Day 43 – Sunday 10 June 2001 - Herne Bay to Margate

12 miles walked today

535 miles walked in total (average 12.44)

Sam and I were ready to walk this morning just before ten thirty.  The weather wasn’t too good to begin with so we had tee shirts, sweatshirts and coats!  I love British summers!  We hadn’t gone too far before it started to rain and we hoped it wouldn’t last all day.

The first stretch took us along the prom from the pier up to Bishopstone Glen and we were in a sheltered, wooded area before heading out through fields to get to Reculver.  The rain stopped and the sun came out and we started to gently steam!  According to our guide book, the Romans built the fortress Regulbium in the third century to guard the Wantsum Channel which cut off the land to the east.  (This land makes up the Isle of Thanet – now Margate and Ramsgate – which is now well and truly joined to the mainland!)  In AD 669, King Egbert of Kent founded a monastery and church within the walls of the fort.  In the nineteenth century, the sea washed away the fort and most of the church was demolished.  However, the towers were so important as a navigational landmark that they were restored by Trinity House.  They certainly are very imposing and could be seen for most of our walk today.  After a photographic session and a fried breakfast, we continued on our way – this time, minus our sweatshirts, but still with coats.  Just in case!

As we made our way along the prom to Birchington – today’s been all promenade walking – we discovered we were walking the Viking Coastal trail, a brand new cycle route opened today!  We saw a few cyclists and it was quite sad that so few people had turned out for the inauguration.  At Birchington, we’d watched some kites being flown and couldn’t work out why they were so far out to sea.  As we rounded the bay, it all made perfect sense.  This was the new sport – windsurfing but with a kite.  Not sure of the technical term – kite boarding perhaps?

We made our way up to the grassy slopes along the top of the cliffs to walk along, but could have carried on along the lower promenade.  We followed this all the way along to Westgate where we stopped for a breather – by this time, the coats were off as it had turned very warm indeed.  We kept looking behind us though and a big black cloud followed us all day.

It wasn’t too far now to Margate – our goal for the day.  Quite a major milestone actually, as, at Margate, it was a right hand turn down to Dover!  The further around the coast we got, the more people we saw and the less peaceful it all was.

As we strode into Margate for postcards and sticks of rock, it started to rain quite heavily so we legged it up to the station to catch the train back to the car at Herne Bay.  It’s been a fantastic weekend – I feel like we’ve really achieved something now – it’s great to be on straight stretches of coast with few geographical diversions.  Excellent!

Day 42 – Saturday 9 June 2001 - Faversham to Herne Bay

15 miles walked today

523 miles walked in total (average 12.45)

Today didn’t start too promisingly – I was run over by a small boy on a bicycle in Faversham High Street!  I quickly decided to leave civilisation and head out to a child/ bicycle free zone.  Faversham is certainly a pretty little town and I passed some very well cared for cottages on my way out to the creek.  I had my map in my rucksack for back up purposes, but was following my Saxon Shore guide book, which gave the route in the minutest detail.  I couldn’t possibly get lost with these instructions.

After an hour’s walking along the creek, which was very peaceful – no other walkers about – I came to the boundary of the South Swale Nature Reserve.  Disaster struck, or, more correctly, foot and mouth.  Luckily, it wasn’t too far to backtrack to a small lane out to Graveney.  From here, it was lanes out to the coast and a point where I could pick up the path again.

The weather was excellent – quite cool, but very sunny.  Not too many signs of the rain that had been forecast all week.  There were plenty of sailors out – I saw two Thames barges out at sea – and fishermen digging for worms in the mud.

I got to Whitstable by walking along the prom from Seasalter.  When I got there, I stopped for a couple of hours to explore the town and the harbour.  I really liked Whitstable – it reminded me a lot of Hastings old town and both towns have the old net drying sheds and the fishing boats.  Whitstable is famous for its oysters and there are many reminders of this – from salvaged oyster fishing boats to the Royal Native Oyster Stores, originally stores but now a restaurant and cinema.  Unfortunately, I was a month early for the annual Oyster Festival, held in July.

Heading out to Tankerton, I stopped at the Tea Gardens set on the beautifully landscaped slopes going down towards the sea.  As if I hadn’t sat down enough today!  Further along the prom at Tankerton, I stopped to talk to a group of sponsored walkers heading the other way – from Herne Bay to Seasalter.  It was good to see so many of them, kids included. 

