Day: 168 2/12/96 Swale to Rochester

The B&B was deadly quiet in the morning and so apathetic did the lady look the one time I met her the previous evening and disgruntled that I wanted breakfast at 8.o’clock, I thought she had not bothered to get up.  I thought about leaving just £10 and just going and made one check of the back room to find she was there and frying.  The breakfast turned out to be OK though was eaten in stony silence.  Hospitable is not something I would have called this place. 

I parked on rough ground at Swale down an embankment from the road and set off across the marshes on the embankments.  It was a lovely morning and there was a lot of birdlife around.  The only difficult part of the path went past a farm near Chetney Hill where the cows had all but obliterated the path.  

At Rasberry Hill I joined the road all the way to Lower Halstow past orchards.  I came on a rough looking group of men, boys and dogs near a beat up transit van  who were busy attacking earth mounds. They made it clear by speaking in loud voices to each other that they were after rabbits for food, however this may have been to stop me thinking they were after badgers.  Do badgers live on roadsides - I think not, it probably was rabbits after all.

At Lowe Halstow, a path cuts through in front of the old church and heads off down the estuary.  There were noises from a number of boats moored up on the mud banks - people using them for housing.  At Ham Green I cut inland past a garden centre onto a minor road for a circuit of this little peninsular.  It was then time to walk through some orchards.  I stopped near the village of Upchurch to have a can and a bar of chocolate before getting to Otterhan Quay . The path went down towards an industrial estate and then onto another peninsular though this path was not on the map it was very evident on the ground.  Access to the tip of the peninsular itself was blocked by a sewage treatment plant - thanks Southern Water!

At Bloors Wharf a group of twichers were looking very agitated - a rare sighting was imminent.  The following two or three miles was along a reasonable path proving popular with dog walkers and people out for the day.  I went as far as I could but eventually had to cut inland onto the main road and head into Chatham.  A large part of this was seemingly barracks and military dockyards with no access from the direction I was walking.  I think I missed out on seeing the best part of the dockyard because it was a no through road.  I passed the military museum and south towards Rochester on the busy main road.  I stopped for the day at Rochester train station and caught I think three trains back to Swale with quite a wait at Sittingbourne.  Swale was a request stop I am glad I found out in advance and made sure the driver knew I wanted to stop there!  I collected the car and drove back to Coventry.

Day: 167 2/12/96 Leysdown-on-Sea to Swale

Weather:  fine, warm, still

Distance: 24.0 km ( 14.9 miles)    Total Distance:   2099.5 miles

I had gone to bed on the early side so I could get an early start.  I heard noises outside and peeped out to find a group of youths smashing the lock on the Calibra over the road. They saw me looking and could not stand the sight of me in my pajamas so took off. I dressed went out to check and informed the poor couple opposite about the damage to their lock.  Getting to sleep after that was not too easy. 

Gareth still wakes at the slightest sound so I had decided not to get up till he was awake, but today of all days he decided to have a lie in.  I eventually got away at just gone 7 and after quite a long time scrapping the frost off the car headed south.  It was to be a cold and clear day. 

I got to Leysdown and was walking by 10 o’clock.  I has feared that I would be spending the day on minor roads but soon discovered that I could get down to the beach and as the tide was out and could keep to it all the way to Sheerness.  Low clay cliffs were crumbling all the way meaning that much of the morning was spent walking on clay or clay covered rocks - a bit slippery at times - it looked like someone had poured chocolate sauce all over them.  I met the usual array of strange individuals miles from anywhere either digging for worms or looking for unspecified items. 

Once I got to Minster I started to look for somewhere for lunch.  What was marked as a hotel on the map turned out to be a uninviting pub.  Back on the foreshore I kept walking till I got to a chip shop/cafe - cafe being a bit of an exaggeration because it had one table and no offer of a knife and fork together with hard chips. The shop was part of a hotel type building and there seemed to be plans going on in the background to prepare for a wedding reception or something. The mind boggles as to what meal would be served there.

