...but the surface improves (but not the views)

The handsome square in the village of Chilham

Entrance to Chilham Castle

Church Mouse Tea Rooms

Chilham Church

Chartham Church (there are many fine churches along the Cantii Way)

The ride into Canterbury is beside the sleepy River Stour...

... on good cycle paths