Herne Bay was reached along the prom from Tankerton and it started to get quite grey as I headed along.  Herne Bay’s pier was the second largest in England, after Southend, but most of it has burnt down.  The end of the pier is still there, but it looks very odd stuck out at sea on its own.

As I got to the station (which was, very annoyingly, a bit of a trek out of town), the rain came down.  Very well timed!

Day 41 – Monday 28 May 2001 - Swale to Faversham

13.5 miles walked today

508 miles walked in total (average 12.39)

I left Portsmouth again at about a quarter to seven and started walking two hours later at Swale, which is actually nothing more than just a railway station and the name of the river.  In fact, to embark/ disembark at Swale, you practically have to jump in front of/ out of the train.  Very exciting!

The first chunk today took me on roads through Iwade and Kemsley to Sittingbourne, which surprised me by being quite a pretty little town, despite all the industrial bits.  I went to take a look at the Dolphin Yard Barge Museum, but it didn’t open for another hour and I couldn’t be bothered to wait.  Yet another missed sightseeing/ educational opportunity.

From Sittingbourne, I was back on footpaths along the Swale to Conyer.  Initially, I had to walk through a travellers’ camp which was a bit scary, but the perseverance paid off – I was soon back on proper footpaths – it was very peaceful.  It’s great to leave the concrete behind and get back on grass again.  The policies for each county regarding foot and mouth are a bit vague – some footpaths are open and some aren’t.  There doesn’t seem to be any logic behind any decisions at all.  So I didn’t see any other walkers, but I did see some big, fat, healthy sheep!

There are about a dozen houseboats at Conyer and I was in heaven, imagining my future living in one of these abodes.  I even collared one of the local residents and grilled him about living conditions – apparently, they have double glazing and carpets, can be lived in all year round and, if you’re lucky, you even get your own little garden with shed and greenhouse.  He’d lived there for three years but the people who lived in the boat opposite had been there twenty years.  In fact, the one next to him was up for sale and would I be interested?  Would I?!  I was informed that a houseboat could cost anything between £30,000 and £40,000.  Mr Minshull, take note!

I had a quick drink in the Ship and Smuggler Inn which, coincidentally, overlooked a houseboat so I got a good gawp at their kitchen arrangements as I supped my orange juice.  Mmmmm, I wouldn’t have my kitchen set out that way, but it’s started me thinking …

From Conyer, I was back on roads through the villages to Faversham – I was beginning to struggle now and really wanted to stop.  My feet were killing me and I was getting rather burnt and delirious, desperate for ice cream and a sit down!  In fact, I did the last two miles at a bit of a shuffle, rather than a walk.

Faversham is another pretty town – my guide book said it was one of the prettiest towns in Kent.  It certainly was that.  However, my feet were hurting so much that I decided not to explore this time, but to have a look next time I’m up.

A very good weekend overall.  Considering I’ve done no exercise for ages, I was rather pleased with progress.

Day 40 – Sunday 27 May 2001 - Minster, Isle of Sheppey to Swale

12 miles walked today

494.5 miles walked in total (average 12.36)

I left Portsmouth this morning at quarter to seven and started walking two hours later.  I knew today would be hard – I’ve just come back from a nine day camping trip in France where I’ve done nothing except eat, drink and sleep.  I did manage to walk one day – a paltry five miles – what a disgrace!

It’s been all road walking again with the odd track, but the footpaths are all still closed on the island.  And it’s been very hot – I’ve a most attractive, stripey effect sunburn.  (I won’t be able to wear that strappy dress now for the wedding I’m going to next week – bugger!)

At Eastchurch, I stopped to look at the memorial to flight.  “This memorial commemorates the first home of British Aviation 1909.  Near this spot, at Leysdown, Eastchurch, flights and experiments were made by members of the Aero Club (later Royal) of Great Britain.  Also the establishment of the first aircraft factory in Great Britain by the Short Brothers 1909 and the formation of the first Royal Naval Air Service Station 1911.”