For a couple of hundred yards entering Sheerness things looked up. A nice promenade and a park but soon I was led on a pointless walk down to the harbour only having to double back and go inland via the roads and rough areas of the town.  I should know better.  Never trust a town with a dock - the foreshore always runs out without warning.

Heading south now out of Sheerness, initially along the main road and then along a concrete slabbed path fenced in on both sides one side by concrete walls and the other by wire protecting huge car storage areas.  It made me think how old is a new car when you buy it?  I ended up on the foreshore in Queenborough and again for a couple of hundred yards it was quite nice - sort of oldy worldly.  Cutting into the village itself I called in on a B&B to book a room for the night - what a mistake that was!

Through an industrial estate led me to the housing estate of Rushenden and then into their industrial estate which I took a bit of escaping from to find the path to Kingsferry Bridge.  I worried about this path because it looked from the map to go across a river without a bridge.  When I got to the crossing point it was a mud embankment which must have had pipework going under it somehow to let the waster through.  Up onto the road and over the bridge and that was the end of the Isle of Sheppy and my days walking. 

Now, how to get back to the car? I looked at the train timetable and found I still had a fair wait for a train so tried hitching.  I got a lift from a London couple who drove an old Rover and had moved down to the Island a number of years ago.  I opted to be dropped at the roundabout a mile or so on but it turned out this was a bad decision - hitching was bad and it was getting dark.  I walked into Queensbourough and ended up getting a bus all the way to Leysdown which took about an hour via Sheerness and even the prison at Leysdown.  I stayed on the bus a while once in Leysdown expecting it would go to the place where I caught a bus on my last visit but the driver came up the stairs and informed me he did not go up to the other end of the village these days because of “trouble”.

I drove back to Queensborough, it taking most of the journey for me to warm up.  I got to the B&B as the children and grandchildren were leaving,  The Proprietress showed me to the room and apologized for it being small - an understatement. I had to breath in to close the door. I did not grumble though because it was the only room with any heating on and I thought at least there was a chance of it getting warm at some stage. 

The local pub looked promising for food.  They even ran a minibus service to bus people in and home.  Oh, how I was disappointed with the chicken curry - one of those out of a curry sauce packet you still occasionally get served.  The next pub, down towards the harbour was a lot more promising and after a couple the locals were chatting to be and enjoying the Saturday evening.  I however wanted to be up early so headed back by 9.30 for an early night in the fridge.  The one good thing was that the minuscule radiator in the room did stay on all night so I did stay reasonably warm.

Day: 166 ?/9/96 Sittingborne to Leysdown-on-Sea

Weather:  fine, warm, still

Distance: 24.0 km ( 14.9 miles)    Total Distance:   2099.5 miles

A quick one day jaunt down to Kent.  Having driven around the area of Sittingbourne I wanted to park for a while and decided it was probably best not to park in the large paper factory car park, I ended up in the station car park - convenient because that is where I hoped to get to at the end of the day anyway. 

After walking along a couple of busy roads I cut down to the banks of the creek to find myself in peace and quiet.  It was all low lying path, some of it quite muddy but in the most OK.  It only got bad at one point when I lost the path and had to launch myself over an embankment covered with nettles.  

Kemsley Down station looked deserted and only a few derelict buildings remained.  Past that I was into industrial land - walking over a tip and hoping it was not full of toxic chemicals!  A sewage works and a couple of jetties were to follow before I had to head inland along minor industrial roads, and back to the Swale again.  I stopped this side of the bridge for a bacon roll and cup of tea from a caravan.  Although I had to wait a long time because the man in front of me was ordering a box full of mixed grill rolls, it was worth it in the end. 

I watched Kingsferry Bridge open for a passing ship and then headed over it myself.  To get down onto the coast again I had to walk along the main road a while and then found another steep embankment to tumble down.  A group of gypsies had made this their home but I was soon past them and onto the flood defences again.  

