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!)