The Isle of Sheppey is a caravanner’s paradise – I gave up counting after a dozen parks.  The most ridiculously named were Palm Tree Holiday Park and Coconut Grove.  Today’s been a day of summer sights, smells and sounds:  seagulls; peacocks; cuckoos; doves; wood pigeons; roses; cow parsley; rape; bonfires; newly mown lawns; children playing on the beach and bacon sizzling!

The beach at Leysdown consists entirely of crushed shells – no sand, or shingle – which gave a satisfactory crunching noise underfoot as I walked along.  I liked Leysdown a lot – it was a proper holiday place – lots of amusement arcades, bingo, fish and chips, etc.  I’m not a great fan of these kinds of entertainments, but I enjoyed seeing it.  Perhaps because it’s been so long since I’ve been at the proper seaside – Southend was a year ago, after all.  Despite being a tiny place, Leysdown was heaving – car boots and markets being the order of the day!

Swale is back on the Kent mainland so I decided to call it a day, although not even two o’clock.  Still, twelve miles in less than five hours isn’t bad, considering the amount of time I’ve spent sitting down!

Day 39 – Sunday 6 May 2001 - Queenborough to Minster, Isle of Sheppey

6 miles walked today

482.5 miles walked in total (average 12.37)

This morning, we were walking at about 10.30 am along the creek at Queenborough, past a car plant and out to the roads through Blue Town.  We passed what we discovered later to be called the “Gnome Factory” – a concrete ornament manufacturer.  We saw all sorts of garden statues, from gnomes, windmills and Buddhas, to slightly less conventional figures – Bacchus, the Virgin Mary and Michaelangelo’s David!  Apparently there are some quite dodgy ornaments too which are hidden – these are known as the “top shelf statues”!

From Tescos at Sheerness, we were back out on the sea wall to Minster – proper seaside at last!  I got rather over excited, I’m afraid – I’m so fed up with riverside and estuary walking.  I really wanted to have a paddle, but didn’t dare tell Vicky in case she had me committed!  Besides, it was blinking cold – Sheerness is so bracing!

At Minster, we gave up.  It was very sunny and we found a sheltered spot from the sea breezes to sit down.  For an hour unfortunately, which meant we lost all enthusiasm.  However, it was lovely to sit and watch the people on the beach, the windsurfers tacking back and forth and just to natter and put the world to rights.  Perfect!

We did a bit of exploring of the shells and stones on the beach.  Vicky found a jellyfish and poked it with rather a short stick to see if it was alive.  I pointed out that, as Vicky is a first aider and I’m not, she would have to talk me through the treatment if she’d been stung.  Apparently, this would involve chopping an arm off, even if the sting was on the leg!  Mmmmm.  I think that perhaps the sun had got to Vicky at this stage – this was confirmed as she was trying out her Karate Kid manoeuvres while standing on a breakwater.

We had another look at the map to work out a plan of action and ended up in The Beach pub for a drink!  We then had another look at the map for another plan of action and walked to Minster Abbey to do some sightseeing and some more sitting down.  Our guide book had mentioned a tomb in the Abbey of Sir Robert de Shurland, Baron of Sheppey and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports during the fourteenth century.  The carving on his tomb shows a horse’s head rising from the waves – a local witch had prophesied that the horse would bring about de Shurland’s death.  To prevent this, he cut off its head, but, some months later, stubbed his foot on its skeleton (rather carelessly left lying about, I thought), developed gangrene and died.  Unfortunately we couldn’t get in to see the tomb as a christening was in progress.

The Abbey was founded in the seventh century by Sexburga, widow of a Saxon king and the nuns of the Abbey seemed to have lived a good life.  When excavating around the area, thousands of oyster shells and deer and wild boar bones were found.  The Abbey well is now housed in a garden of one of the local residents, but is open to the public on request.  It’s a fertility shrine and apparently has a 100 per cent pregnancy success rate.  Vicky and I decided not to visit.

Although still quite early, we decided to call it a day and get a taxi back to the car.  Vicky spotted a cab in the road and went to get the number, which didn’t show an area code.  We dialled the number with the Gillingham code (which turned out to be wrong) and managed to get through to the Control Centre of Kingsnorth Power Station!

It’s been a brilliant weekend – obviously not too many miles today, but the weather’s been glorious and it’s just good to bum around in the sunshine.