It seemed to take a long time to make any progress initially. The paths were not very clear and they were doubling back on the walk I had just done on the opposite bank.  Progress once I got to the RSPB reserve was faster.  I kept to the footpath marked on my map but this ended up going straight across the reserve and disturbing a massive flock of geese and other waders who took off with an incredible racket. I bet I was the most unpopular man in Kent at the time considering the number of birders I had spotted in the hides. 

Past the reserve at Bells creek I had a decision to make though it was not all that difficult.  The public right of way according to the map appeared to end which would have meant a long six or eight mile detour inland and back to the coast again.  Instead I kept on going and there was not much to stop me apart from an already trampled down fence.  I had almost reached the end of the embankment and must only have been a hundred yards from picking up a path when I was apprehended by a farmer who pulled up in a land rover.  He initially told me to go back but I pleaded with him gently and he said I could carry on providing I stayed to the coast - easier said then done considering the path went on the high ground and the low land was overgrown.  He seemed to be farming game birds and in going up to the high land I went past a couple of shelters for them. 

I could now see the ferry in and was confident it would not be a problem reaching it as there was a footpath entry in from my direction but I tried and tried to find a path but just found fencing.  I went north and south and ended up jumping over a garden fence and into the pub that way.  I thought I had got away with it and ordered a pint but the landlady appeared and told me off. I looked sheepish and promised not to do it again - a convenient excuse considering I was only planning to walk around the coast once and not twice. 

Beyond the pub was also a problem for a while without any sign of a marked footpath on the ground but there was on the map. I suspected a farmer not keen on footpaths across his land.  The road went past and ancient church and then veered back to the coast again.  It was a pleasant afternoon and there were a lot of walkers around.  Shell Ness looked tiny on the map but turned out to be a sizeable collection of cottages marked up as private.  I decided against taking the detour to the sandspit beyond Shell Ness and headed North along the nudists beach - the wind meant I was the only person - clothed or otherwise, on the beach. 

Leysdown came into sight - it was a holiday town there was no doubt about that, caravans and chalets.  I called into the chip shop to confirm where the bus stop was and only had a while to wait for the bus to Sheerness - and what a long haul that was - going to every nook and cranny on the way but not collecting anyone -including at the prison.  From Sheerness I took the train back to Sittingborne and then drove back to Coventry.  It was a good days walk.

Day: 165 2/9/96 Faversham to Sittingborne

Weather:  fine, warm, still

Distance: 24.0 km ( 14.9 miles)    Total Distance:   2099.5 miles

I parked the car in back streets some half mile from the station and wandered through the town of Faversham again. It was much quieter today than the previous afternoon.  The walk proper started by the local brewery and then along a nice path by the river followed by a bit of a detour inland around some light industry and then back to the river proper. 

Once out of the town I walked around Ham Marshes on reasonably goods river embankment.  Up the next river inlet took me past a number of shipyards and marinas.  Then down to the Swale estuary again and mile after mile of sea defences.  I passed a team of workman from the newly formed Environment Agency, repairing the wall at one stage, or should I say, taking time out to throw stones in the sea, the stones they should have been putting in the wall.

At Conyer, I came up the creek through an orchard and had lunch in the pub.  The sandwiches were pretty poor on stale or just thawed bread.  The place was under new management and an Alsatian puppy was doing its best to cause havoc.  The local trouble maker came in trying to sell earrings to earn a bit of money, but the barmaid was having none of it!

Then it was back down the creek on the west side, more sea defences.  The weather was warm and still which meant that every time I went past a Hawthorn bush I got attacked by flies, in the hair, mouth and eyes, a particularly unpleasant experience.

Getting closer towards Sittingbourne the path and scenery got shabbier.  The Milton Creek offered views of the power station and paper works and associated smells.  I kept to the creek for as long as I could and was then forced inland along mile after mile of industrial estate.  From this angle Sittingbourne looked a dismal sort of place.

I got the train back to Faversham and then drove back to Coventry.