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.