Day 38 – Saturday 5 May 2001 - Gillingham to Queenborough, Isle of Sheppey

13 miles walked today

476.5 miles walked in total (average 12.53)

Vicky and I left Worthing this morning at 9.15 am and, after driving around Gillingham town centre three or four times to try and find somewhere to park, we started walking at eleven o’clock.

The weather today could only be described as bracing!  Very sunny, but very breezy.  I lost count of how many fleeces that Vicky was wearing at any one time!  The stretch towards the country park took us right along the waterside and the tide was right in to the sea wall.  We had our first sit down on Horrid Hill, which wasn’t very hilly, or horrid now I come to think about it.

We were on footpaths again today, which are now open after the worst of the foot and mouth outbreak is over.  This stretch of coast, though, is very marshy with little or no footpaths around the edge, so eventually we got back on roads, through Otterham Quay to Upchurch, where we sat down to eat lunch in the middle of the church yard.  It had warmed up considerably by this time and we found a sunny little spot to sit in and listen to the birdsong and the lawn mowers from the neighbouring gardens.

After our lunch stop, it was roads again and we stopped at the Three Tuns in Lower Halstow for a quick drink before heading on to Iwade along a road that hugged the coast.  We checked the Ordnance Survey map and located the paths that we could take once we’d crossed the Kingsferry Bridge over to the Isle of Sheppey, but all paths on the island are still closed because of foot and mouth.  Bugger!  So we stayed on the main road which was quite hairy as there were some huge lorries threatening to gather us up in their slipstream!  To add to the traffic chaos, there was also an accident on the bridge and we had to negotiate a police car/ ambulance obstacle before we could continue.

Elmley Marsh Nature Reserve takes up a lot of the island and we saw lots of geese, swans, ducks, rabbits and a heron in flight.  Not to mention all the horses, cows and noisy sheep we’d seen earlier.  A day full of wildlife!

We staggered along to the railway station at Queenborough, on slightly quieter roads now, to catch the train back to Gillingham and a taxi back to the car.

Immediately we were back in the car, we were lost again so spent an hour or so trying to find our B&B – we now know the Medway towns very well indeed!  The B&B was very good and the landlady very friendly, despite accusing us of being mad for walking thirteen miles.  However, she did turn her attention to a couple who had cycled fifty miles from London on a pilgrimage to Canterbury.  So we were only second in the “nutter” stakes – what a disappointment!

THE DIARY OF SAM J - SATURDAY 3 MARCH 2001

We started walking at 9.20 am from Upnor, wrapped up well against the cold – we’d seen lots of snow on the ground on the way here.  We knew that a lot of paths would be closed because of the foot and mouth outbreak and that we wouldn’t be able to go further than Gillingham this weekend.

We had to go onto the beach to get a view of Upnor Castle, but we should get a better view from the other bank.  We walked from Upnor to Frindsbury along the road past an oast house and a picturesque graveyard in the snow.  Frindsbury was where we had our first view of Rochester – the cathedral and castle stood out from the industrial and residential areas.

It was downhill all the way into Strood and then we crossed the river.  After a photo call to take pictures of the decorations on the bridge and of each other, we reached the town.  It was only eleven o’clock!

We had a look in a second hand bookshop and came out with a bag full of books each.  We decided that, as we only had a few more miles to go, we would sightsee for the rest of the day as everything would be open and we would continue with our walking tomorrow.  So, at 11.30 am, we were sitting in the cathedral tea rooms with cake and hot chocolate, planning the rest of our day.

There are lots of book shops in Rochester and we went in all of them.  We bought so much that we wouldn’t have been able to walk any further anyway. We had a look around the cathedral – very pretty apart from the four very scary Green Men on the ceiling.

We got a cab back to Upnor and the car before returning to Rochester for a pizza.  Afterwards we bought provisions (chocolate!) and headed for Medway Youth Hostel.  After dumping all our bags in our room, we headed for the TV lounge – no fighting over what to watch as there was only one other person staying!  We played scrabble, watched telly and went to bed.

SUNDAY 4 MARCH 2001

We were up at 8.00 am for breakfast this morning, which was when we met the other guest and it turned out that Susan knew of her son!

