Around Britain

Today was a fiasco. £8.70 bought me my day return to Faversham and I came back from the same station! I had planned to reach Teynham or even Sittingbourne. I was seduced by a Saxon Shore Way sign into following the eastern arm of the tidal creek that extends into Faversham. When I realised what had happened I had gone too far to retrace my steps. I proceeded on an embankment all the way round Ham Marshes and then back down the western arm until I came out on the road near Oare. It would have been a long outing if I had continued and there were a couple of matters I wanted to attend to back in London. By the time I returned to Faversham station I had been out for 1 hour 27 and a half minutes. I suppose, since this is a coastline walk, what I did was strictly correct but I do not expect to be always as strict as that. Also I had the benefit of another look at Faversham which I like. Near the start I saw the offices of Faversham Brewery with the painted hops on the façade. On my way back I passed along West Street where the buildings appear to be of a similar vintage to those in Abbey Street.

Again I purchased a day return Faversham. Would I never get beyond that place? Part of me didn't want to as it exerted a strong appeal. History is on the streets not buried.

I took the Oare Road past a pond which was once linked to an old gunpowder manufactory. At Oare the Saxon Shore Way took me up the western arm of Faversham Creek. The bank was tightly packed with boats either waiting for repairs or just parked. The path followed the top of an embankment protecting Luddenham Marshes and Teynham Level. These low lying areas were waterlogged and criss-crossed by dykes. Sheep grazed on patches above water level. Derelict huts were dotted about, their function unclear. At first I took them to be hides for ornithologists but they might have been shelters for animals. Far ahead, chimneys smoked on the Isle of Grain. The map indicated a small island just offshore. Fowley Island remained invisible until I was nearby . It lay close to the surface of The Swale and harboured no plants that were not short and brown. Would anyone challenge me if I took possession of it and built a house?

Another creek forced me inland towards Conyer. I passed more boat yards and made for Teynham Station through orchards of well pruned trees in neat rows.

A day return took me to Teynham. I ran back to Conyer by road and then took a path which skirted round a marina. This was defended furiously by a Sealyham. As the terrier ran towards me, I turned towards it, stretched out my arms, and homed in on the minute creature with the utmost menace. It hesitated and then, noting the sturdy wire barrier that separated us, directed towards me a crescendo of yet shriller yapping. I ran on and the animal cavorted away in triumph at having confounded its giant adversary. By now convinced of its invincibility, it took on an approaching car. The driver stopped just as the dog was disappearing under the bonnet. It emerged undaunted. By now I was on an embankment on the other side of the marina and separated from it by a narrow waterway with mud banks on either side. The dog saw me from afar and charged onto a jetty projecting out into the stream. It could get no closer but seemed content that I was still running away.

The embankment took me out to the Swale again. Once more low lying tracts of land were protected by a sea wall and it was along the top of this that I ran. At Milton Creek I turned inland passing a large paper mill on the other side of the water. Before long I found myself in a major industrial estate. I reached Sittingbourne station after 1 hour 48 minutes.

Again I made my way to Victoria. I ate my packed lunch on the train and disembarked at Sittingbourne. To reach the embankment on the western side of Milton Creek I walked through an industrial area. Here were stacked concrete sections of pipe stamped “Milton”, some with ladder rungs inside painted red. There were so many of these that I wondered whether they would ever be sold.

I was out two hours today and never ran for more than a few paces. I just could not get going. I passed the great paper mill which was followed immediately by an enormous waste disposal site. Notices forbade entry announcing “Deep soft sludge”. The smell alone deterred any curiosity I might have had about this mountainous pile of refuse. Ahead another huge plant belched smoke that lay so heavily in the air that it soon abandoned any hope of rising. Instead it subsided as it dispersed, impregnating the atmosphere. I covered my nose with my handkerchief as I approached Ridham Dock. Here I was greeted with a locked iron grille gate decked with barbed wire. I had missed a turn where the Saxon Shore Way headed inland. I retraced my steps through the contamination.

