Damian is joining me today and as the logistics of the Halstow Marshes have beaten me, we will be following the Saxon Shore Way as far east as High Halstow, a village I walked through on my previous walk from AllHallows to Rochester.

The complicated network of footpaths crossing the Allhallows marshes, plus reports of heavy mud, makes up my mind – the first part of the walk is going cross country. And hurray for the Medway! The paths are clearly signposted and easy walking and I only get lost once.

I step down onto the platform at Rochester station in spitting rain – a fitting backdrop to the miserable high street and desolate sea front. In the distance the stark profile of Kingsnorth Power Station rises up out of the mist on the water and soon I move into futuristic bus stations and dockland development – evidence of the Medway development plan.

Tucked away behind a busy retail park is the Sitttingbourne & Kemsley Light Railway, run by a group of enthusiasts who despite vandalism and indifference on the part of the local population, have managed to keep this lovely little steam engine running.

The plan is to take advantage of a new bridge bypassing Sittingbourne and its arid industrial landscapes.

From Teynham station past fields of fruit trees laden with fruit and on to the sailing boats of Conyer.

An early start in Faversham, down to the Creek in sunshine already hot. The path is easy to find through a boat yard strung with drying washing and out on to marshes and mud.

I have a companion today, Sharon, a friend I’ve known from primary school in Wales. Out of touch for 20 years and now together again in London. Out of the station we hit the sea front earlier than I remembered from my walk to Birchington and before us are high chalky cliffs sweeping down to the familiar concrete promenade meandering into the distance.

Arriving late in Whitstable I scuttle around for provisions and a hat – it is going to be a very hot day and I will be walking into the sun.

The road past Derek Jarman’s poetic house at Dungeness leads us to the lighthouse, the grey fortifications of the power station, the old coastguard cottages and the endless shingle trudge across the nature reserve to Lydd.