We left the hostel just as it was starting to rain to drive to Rochester and we were walking again at 9.20 am.  It’s been mostly road walking today apart from a bit of the path that ran along the river bank at Chatham.  It was very peaceful and we must have been nearer the sea, because we saw two oyster catchers!

We arrived at Chatham dockyard, but there wasn’t much to see because all the interesting bits were in the museum.

We were trying to get to the river bank again so that we could get a view of Upnor Castle. We could see it from afar and we saw people walking along the path, but we could only see a building site and new housing development.  Eventually, we found an information board that showed the path around.

It had been raining on and off all morning and, when we got to the bank opposite Upnor Castle, we even had a few flakes of snow!  We took a few photos and then set off to Gillingham.  Very grim walking – heavy rain, roads and the fact that this was going to be the last bit of walking that Susan could do for a while.

We arrived at Gillingham station at 12.30 pm to get the train back to Rochester.  The plan was to drive back to Upnor for lunch, but, by the time we got there, the pub was full, so we drove back to Epsom to meet Paul and had lunch at Bella Pasta.

It’s sad to think that, because of the foot and mouth, Susan won’t be doing any walking for a while.  But let’s hope that it will all be over soon. 

Day 37 – Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 March 2001 - Upnor to Gillingham

8.5 miles walked today

463.5 miles walked in total (average 12.52)

On Saturday, I left Portsmouth just before seven o’clock to pick Sam up from Epsom and we were in Upnor at nine twenty, ready to start walking.

I’ve been a bit nervous about walking this weekend, due to the foot and mouth breakout.  We knew that we’d have only a few miles to walk – there is a total footpath ban in Kent – and Gillingham was the last place we could reach before we would be back in farmland.  But we’d already worked out that we would be doing plenty of sightseeing and mooching instead.

From Upnor, we were on roads to Frindsbury – we could see the church we had to head for on top of the hill, but, unfortunately, we had to cross a dual carriageway to get there.  Which meant a quick dash across one side, leaping over the barrier in the middle of the road, and then another sprint to the other side.

It wasn’t long before we’d got to the Rochester bridge, which was decked out with lots of stone lions, and had a magnificent view of the cathedral and castle.  There’s been a bridge on this site since Roman times and it has quite a history of being burnt down, knocked down and generally falling down.

As soon as we got into Rochester High Street, we popped into the first second hand bookshop we found.  Unfortunately, we bought so many books that we realised we’d never be able to walk any further with all this extra weight to carry.  A quick decision was made – we’d sightsee today and walk tomorrow.  And with that, we popped into the cathedral tea rooms for a cuppa!

The rest of the day was spent in the cathedral, looking around the shops, wandering up and down the high street, laughing at all the shop names – Mrs Bumble’s tea rooms, Peggoty’s tea rooms, Fagin’s café, etc.   We didn’t pop into the Dickens centre, but we did go and have a look at his house and the chalet/ summer house he used to write in.

After getting a taxi back to the car (we couldn’t even be bothered to walk the two miles back to collect it!) we dashed back into Rochester for a pizza before heading off to the youth hostel, a converted oast house in the middle of Capstone Country Park.  As we drove into the park, we could see all the red and white tape up closing all the footpaths and bridleways.

The youth hostel was hardly what could be called over subscribed – in fact, there were only four of us in the place, so the warden gave us a four bedded room instead of the usual two.  Marvellous – even more room to make more mess!  It wasn’t long before the contents of the rucksacks were spread out over the floor and we could look at our literary purchases.

We had purchased some emergency provisions – in the form of three bars of chocolate each and some hot chocolate sachets – so we dashed down to the lounge with our goodies to take possession of the TV remote control.  We discovered someone else already in there – blinking cheek!  We did the obligatory exploring of the bookcases and games and decided on a game of scrabble, which threw up such gems as “suffix”, “svelte” and “zephyr”!  I won’t reveal the scores as I don’t want Sam to feel inadequate.

On Sunday morning, we had breakfast with the mother of one of our agency engineers in Portsmouth, whose wages I’d been (indirectly) responsible for paying during the past year!  Spooky!