I was now close to a depot for haulage lorries and many were adorned with the name “Eddie Stobart”. A minor road leading towards Kingsferry Bridge seemed to be frequented solely by trucks. Some of these had stopped at a Burger Bar just by the foot of the bridge. Next to the bridge there stood Swale Halt. This consisted of a single platform next to and raised above the road with which the railway shared the bridge connecting Sheppey to the mainland. The single line was used by trains going to and coming from Sheerness. There was no shelter on the Halt. A notice informed me that I had to indicate to the driver if I wanted the train to stop. A train had gone through as the Halt came into view but the service was half hourly. As I waited I watched the heavy traffic passing over the bridge. Much of this consisted of lorries carrying up to eleven cars on their trailers, some of which had three stories.

I took two hours to do this section.

I had no time to buy a new rail card so I paid the full day return fare to Swale Station. The Sheerness connection was waiting for me at Sittingbourne.

My plan was to run round the peninsula lying alongside Sheppey. I could not implement this plan as the Saxon Shore Way turned across the peninsula before the Chetney Marshes. The embankment continued alongside the shore but a notice indicated that the land beyond was private and a bird reserve. As I crossed the peninsula towards Chetney Hill I passed extensive rabbit warrens. On the other side I came to an apparently deserted farm building guarded by a cockerel. I then turned inland again and reached a road. This took me back to the Sheppey bridge which had remained within view the whole time. I was out for only 1 hour 32 minutes.

I caught the 1405 and changed onto the waiting Sheerness connection.

After a section of road I turned onto fields to keep to the Saxon Shore Way. I skirted orchards and enjoyed fine views of the Medway mouth northwards. Just before Lower Halstead I re-joined the road and passed the church of Margaret of St Antioch. At this point I could see that the Way was headed out to a peninsula which would prolong the day unacceptably. Accordingly I headed south to Newington Station partly by footpath. The station did not look busy and I was the only person to board the 1730 train for London. Nevertheless there was a half hourly service for this stopping train. I was out for 1 hour 57 minutes today mostly walking.

I bought a day return to Newington. Once past the church at Lower Halstow I was on a peninsula largely given over to orchards of miniature trees. At Ham Green I was forced inland although a shore hugging embankment was shown on my OS map. I had no option but to follow the road through Bayford but at Wetham Green there was a path between the trees which rejoined the road just beyond Upchurch. Another path at Windmill Hill provided an escape from the road for a short while. Soon afterwards I was into Rainham and a dense estate of modern houses. I could see the railway and knew I was close to the station but each road I took was a cul-de-sac ending amongst dustbins, garages and cats unaccustomed to strangers.

Today's excursion took me 2 hours 4 minutes.

I took a Day Return to Rainham. This time I did not get lost in the housing estate and I soon picked up the Saxon Shore Way just before Ottershaw Quay. The orchard I passed just after the quay consisted of small trees. One could have harvested the fruit without reaching up at all. The usual embankment took me up the west side of Ottershaw Creek along a promontory. The water here was well away from the main stream of the Medway River. The vegetation floating in it lay utterly still. Eventually my progress along the embankment was barred by a wire mesh gate. The path cut inland and joined a road near the entrance to some Works. The road led south so I was denied a sight of the Trig Point on Motney Hill. At 15 metres this must surely be one of the lowest Trig Points in the country.

On the other side of the promontory I followed an embankment which ran alongside the roadway back to the mainland. The path then turned westwards past the deserted and apparently unused Bloors Wharf. From Eastcourt Meadows Country Park there was a beautiful view across the Medway to Kingsnorth Power Station. Near Gillingham, industrial buildings forced me inland onto the road. I crossed this into a maze of Victorian streets. A bridge took me over a cutting with a single narrow gauge railway track which led down to the main line railway.

I reached Gillingham station after 2 and a quarter hours.