Editing River Stour, Kent (section)

===Lower Great Stour===
The town of [[Ashford, Kent|Ashford]] marks the start of the middle section of the river, sited at a crossing point of the river and on ancient track ways. In Ashford, the river helps form part of the [[Ashford Green Corridor]].

After Ashford, the Stour breaches the North Downs; for most of this distance there are no tributaries. After the [[Brook Stream|Brook stream]] enters from the right, there are now {{convert|15|mi}} to Canterbury. In this stretch the river flows through the villages of [[Wye, Kent|Wye]], [[Chilham]] and [[Chartham]], with Wye being a fordable crossing.

The historic city of [[Canterbury]] lies at the junction of four branches of the [[Roman road]] [[Watling Street]] which connected Canterbury with ports around the Kent coast – [[Lympne]], [[Dover]], [[Richborough]] and [[Reculver]]. Within the city, the river flows in two channels, one through the centre of the city, and the other to the north of the city walls. The two channels rejoin to the east of Canterbury, before the river reaches [[Fordwich]], a former [[outport]] of Canterbury and the current tidal limit of the river.

Beyond Fordwich, the river passes between several former [[gravel pit]]s and through the [[reed bed]]s of the [[Stodmarsh National Nature Reserve]]. Beyond the nature reserve lies the open farmland on the reclaimed marshes surrounding the river crossing at [[Grove Ferry Picnic Area]], near the hamlet of [[Upstreet]].<ref name=svw>{{cite web | title = Stour Valley Walk | publisher = Kent County Council | access-date = 15 March 2010 | url = http://www.kent.gov.uk/leisure_and_culture/countryside_and_coast/walking/stour_valley_walk.aspx | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101126112437/http://kent.gov.uk/leisure_and_culture/countryside_and_coast/walking/stour_valley_walk.aspx | archive-date = 26 November 2010 | df = dmy-all }}</ref>

At the hamlet of [[Plucks Gutter]], the second of the large tributaries enters the main river: the {{convert|18.9|mi}} long [[Little Stour]], which begins life as a spring stream in [[Bekesbourne]]. From here on, the river is normally known as the River Stour.