The walking was very peaceful around the docks and we spotted oyster catchers, seagulls, swans and ducks, all grubbing around in the mud for food.  Unfortunately, the sun decided it wasn’t coming out today and it was very grey.  We made our way down to St Mary’s Island past Chatham docks and (eventually!) found the path around the edge of the island which would give us a view straight across to Upnor Castle.  It decided, at this point, to snow.  As it was so cold, we didn’t linger very long to check the history out – apparently the Dutch invaded in 1667 and destroyed ships in the Medway, after attacking Sheerness on Sheppey.  Then they turned round and went home, without proceeding further upriver.  I’m not entirely sure why – we would have been a sitting duck.  Perhaps we made it too easy for them and we weren’t enough of a challenge.

It didn’t take us very long at all to get to Gillingham through the shopping centre and to the rail station, to get the train back to Rochester.  Unluckily for us, the pub that we’d earmarked for lunch was full, so it was a quick dash back to Epsom to meet Paul in Bella Pasta for dinner.

A very good weekend – not very much walking, but lots of laughing, shopping and eating chocolate.  All my very favourite things!

Day 36 – Sunday 18 February 2001 - Allhallows to Upnor

10 miles walked today

455 miles walked in total (average 12.63)

I had a lay in at Sheila and Alan’s this morning until quarter to nine – lovely.  Consequently, I didn’t start until ten thirty.  The weather has been very mild, starting out quite overcast but quickly becoming glorious.  I’ve seen lots of walkers out today with their packs and walking sticks.

Grain village is very small and seems to have a huge population of young kids, all of whom were playing out in the street.  Because it’s very flat, you get the full benefit of seeing the four power stations on this stretch of coast.  Not a view I’d like from my living room window.  Still, each to their own.

Because of the flooding, it’s been all roads again and, unfortunately, the road I was walking on was the one I’d driven in on.  Things started to look up at Stoke, however, as I started to use the side roads through the villages.  It was very peaceful, despite the gun fire from the ranges and there were some brilliant views over to Sheppey.

Hoo was very pretty and was full of horses.  I also spotted a mad magpie who was leaping from one horse’s back to another, unfortunately never sitting still long enough for a photo opportunity.  (I was on a mission today to practise with my new camera and its huge zoom!)

Upnor was very pretty – with lots of boats about and lots of people visiting the pubs for Sunday lunch.  I stopped at Upnor Castle and sat and ate my packed lunch while overlooking the River Medway.  It was surprisingly calm, considering the industry over the other side, the silence being broken only by seagulls and the chug-chug of a boat making its way, very slowly, up river.

I got chatting to a couple who said pedestrians could cross at the first bridge over the Medway.  What a relief!  They also told me to eat at the Rochester Cathedral restaurant – good food at bargain prices apparently!

Sam had forbidden me from visiting the castle as she wanted to have a look at it when she comes with me in a fortnight.  Well, Sam, you’re going to be disappointed – it doesn’t open until April Fools Day!

Day 35 – Saturday 17 February 2001 - Gravesend to Allhallows

15 miles walked today

445 miles walked in total (average 12.71)

Having seriously overslept by an hour, I had a later start than anticipated today.  Nine o’clock found me in the Tourist Information Centre in Gravesend, acquiring telephone numbers of taxi firms who could pick me up at the end of the day.  The train service on the Isle of Grain doesn’t go to any place I need to walk to!

From Gravesend, the path followed the canal and the railway line through yet another industrial estate.  A train passed me with just three freight carriages and the driver beeped and waved at me!

I wanted to go out to the shore and see Shornmead Fort, but, unfortunately, the path was knee deep in cowshit, so I changed tack and decided to get out to the Thames a bit further on.

The sun’s been out for most of the day, but, because of all the rain recently, the paths are very boggy and, at one point, the water had come up over my boots and had soaked my socks and feet.  I decided that, all the time I was on grass, my feet would never dry out so I had a change of plan and walked through the villages instead, passing through Church Street, West Street and Cliffe, where I popped into the Six Bells for a drink.

From Cliffe, I tried public footpaths again, but very soon had to backtrack to a road which took me first to Cooling, past the castle and church, and then steadily uphill to High Halstow.  I could see Canvey Island and Southend over the water – it’s taken me months to get this far!  I saw lots of snowdrops and also my first crocuses.  So the scenery hasn’t been all bad!

