Pull on those walking boots and step out as the White Cliffs Walking Festival returns for a fifth year. Graham Smith looks at what's on where.

There are 44 long and short walks in the annual White Cliffs Walking Festival, so there's something for everyone.

This is the fifth year of the walking festival, between Thursday, August 23 and Wednesday, August 29, organised by the White Cliffs Ramblers, the south Kent branch of The Ramblers.

The White Cliffs Ramblers took on the event in 2013 from what was the Deal Walking Festival. Since being relaunched as the White Cliffs Walking Festival, the event has gone from strength to strength, attracting more walkers every year - last year’s festival saw a record number of 1,252 people joining the walks.

The walks programme this year includes several festival favourites, like the 10-mile Fish and Chip walk from Walmer to Dover, three White Cliffs Coastal Trails, of 7.6, 9.5 and 9.6 miles, an eight-mile walk from Goodnestone Park Gardens visiting places associated with Jane Austen, and a 15-mile Alkham Adventure exploring the beautiful Alkham and Lydden valleys.

A two-hour Carers’ Stroll along the Deal and Walmer seafront, designed for people with disabilities and/or their carers, is on Friday August 24.

There will also be 11 new walks, including the Sandwich Bay Walk and the Hills of the Saxon Shore Way.

The programme ranges from history and heritage walks of 1-2 miles to the 52-miles White Cliffs Challenge, put on for the festival by the Long Distance Walkers Association, on Sunday August 26. Based at Deal Town FC’s ground in Charles Road, walkers will have 22 hours to complete the route. There will also be an 18-mile version for those wanting to take on a bigger challenge.

SETTING OFF

The festival will be opened by Vanessa Griffiths, chief executive of The Ramblers, in a ceremony by the Bleriot Memorial (marking the spot where the first person to fly across the Channel landed) just outside Dover, on Thursday, August 23.

This will be followed by a 13.5 mile walk from the memorial, one of a choice of three walks immediately after the opening ceremony.

Festival organiser Bev Cussans said: “The programme includes walks which are old favourites, such as beautiful walks along the iconic White Cliffs; but we also have some new and exciting walks planned.

“Why not try foraging for fauna and flora along the coast or discover the industrial heritage of the Dour Valley? Or enjoy breakfast after an early morning walk through some of Dover's beautiful coastal countryside? Take part in a 19th century mystery or appreciate the natural and social history of the ash tree before we lose it to ash dieback. Or perhaps learn about the industrial and social history of Kearsney Abbey and Russell Gardens and the restoration of both parks to their original designs before ascending through the woodland for fine views of the Alkham Valley.”

DETAILS

The fifth annual White Cliffs Walking Festival will run from Thursday, August 23 and Wednesday, August 29, and is organised by the White Cliffs Ramblers.

All the walks are detailed on a 24-page colour leaflet, distributed to tourist information centres, guest houses, pubs, shops, camp sites and other outlets throughout south-east Kent.

The walks are also on the festival’s website, at whitecliffswalkingfestival.org.uk, with instructions on how to book to go on them.

RAMBLING FREE

The White Cliffs Ramblers, formed in Deal in 1989 and celebrating their 30th anniversary next year, organise weekend and midweek walks of varying distances. The group also

organises social activities like walking holidays, skittles evenings and theatre trips.

Volunteers from the White Cliffs Ramblers have been active for many years in maintaining local footpaths, including stiles and gates, as well as carrying out path clearance work with Kent County Council.