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Most of the historic and architectural interest of Farningham is near the brick-built 18th century bridge, over the river Darenth. Several of the older buildings, most of which are 18th century, are listed as being of architectural or historic interest and the whole area is designated one of great landscape value within the metropolitan green belt.
Before the village was bypassed by the A20 in the early 1920s, the old London road carried the traffic through Farningham, where The Lion Hotel was one of the stops for the stage coaches. Nowadays, like most of this part of Kent, Farningham is right in the heart of the county's commuter-land, still sufficiently rural to be much sought after by such of London's work-force as can afford its relatively high prices, and yet sufficiently built-up to run together with neighbouring Eynsford.
Faversham, SE of Sittingbourne, on the A2, is a superb small town amid orchards at the head of a creek, Faversham was attached to the Cinque Port of Dover from 1225 and still possesses a commercial quay. Long associated with gunpowder mills, bricks and brewing, the town is now a centre for packaging and the distribution of fruit, and is still the brewing capital of Kent.
Faversham was granted its first charter in AD 811, and the town centres on Market Square, where a market is still held. Abbey Street is the show street, restored since 1961 as part of a conservation scheme. It is named after the abbey founded by King Stephen in 1147 and destroyed at the Reformation. The houses in Abbey Street are mellowed brick and half-timbered, leading to 17th century warehouses on Standard Quay, built with reused stone and timbers from the abbey.
Number 80 is part of the abbey gatehouse, rebuilt in 1538-40 for Thomas Arden, mayor. He was murdered here in 1550 and his tale is told in Arden of Faversham, a play of 1592. West Street is another rewarding street of half-timbered buildings. The church has a graceful 'flying spire', a well-loved landmark.
A wealth of information about the town and surrounding area can be found at this Faversham site.
Folkestone, A Channel port since Saxon times from which the French coast is visible on clear days, with steep narrow steps leading down to the fishing harbour and ferry terminal, and the expansive Victorian resort, developed after the railway arrived in 1842. A lift of 1885, powered by water pressure, takes visitors down to the Maritime Gardens and Undercliff Road. The beach is much frequented by wind surfers. Nearby is Folkestone Warren, formed by a coastal landslide in 1915. It is known for its rare wild flowers.
Linking Britain to the Continent physically for the first time since the English Channel was formed some 9500 years ago, the Channel Tunnel. The idea was far from new and had been suggested in France well over a hundred years ago. A French engineer presented Napoleon Bonaparte with a plan for a tunnel to accommodate horse-drawn carriages, but the English had reason to distrust Napoleon's motives.
At nearby Cheriton, the Channel Tunnel takes passengers and freight to the continent by rail. The tunnel consists of three parallel tunnels running between the respective portals, or tunnel entrances, at either end. There are two rail tunnels, measuring 7.6 m (25 ft) in diameter and about 30 m (98 ft) apart, which carry trains north-west and south-east. Between the rail tunnels is a service tunnel, 4.8 m (16 ft) in diameter, which is connected by cross-passages to the main tunnels at intervals of approximately 375 m (1,230 ft). The service tunnel, served by narrow rubber-tyred vehicles, gives maintenance workers access to the rail tunnels and provides a route for escape during emergencies.
The two running tunnels are directly linked every 250 m (820 ft) by 2 m diameter pressure relief ducts (PRDs) that pass over the top of the service tunnel and do not connect to it. The PRDs alleviate the piston effect of trains by allowing airflow from moving trains to pass into the other running tunnel. Additionally, there are two enormous caverns situated about one third of the distance from shore to shore containing a rail crossover between the main tunnels. These crossovers permit sections of the tunnel to be closed to traffic for maintenance, using single-line working in the other tunnel. The UK crossover at 156 m long, 18 m wide and 10 m high is the largest subsea cavern in the world and, when being constructed, required extensive monitoring via almost 200 separate instrument stations.
At each portal there is a major facility allowing for trains to disassemble and turn around, including customs, maintenance, and other necessary services.
On 28 April 2007, a short earthquake occurred at 8:18am. The earthquake was felt for up to 15 seconds, many residents in Folkestone and surrounding areas said they felt their house shake. Folkestone was damaged the worst with power out to thousands of homes and some houses being evacuated due to chimneys falling through houses. Luckily only one person was injured. The earthquake was registered at 4.3 on the richter scale. The earthquake was felt as far away as Essex.
Fordwich is a pretty riverside village, but is actually Britain's smallest town (pop 300), a member of the Cinque Ports, and the port for goods arriving from the Continent for Canterbury. The Caen Stone for Canterbury Cathedral was unshipped here. It was a borough from the 10th century until as recently as 1886 and it still has its picturesque little town hall in which the Town Council still has monthly meetings.
Izaak Walton knew Fordwich and he praised the rare local 'Fordidge' trout in the river Stour there. The trout have disappeared since this time, but there are still enough other species of fish to draw hundreds of anglers to the river bank during the season.
The Fordwich Stone is something of a mystery, although local tradition claims it is part of St Augustine's tomb. St Augustine died in AD 604 and if the stone is, in fact, part of his tomb, it has certainly travelled about a bit since then. It was once in the nave of the church, and after that in the churchyard. Then it went to a Canterbury garden before travelling back to the church at Fordwich in 1866 and finally being taken back inside the church in 1892.
Latter-day historians have debunked both the 'legend' and the stone itself. Although it is undoubtedly very old, it is now thought to be most likely a memorial to some local notable, possibly the founder of the church at Fordwich.
A local website for the village called Fordwich is provided.