The road pounding was having a serious impact on my knees and hips and every step was becoming quite difficult.  Nevertheless, I pushed on through High Halstow, Fenn Street and St Mary Hoo before finishing at Allhallows.

I tried to get a taxi from the Rose and Crown, which I’d already ascertained to be a workers’ pub, from the proliferation of yellow site coats in the cars in the car park.  Unfortunately, the taxis wouldn’t come out of Gravesend as it wasn’t in their area.  I nipped into the pub to get a local taxi number – what a nightmare!  Dim lighting, Christmas flashing lights all over the place, a barmaid with the blondest hair and biggest chest I’ve ever seen and thirty or forty workmen.  And no women.  Needless to say, everyone turned round to look at me, so I got the number and scarpered.  It was four o’clock at this time and getting quite chilly.  But I certainly wasn’t waiting inside the pub though!

A very good day – very pleased with the mileage covered.

THE DIARY OF SAM J - SUNDAY 4 FEBRUARY 2001

We set off in the pouring rain from Greenhithe village at 9.50 am.  It’s a very pretty place – lots of old houses with Dutch gables and a pub at each end of the high street – ideal.

We eventually found the footpath by the river which crossed Swanscombe marshes.  There was no-one around except the birds and it would have been lovely if the weather was better.  We had our packed lunch as we walked along (cheese rolls and hot cross buns – thank you Sheila!).

We had to head inland and finally found a pebbly path that led the way.  We shouldn’t have complained about that as it was far better than what we were about to encounter.  The track we joined that would take us back to the road was thick mud all the way.  We could see a couple of workmen in yellow jackets up ahead and were wondering what they would think of us being out in these conditions, when we didn’t have to be.  As we drew level, we realised that the man with the laptop computer wasn’t going to say a word, so we both yelled “hello” to him!

Back on the road, we passed Northfleet and Gravesend football ground and then another industrial estate.  This one was a little more exciting as we had to walk through the Blue Circle cement works.  It is possible that a path runs all the way through, but the signpost may have been tampered with so we took the path that skirted the edge of the site.

It was here that we had our first view of Gravesend.  Back onto the banks of the river and we had a very clear view of Grays on the other bank.  I’m not sure if that’s a good thing though.

By 12.30 pm, we had reached our destination for the day – Gravesend.  The one thing we had to find (apart from postcards!) was the statue of Pocahontas which we did easily – she’s by the Tourist Information Centre!

Everything was shut so we had a wander around to find somewhere to have lunch and discovered the first sign for the Saxon Shore Way which Susan will follow around the coast of Kent to Rye in Sussex.  The start of her next day’s walk!

Day 34 – Sunday 4 February 2001 - Greenhithe to Gravesend

7 miles walked today

430 miles walked in total (average 12.64)

This morning Sam and I were walking just before ten o’clock, but had only planned to walk as far as Gravesend, the start of the Saxon Shore Way, my first long distance footpath, covering one hundred and forty miles around the Kent coast.  It was a good thing we hadn’t planned on going any further – the weather was filthy today and it wasn’t long before we were soaked through.

The first stretch took us out along the marshes towards an industrial estate before heading back out on roads.  It was so wet that we had mud up to our knees and our boots were about three feet across in width.  As we were nearly back to roads, we walked down a track that had been churned up by machinery and had a very tricky few paces where we had to negotiate some pipework.  There were men working on the track and they didn’t turn a hair as we went past.  We were quite difficult to ignore actually – both in the bright red waterproof coats again – so we were very impressed with the diligence shown by one of the engineers and his surveying, in his show of indifference towards us.

We were only on roads for a very short while until we were back on footpaths again which, very bizarrely, went through the Blue Circle cement works.  We weren’t sure if we were supposed to walk through the depot, but there were footpath signs up and signs warning walkers and cyclists of the dangers of moving machinery and plant.

It wasn’t long now before we walked into Gravesend along the river again.  We were on a mission to find Pocahontas, the Red Indian princess that no-one had heard of until Walt Disney’s animated film brought her worldwide fame.  It wasn’t difficult to find her as there were signs up all over Gravesend.  She’d apparently saved the life of Captain John Smith, one of the early English colonists in Virginia.  She married another settler, John Rolfe, and come back to England with him in 1616.  As she set out for America a year later, she caught a fever and died, aged only twenty-two.

