Preamble to an enjoyable day out in Faversham

As mentioned in my previous article, I spent much of Friday enjoying a day out in the lovely and easy‑going town of Faversham. It’s not the simplest place to reach by rail from Tonbridge: two changes are required, the first at Paddock Wood, from where an interesting journey unfolds. This is where the line follows the sinuous course of the river Medway for a good stretch, offering glimpses of water, marsh, and industry as the train heads towards Rochester.

The second change takes place at Strood, an important junction where the Medway Valley line meets the main route from London Victoria to the Kent Coast. There I transferred onto a fast‑moving Javelin train for the final leg to Faversham. The train raced through the linked Medway towns - Rochester, Chatham, Gillingham, before continuing past Teynham and Sittingbourne and then finally rolling into Faversham itself.

This corner of Kent isn’t one I know particularly well, and the same is true of Faversham.  Whilst I have made several previous visits, the last of these was in 2017, and was only a brief one, as part of the Maidstone CAMRA’s annual Good Friday ramble. On that occasion we walked out to the atmospheric and unspoilt Shipwright's Arms at Conyer, one of the many small creeks that lie just inland from the Medway and the Swale - the channel separating Sheppey from
mainland Kent.

I had hoped to revisit the Shipwright's on Friday, but Google Maps informed me that Conyer was a 45‑minute walk from central Faversham. A 90‑minute round trip was more time than I could sensibly spare, so I reluctantly shelved the idea for another day and instead devoted the next four hours to exploring Faversham itself.

That decision proved wise, as I visited four classic pubs in the town, plus one relatively new outlet. Although I’d hesitate to call this latter establishment a micro-pub, it still turned out to be a real surprise, and in some respects the best discovery of the day, even if not quite the best pub overall. Three of the others were Shepherd Neame houses, and the final one was a CAMRA‑approved gem that I remember fondly from visits 15 to 20 years ago.

If I have one gripe about the day, it’s the increasingly widespread absence of simple, affordable, foldable food in many pubs. This seems to be a particular issue in this part of the country. Not everyone wants a full sit‑down meal, yet the Midlands and the North manage perfectly well with filled rolls, referred to as Cobbs - which provide a tasty, satisfying, and entirely manageable snack. It seems baffling that Kent and the rest of the south-east can’t follow suit.