A steep hike at Alkham

The pretty village of Alkham lies in a steep-sided chalk valley running west of Dover. Geology and terrain make it prone to flash flooding – an underground spring called the Alkham Bourne inundates the area without warning when the water table reaches a critical level. When it isn’t raining, nothing could be more cheering than this modest English village, where cricket is played on the village green and little seems to have changed here for centuries. It has a fine 13th-century church and a number of quietly distinguished houses.

Though not especially lengthy, this is a tough walk up steep gradients, and it can be very slippery after rain. Good footwear is essential, and you need to be fairly agile to negotiate some of the stiles. You tackle the strenuous climbing and most of the stiles while you’re fresh, then coast gently downhill on the return leg. The rewards are breathtaking views over the dazzling Alkham Valley – definitely worth a photograph in good weather.

A farmhouse now stands among the ruins of this ancient abbey at the top of the Alkham Valley. A footpath runs close by, so you can have a look at what’s left of it. The abbey was founded in 1191, and formerly occupied by a Premonstratensian monastic community (from Premontre, near Laon in France). Initially it became quite wealthy, but later slipped into decline. Archaeological excavations have revealed the outlines of the main complex, including the refectory and the cellarer’s domain. The most intact section is the gatehouse, which you can see well from the path.

From the car park, walk down the edge of playing fields and turn right through a gap in the hedge at the far end, by the footbridge. Turn left along the path for a few paces to emerge at the end of a cul-de-sac (Short Lane) by houses. Turn briefly left and look for a narrow, fenced path running off right beside a house called Valhalla.

Walk up between the houses and cross two stiles into fields, then walk half left up the sloping pastures beyond, crossing stiles where necessary (there may be temporary paddock fencing here) until you reach the left corner of a patch of woodland. Skirt around the wood, bearing left where the path forks, and cross a stile into a belt of trees beyond (a tricky scramble – the path is steep and slippery).

Follow the path through the trees, then take another stile into a paddock. Keep left along the field edge, cross a stile and continue diagonally left, crossing a couple of fields to reach a lane.

Cross the road and take the path opposite, bearing half left again toward barns on the crest of the hill. In 0.75 miles (1.2km) reach the corner of a field. Go through the gate towards St Radigund’s Abbey Farm.

Follow the farm track around the left of the buildings and walk past the abbey gatehouse, passing a water tower on your left and crossing a cattle grid onto a road at a junction. Turn left along Abbey Road, signed ‘Capel-le-Ferne and Folkestone’, and stroll gently downhill for about 500yds (457m).

Bear left round a bend, then take the path (ER177) on your right into the woods beyond. Climb beside a field, then descend through more woodland.

When you meet a crossing path, turn left and continue downhill, passing a steep bank to your right. Go through a metal gate and carry on, skirting the shoulder of the hill, down to the village on a chalky path.

Bear left though a gate at the end of a hedgeline and walk past some houses, soon leaving the footpath and emerging onto Short Lane, a residential road. Walk straight on, passing ‘Valhalla’ again on your left. You are now back on the route you followed at the start of the walk. At the end of the road, turn right along the conifer path back to the playing fields, and return to the car park.