By Graham Smith

The 2019White Cliffs Walking Festival will be opened in a ceremony on Walmer Green today (Thursday).

It will be the seventh annual walking festival organised by the White Cliffs Ramblers, whose members are celebrating their 30th anniversary this year.

Kate Ashbrook, chairman of The Ramblers, will open the festival at 10am and this will be followed by a choice of three walks.

The festival, which ends on Wednesday next week, comprises 42 different walks, ranging from ones of one or two miles themed on Dover’s history, to the 32-mile White Cliffs Challenge on Saturday. This starts from St Margaret’s and is put on by the Long Distance Walkers Association.

This year’s festival includes 12 new walks, including the Kearsney Loop on Sunday. This is a new 2.5-mile trail, aimed at families, which was created following negotiations over access with the Defence Infrastructure Organisation, part of the Ministry of Defence.

There are also old favourites like the 10-mile Fish and Chip Walk, starting from Walmer railway station, on Friday; three White Cliffs Panoramic Trails, of seven, 9.5 and 9.6 miles respectively; and the Three Pits Walk on Monday, visiting the sites of the Tilmanstone, Snowdown and Betteshanger mines.

Historical walks include the eight-mile Crimean Crime Mystery on Monday. This will recall a notorious murder in 1856, when Dover sisters Caroline and Maria Back, who were 19 and 17 respectively, were killed on the cliffs near Capel-le-Ferne. Their murderer, Dedea Redaines was later caught, tried and hanged.

There will also be one-mile Carers’ Stroll on Friday, from Folkestone’s Harbour Arm car park, for carers and those they care for, and a 2.8-mile Smugglers’ Walk, aimed at children, on Sunday, from the Kingsdown Road car park in Walmer.

Most walks will be in the areas of Dover and Deal, both towns having Walkers Are Welcome status.

White Cliffs Ramblers chairman Margaret Lubbock said: “We have worked very hard to put on our walking festival, which has become an established part of the calendar in Kent.

“We have organised walks for everyone, so please come along and enjoy them.”

The festival walks programme is on the website whitecliffswalkingfestival.org.uk, where walks can be booked.

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