The Way of St Augustine (walk 2) // To be a pilgrim, to be continued

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Just a quick update today, given I’m sure you all can't wait to find if I completed my first pilgrimage or not.

I didn’t.

I should just leave it there, but I might as well explain the ridiculously middle-aged reason why I didn’t make it.

I dropped my hearing aid at the start of the walk, and only realised three miles in. I walked back and somewhat miraculously, immediately found it in the grass. This stupidly dull delay meant I didn’t have time to reach Canterbury, as I had to get back to Margate in the afternoon to meet my other half.

There. That’s it.

Although as it happens, Canterbury isn’t really the end of my first pilgrimage anyway. When I got home and sat down to write my previous missive about the first leg of my first pilgrimage, I thought I had better learn a little more about St Augustine. The Wikipedia page bored me senseless though, and I gave up halfway through.

Annoyingly, I did discover that the Explore Kent info I previously read, that said the “Way of St Augustine is approximately 19 miles long”, was really only telling half the story. Actually, only 28% of the story, as I stumbled upon the obviously far more authoritative Augustine Camino website, which shows the full route, all the way to Rochester.

So the fact I didn’t even make it as far as Canterbury in two days really doesn’t matter that much. I will return sometime in the summer and complete it. Probably.

Oh, and one thing the eagle-eyed amongst you may have already noticed, there’s an exciting new feature to the website! Yes, really. It covers two more of my favourite things in life, maps and spreadsheets, so yes, it really is exciting. If you’re equally in thrall to such things (er, that will probably only be Oli and Fraser then), check out my maps page.

Here are all of two pictures from the walk, but better still, some photos of the always photogenic Walpole Tidal Pool in Margate I took at sunset after the truncated walk.

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I don’t really enjoy taking photos of beautiful views, pretty things, quaint buildings and so on, so I assume my photos of them aren’t that good either. This is the best I could manage from the handful of beautiful, pretty and quaint Kent villages I walked through. Concrete is much more photogenic.

Walking on water.

To prove my point. The Walpole Tidal Pool in Margate, at dusk. These pictures are more my thing.

St Augustine's Way (part 2 of possibly 4, maybe 5): 22 May 2026 // Distance walked: Unsure, probably about 18km as I doubled-back at the start due to the dropped hearing aid (fuck, I'm old) , although the route is 13.6km // Elevation gain: 88metres.