There seem to be five major rivers in England called Stour (prob Celtic “strong one”) The Kent one runs from Lenham in the North Downs through Ashford, Canterbury, and Sandwich to the sea at Pegwell Bay. The Stour valley walk follows the river valley, though only about 17km out of 83 are on the river bank.
I used the excellent guide book published by Kent County Council in 1995. Edited by Donald Sykes it is the product of many hands including the Stour Valley Countryside Project.
Guide books seem to be favoured by older walkers. explorekent.org is a useful website.
The walk falls into six stages, each an easy day walk. Easy for a man in his forties. Couldn’t do it now. Using car, train and buses i finished the walk in 1999, amused by the two white plastic chairs at remote Shell Ness.
Plenty of variety. Farmland. Heathland at Hothfield and Canterbury’s Old Park. Stodmarsh nature reserve. Shingle beach near the end. Sandwich’s town wall. A neolithic long barrow. Some lovely views. I’m not writing a guide: that’s been done, and done well.
The Stour Valley Walk is attractive both as a long distance walk and in short stages.
Walking helps one to forget Covid and other problems.
Rambling Brummie 