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Ski holidays
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This easy circuit of a national nature reserve is great for birdwatchers.
Distance 4 miles (6.4km)
Minimum time 2hrs 15min
Ascent/gradient Negligible
Level of difficulty Easy
Paths Wooden walkways, easy footpaths and lanes, 2 stiles
Landscape Marshlands, meadows and rustling reed beds
Suggested map aqua3 OS Explorer 150 Canterbury & the Isle of Thanet
Start/finish TR 220609
Dog friendliness Dogs aren't allowed on nature trail
Parking Stodmarsh Nature Reserve car park
Public toilets Stodmarsh and Grove Ferry car parks
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1 Park at the car park near Stodmarsh village. An information board tells you what sort of birds to look out for. Now follow the signs for the nature trail. Cross the bridge over the stream, past benches and over another bridge. At the signpost, follow the nature trail again. The route now takes you over two more bridges and along a wide path to a walkway. Cross another bridge and go through a barrier to another path that takes you along the old Lampen Wall. Soon reach Lake Tower Hide, a large hide on stilts with a great view over the lake.
2 The path now bears away from the lake and becomes a grassy track. Continue along this for about 1 mile (1.6km), with the Stour on your left, until you come to a gate that leads on to the road at Grove Ferry. There's a pub here, the Grove Ferry Inn, and a pick-up point for boat trips along the river. Turn right and walk down the road, passing signs for a car park and picnic site.
3 Carry on down the road and turn right at Elm Tree Farm. Walk between the farm and the white cottage, go through a kissing gate and continue past another hide and up to a junction of tracks at another kissing gate. Go left here, then cross a bridge over the stream and carry on until you come to another bridge on your left. Cross this and walk diagonally across the field to cross two more bridges. Go through a gate, turn right, walk down the track, pass through another gate and carry straight on. Nip over the second stile on your right, and then make your way over to another stile and walk ahead on to the track. Your way now takes you past Undertrees Farm and down to the road. Turn right along the road back into Stodmarsh. If you've got time, stop and have a look at the little church. On one of the doors there are crosses made by Crusaders who stopped off to pray on their way to the coast. Turn right in the village and walk back to the car park.
Bring your binoculars for this walk as it takes you through Stodmarsh National Nature Reserve, one of England's most diverse wetland habitats and a place that simply oozes with bird life, including marsh harriers, ruffs, siskins and stonechats. Hidden away in the Stour Valley, the reserve has several types of marshland, shallow lagoons and grazing meadows. There are plenty of hides along the way, from where you can get a closer look. Come in the winter and you'll see wildfowl, while in the spring and autumn there are many migratory birds.
You might be lucky and see a bearded tit, a pretty little bird that clings to the stems of reeds and makes a distinctive 'pinging' call. Another bird that loves the reeds is the secretive bittern, a relative of the heron, and one of Britain's most threatened species.
The nature trail leads through reed beds, a fast disappearing wildlife habitat. It might look as if this is a natural landscape; in fact it is entirely artificial. Early records show that monks from a nearby monastery once had a stud farm here (hence the name Stodmarsh - the stud in the marsh). They dug ditches in order to encourage flood water from the Stour on to the surrounding meadows where they grazed their horses.
In the 17th century a flood defence barrier, the Lampen Wall, was built by Flemish refugees, allowing them access to the Wantsum marshes and draining the valley. However, when a coal mine opened here, the underground workings caused subsidence and the land became waterlogged. By the 1930s lagoons had appeared and reed beds began to grow. To preserve this habitat and prevent these sites from reverting to scrub, the water levels in the reserve are controlled and the reed beds are managed by harvesting the reeds and grazing the surrounding meadow.
The fields bordering the river were once thickly carpeted with lavender bushes that were grown for commercial purposes. The fragrant flowers were cut by hand and then made into lavender water, which was highly sought after by wealthy people. The fields looked spectacular when the plants were in full bloom and people would come from miles around to admire them.
Tiny Fordwich, near Stodmarsh, was once an important port but is now a pleasantly sleepy village. The church, which dates back to Saxon times, houses the mysterious Fordwich stone, once thought to have formed part of a saint's shrine and a possible hiding place for sacred relics. The village's town hall contains the old village ducking stool.
Stodmarsh is a tiny village with an equally tiny village green. There's a sundial on it bearing a verse that states cryptically: 'Make time, save time While time lasts All time is no time When time is past'. Make sense of that if you can.
In Stodmarsh itself, the Red Lion Inn offers country cooking and has a garden and a croquet lawn. At Grove Ferry, about half-way round this walk, the Grove Ferry Inn serves teas, bar snacks and a good selection of main meals as advertised on a blackboard. In fine weather you can sit outside.
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