Gary’s suspicions prior to the last walk that he might be suffering from COVID proved to be well founded. However, he has recovered (with no readily apparent after-effects) in good time to join Ben and John at Victoria today for the journey back to Rochester where Mike is waiting in the sunshine having once again taken the line from St Pancras.
We set off just before 10:30, and the walk out of the town takes slightly longer than expected. There’s quite a bit of housing development in progress alongside the Medway, so our route is a zig-zag between the river and the streets of Rochester and Chatham. After an hour we’ve reached Chatham Dockyard. The distance of a direct walk there along the river bank would have been around 2 miles. The logger is showing 2.9 miles. Clearly, we’re going to be walking a little bit further today than John’s initial estimate of 14.25 miles!
From the Dockyard, we continue north onto St Mary’s Island. The path around the island sticks more closely to the Medway, with views back over to the Hoo Peninsula (and The Ship at Lower Upnor), and concludes with a floating boardwalk over a river basin. It’s a pretty stable construction, so perhaps it’s merely the thought of it being “floating” which prompts a comment from someone about feeling seasick. Once off the island, we again have to spend some time walking alongside a road – in this case a dual carriageway to the north of Gillingham – but, with some more zig-zagging, we eventually get back to the Medway near Gillingham Marshes on the Saxon Shore Way. We pass Cinque Port Marshes and come to a Riverside Country Park where we pause for one of our periodic discussions of the walk’s rules (such as they are) regarding connected offshore areas. This is because we have arrived at a very narrow peninsula with the wonderful name of Horrid Hill. It’s almost a kilometre in length and stretches out into the marshes. Access is not affected by the tide which suggests that it should be part of the walk. However, it seems to comprise a single path out and back rather than an area to walk around. We therefore decide that it should not be treated in the same way as, for example, Spurn Point, but rather as the equivalent of a jetty or pier. To be fair, we’re probably just reluctant to make yet another diversion, but it’s good to have something which approaches a more objective justification for our decision. So we continue eastward, past Lower Rainham, to the next peninsula at Motney Hill, which we are able to walk around – or almost around, access to its northern end being blocked by a sewage works. Beyond Motney Hill, we go past Horsham Lake and follow the roads and lanes around Upchurch which bring us back to the Medway, and an inlet leading to our destination for the day, Lower Halstow Dock. From there, it’s a short walk to The Three Tuns which we reach shortly after 4:30.
John had originally booked a cab for 5 o’clock to take us from The Three Tuns to the Beaumont, the B&B in Sittingbourne where we are staying tonight. However, as a result of our various diversions and stops during the day, we decided a couple of hours ago that it would be prudent to put back the pick-up time to 5:30, so we now have plenty of time for a relaxed couple of pints in a very welcoming and comfortable pub. Our cab arrives at the rearranged time and delivers us to the Beaumont where, despite one or two problems with shower water pressure and temperature, baths/showers are taken before we reconvene for supper. We’ve booked a table at The Billet, which is about 400 yards along the road – the road being the A2. It’s a large pub with a large, if basic, menu including a number of offers such as two meals from one particular section for £11. We settle down with a bottle of white (or a pint of something or other for Mike) to consider our options. However, when Ben goes to the bar to place our order, he’s told that fish – the customary choice for two of our number – is off tonight. We therefore decide to finish our drinks and repair to the neighbouring Marino Fish Bar which had been recommended earlier by our host at the Beaumont and is a dine-in as well as take-away establishment. We seem to be the only customers, and the food is ok but probably doesn’t merit the Beaumont’s recommendation. It certainly doesn’t qualify as cheap which, fortunately, isn’t a criticism which can be levelled at the wine. We ease our way through another two bottles, and John and Mike call in at The Billet afterwards for a couple of stickies. The two lightweights return direct to the Beaumont.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Leave any comment