A Walk and a Roast
Cool and cloudy first thing, and I had an early start. Out for a great Sunday morning walk with the Steely-Eyed Ninjas. We met outside Mama Feelgood’s, and set off on a circular route around Bekesbourne, Patrixbourne and Bridge. The rain held off… mostly! We walked about 8km in total, with an unexpected detour on the way back. Patrixbourne Road was closed for bridge repairs, even for walkers, so we trekked for about a kilometre alongside the A2 to find another place to cross and get back on track. Plenty of mud, and plenty of hills, so by the end of the walk, we had definitely earned a decent lunch.
We settled in at Mama Feelgood’s for some much-needed roast pork & crackling. It’s a family-run cafe (and cake shop) in Bekesbourne that boasts a menu filled with all-day brunch options and roasts, afternoon teas, and hand-crafted cakes—one of our favourite places to finish off a walk. They also sell foodie gifts, local art, luxury confectionery, and seasonal gifts. There’s even a cake craft shop with an extensive selection of supplies for bakers and cake makers.
Bekesbourne is an easy village to pass through without stopping, tucked into the Nailbourne valley just south of Canterbury and small enough that it rarely troubles the map of most day walkers. But Chalkpit Farm, sitting just off the Adisham Road at the top of Chalkpit Hill, is the kind of place that rewards a detour — or, in the right circumstances, earns itself as the destination.
The farm takes its name from the chalkpit in the woodland on the eastern side of the hill, which was once a common feature of Kentish agriculture: every farm of any size maintained its own pit to produce lime for the fields. The name was already in use before the end of the eighteenth century, which gives some indication of how long the site has been in active agricultural use. The farm itself is a regular U-plan courtyard, characteristic of the East Kent farmstead tradition, with the original stables and cattle buildings arranged around a central working yard. Those same buildings have since been converted into a cluster of independent retail units and workshops, housing an art gallery and framer, a clock specialist, a florist, a veterinary practice, and the various other tenants that give the site its present character as a rural shopping destination.
Mama Feelgoods is the cafe at the heart of all this, a family-run operation specialising in baked goods, all-day brunch, and bespoke celebration and wedding cakes. The setting does much of the work — the converted farm buildings give the place a solidity and unhurried quality that is difficult to manufacture — but the food tends to justify the journey in its own right. Sourdough baguettes, a well-considered selection of cakes baked on the premises, and coffee served to a clientele that arrives largely on foot or by bicycle makes for a particular kind of atmosphere, the sort that feels accidental rather than designed. It has a Travellers' Choice award from TripAdvisor and a loyal local following, which in a county well-served by farm cafes is not nothing.
Thanks to Tina, Sophie and Charlotte, who came along for today’s adventure.