We’d had enough by now and made our way to the Three Daws on the riverside for lunch, soaked through and very muddy.  Another good day, despite the weather.

THE DIARY OF SHEILA S - NOT WALKING WITH SUSAN ON SATURDAY 3 FEBRUARY 2001

Susan arrived an hour late – fortunately Alan was nearly ready and only had to have a shower, breakfast, get dressed and pack a rucksack.

They set off at 9.20 am.  At last – a bit of peace!

I had a wonderful day looking round the shops and visiting my nieces, Amy and Sophie.

Susan and Alan arrived back at Coulsdon at about 6.30 pm.

We had toad in the hole, spotted dick and custard followed by wine and chocolate.

Alan couldn’t stand all the excitement of the evening and fell asleep in the chair at about nine o’clock.  Susan and I chatted until eleven, then decided to have an early night in order to be fit for another day’s walking on Sunday.

A brilliant day – I can’t wait to not walk with Susan again!

Day 33 – Saturday 3 February 2001 - Erith to Greenhithe

11 miles walked today

423 miles walked in total (average 12.81)

I left Portsmouth at 6.30 am and got to Sheila and Alan’s in Coulsdon at eight o’clock.  While I was waiting for Alan to get ready, I looked at all of Sheila’s recent photographs, had breakfast and read War and Peace from cover to cover.  We finally left the house at 9.30 am and were ready to walk in Erith at 10.15 am.

The weather was very mild and sunny, but with big black clouds following us for the whole day.

We walked for a short while along the side of the Thames, before finding ourselves – wrongly – in the middle of an industrial estate the wrong side of the River Darent.  It didn’t take long to correct this mistake and we were soon striding out in the right direction.  As soon as we crossed the Darent, we were on footpaths all the way, using the Darent Valley Path.

The path wound around on a ridge with marshes on one side and the River Darent on the other.  Halfway out to the Thames, we met a farmer who was watching over one of his cows who had fallen down the ridge and was now laying, shivering and exhausted, at the bottom.  We talked with him until his pal came round in the JCB with the bucket on, to try and get her back on to the marsh side.  He told us that the ridges were built to protect the marshes from being flooded from the Thames, but that they’d been flooded anyway in the storms of 1953.  It was then that the flood barrier was built to protect the River Darent too.

Alan, for some reason, decided to introduce us to the farmer and explained about my walk and that I’d started in Norfolk, to which the farmer, laughing, said “not this morning surely!”.

We left him and his mate to rescue the cow and walked along to the flood barrier, where we sat and ate our lunch.  Alan’s bag is a little like Mary Poppins’ and he soon produced polythene for us to sit on, binoculars to look across the Thames with and yoghurts (with spoons) to supplement the rolls I’d made.  You’d never know he was a boy scout, would you?

The paths followed the Thames all the way to Greenhithe and we were soon under the Queen Elizabeth Bridge again.  Bridges are fantastic!  A little way past the bridge, we found a white plastic garden chair in the middle of the path which provided us with plenty of photo opportunities.  Unfortunately, today was the day my camera finally gave up the ghost and died.  I’d been expecting it for about six months, so wasn’t really surprised.  Alan kindly lent me his camera from this point and said I could have the pictures he’d taken so far.  However, he also told me that he had terrible camera shake and wasn’t sure the photos would come out anyway.  Ho hum!

At Greenhithe, we walked practically straight from the footpath into the train station, with a short stretch past Asda.  We were about ready to call it a day anyway so leapt on the first train back to Erith.  Unfortunately, it didn’t stop at Erith and we ended up at Abbey Wood, with a swift run over the bridge to the other platform to get the train back again.  That will teach us for not concentrating on the train announcements!

It’s been a fantastic day – we’ve seen lots and talked lots.  Alan told me lots of stories all day – unfortunately I’m not sure he finished one story before being sidetracked into another.  Still, it’s been very educational and great fun!

(At Sheila’s later, Alan mentioned that he’d like to walk the stretch around Reculver in Kent.  I pointed out that Sam had already earmarked that walk, but that he was very welcome to come anyway.  He told Sheila, “I suppose they’ll walk ahead and I’ll have to walk behind catching at their odd snatches”.  We assume he meant conversation!)