Sandwich has a new guidebook, and it's aimed squarely at getting families off the sofa. Town Trails & Terrible Tales: Sandwich, Kent is a printed walking guide by Phil Gates, who grew up in the town, and it has just gone on sale at Spellbound, the independent bookshop in Sandwich.
The clever part is that it tells the town's story twice. Grown-ups get the architecture and the history: the timber-framed houses of Strand Street, the 1300 Magna Carta at the Guildhall, and the Flemish "Strangers" who settled here in the 16th century and helped revive the town's fortunes. Children get the slimy, spooky and gross side: pirate alleyways, flying toilet buckets, medical leeches and ghosts.
Three trails round the town
The guide splits Sandwich's sights into three themed walks:
- Pirates, Ports and Hidden Alleys: about 1.1 miles, taking around an hour and a half.
- Wild Walls and Ancient Ruins: the outer town and beyond, a half or full day out on foot, by bike or by car.
- Castles, Kings and Courtrooms: about 1.4 miles, taking two to three hours.
Between them, that's more than six hours of exploring. The booklet also has a double-page map, a rainy-day plan of indoor places to shelter, and a tracker sheet so children can tick off each trail as they finish it. The routes are designed to lead you off the busiest streets and finish close to the town's shops, cafés and pubs, so lunch is never far away.
"I wanted families to enjoy Sandwich's extraordinary history together, without a digital screen in sight," says Phil, who started his career in travel marketing at P&O European Ferries in Dover before working for several rail companies. Abi Worthington, who owns Spellbound, calls it "a great addition to the town's tourism," and says it will benefit both the independent shops and the town museum.
Where to buy it
The guide is sold only at Spellbound in Sandwich, so it's a good excuse to call in at an independent bookshop. You can find the shop on Instagram and on Bookshop.org. It's the first in a planned series of Town Trails guides to historic Kent towns.
Getting to Sandwich from Deal
Sandwich is just a few miles north of Deal. It's the next stop up the railway line, and local buses run between the two towns too, so you can leave the car behind. For more on what to see there, read the Sandwich section of our day trips guide, and see our travel page for bus and train links.
Do you know Sandwich? Take the quiz
Phil has set five questions to get you started. Have a go, then tap each question to see the answer.
1. Which famous food is named after the town of Sandwich?
Show the answer
A) The sandwich. John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich, is said to have asked for meat between two slices of bread so he could eat without leaving the card table, and his title takes its name from the town.
2. Which medieval alliance of ports was Sandwich an original member of?
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B) The Cinque Ports. Sandwich was one of the five original ports, along with Dover, Hythe, New Romney and Hastings, which supplied ships to the Crown in return for special privileges.
3. Which famous architect designed The Salutation, the Grade I listed mansion in Sandwich?
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B) Sir Edwin Lutyens. He designed The Salutation in 1911 and 1912, and the house is listed Grade I.
4. After the French raid of 1457, what custom did the town adopt that survives to this day?
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A) The Mayor wears a black robe in memory of Mayor John Drury, who was killed in the raid. Another old custom lives on too: the curfew bell is still rung from St Peter's Church at 8pm every evening.
5. Which rare historic document can visitors see at the Sandwich Guildhall Museum?
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C) An original 1300 Magna Carta. It lay forgotten in the town's archives until it was identified in 2015, when it was valued at around £10 million.
