A day out in Britain's hottest town
Heatwave London was, I can announce with zero hyperbole, worse than actual Hell, so I was only too pleased to be dispatched to the seaside last Thursday on important daytripping business. There was one little problem with my great escape, though: it was to Faversham.
Ah, Faversham, you might think. Delightful Faversham! The sea (well, the Thames Estuary) on one side (give or take a few marshes), Kentish countryside on the other. A brewery, a market square, wonky old timber-framed buildings – delightful!
These are all key features of a daytripping destination, but, as we say in the trade, a town is only as liveable as the weather conditions that afflict it. Here’s the problem with Faversham: it’s infernally hot. It was here, in August 2003, that the hottest temperature ever to befall the UK was recorded, 101.3F (38.5C). Worse, by some putrid stroke of bad luck, my visit fell on the day Faversham recorded the highest UK temperature of 2018: 95.5F (35.3C) of unmitigated agony. There was little movement on the streets apart from a television crew attempting to collar overheated locals.
Every café and restaurant that had outdoor seating had arranged it in the shade. Inside one of the places on the market square, a barista puzzled over how to make iced coffee.
What I’m getting to is my top Faversham tip: the most effectively air-conditioned place in the whole town is the gift shop of the ancient Shepherd Neame Brewery. I presume these kind of accidental oases function under the same rules that govern squatting in cafés, whereby to justify your continued presence you have to buy a tea/coffee/Rocky Road every hour or so. How many ornamental tankards must you buy, and with what regularity, in order to secure your place in a brewery gift shop? My estimate is that you’ll need to buy one tankard per half-hour of standing over the air-con unit.
Regrettably, there were other sights to see, so I must leave the question to future truth-seekers, if it ever gets really hot again. Said other sights include the Fleur de Lis Heritage Centre, a warren of local history tableaus. It was here that I learnt that Faversham, like so many university entrants, owes its success to four Bs: in this case beer (hence the brewery), bricks, boats and bangs.
What? Bangs? Let me explain: Faversham used to specialise in making gunpowder, and today you can not only walk around a woody park that’s filled with remnants of the industry, you can also visit one of the old mills. They don’t make it any more, obviously, but it’s this kind of history that gives Faversham an edge over its equally wonky and timber-framed neighbours.
From a medical perspective, I cannot endorse any trips there until the heatwave has definitively abated, but at least they’ll probably have figured out iced coffee by now.
Daytripper | More from our series on UK days out
Six fine reasons to visit Faversham
The quay
Follow Abbey Street north from the town centre to find Standard Quay, a collection of quirky little shops in old barn buildings. The barns overlook a creek used by boats of both the fishing and recreational varieties.
The brewery
Britain’s oldest brewer, Shepherd Neame, offers 80-minute tours of its Faversham brewery that end with a tasting session. Book online (shepherdneame.co.uk).
The museum
The Fleur de Lis Heritage Centre is open 10am-4pm Monday to Saturday and 10am-1pm Sunday. Admission is £5 for adults, £3.50 for visitors aged 60 or above, and £1.50 for children.
The pub
The Three Mariners, which overlooks the marshes, is a cosy, upmarket 18th-century pub that serves beer from the Shepherd Neame brewery.
The walk
Take a ramble through Oare Gunpowder Works Country Park, where amid thick vegetation you can see the remnants of the area’s gunpowder industry.
The food hall
Macknade Fine Foods, which is on the south-east edge of the town, is a colourful and well-stocked food emporium that does a good line in local produce.
