5th April 2024 Various short wanderings on the Hoo peninsula

 Friday 5th April 2024

It was very wet first thing, but after breakfast the sun came out. So changeable. We abandoned the plan to visit Rochester, pleading tiredness after a day in London yesterday! Today was a drive-and-walk day.

We drove out to Allhallows and St Mary Hoo, where we chatted to a local man with his dogs. The church is now an house.

We continued to Grain, out past the refinery area to the village with its church.

We walked a couple of miles along seafront path and back through the village.

Alas the pub in Grain had no coffee - their machine was broken.

So we had a coffee in the Red Dog at High Halstow. then back to base to finish our stew and bread and bits.

Later we went out to Cliffe Pools Nature reserve and walked another couple of miles.

The next day we called into Hoo St Werburgh for an early coffee, before leaving the area for home.

1st April 2024 - Kent - Cooling, High Halstow, Egypt Bay, Cliffe,

1st April 2024

Do you think we should take our wellies?

Yes, some of the tracks are a bit wet.

Just as well….by the way this is Dickens country.

We followed the Saxon Shore Way to the Northward hill Nature Reserve, and the wellies proved their worth as we went through Bromhey Farm.

We discovered that even this area has steep hills in the Nature Reserve  - birds, butterflies and blossom, and some mud underfoot in the woodland areas.

Coffee just outside High Halstow,  then we took a footpath past Decoy Farm. From here there were fine view over the Thames towards Canvey island, Leigh on Sea and Southend.

We followed a narrow road which was hardly more than a farm track to Swigshole and out to the coast path at Egypt Bay, where we saw two avocets on the mud flats.

At this point it had started to rain.

We walked along for a while, coming to an embankment which seemed to be the path - hard work walking along and quite windy wet and cold.

As the rain eased a bit we found a place to eat our egg and bread, and drink more coffee.

 Then began the marsh experience as we found the tracks we hoped to take were marked as private. There was a footpath which was marked at the bridges, and which we successfully followed with the OS app on the phones.  The rain persisted and it was definitely welly conditions underfoot. 

After a couple of miles or so we emerged at the village of Cliffe and made our way back to Cooling, past the Castle,

the church and the pub, and reached home at 4.30 pm, by quiet roads, which were slightly flooded in a couple of places. 

Around 11 miles in all, over 5 and a half hours, including the breaks.

Surprisingly strenuous, considering it was mostly flat.