The start point for today’s walk is Stoke Airfield which lies just south-east of Middle Stoke. Middle Stoke, as its name suggests, is between Upper Stoke and Lower Stoke just to the west of Stoke Marshes and north of Stoke Saltings. Hope that’s all clear…!
The airfield is very small and, as I mentioned last time, seems to be used mostly by a flying club.
Past the airfield the path continues on a grass, and only a bit muddy, bank. To the right is a railway line and to the left is the mudflats and marsh of Stoke Saltings. Apparently out there in the saltings lies the wreck of a First World War German U-Boat, although I couldn’t see anything. This was possibly due to the low sun shining from that direction!
After about ten minutes I reach Stoke Creek Crossing. More ‘Stoke’ stuff! There is a small marina here plus some wrecks in the mud…
Another ten minutes or so brings me to the end of this section of path. In front of me is a large industrial area with no public access to the coast. At the end of my last post I lied and said it was a power station. It turns out it WAS a power station but it closed in 2012.
This end of the site is dominated by a massive Amazon warehouse…
It is guarded by this formidable barrier and some more dilapidated boats, although there is a hole to the left of the gate should anyone wish to go exploring…
To skirt this industrial area I have to cross the railway…
…go a few minutes up this road…
…across this field…
…and back across the railway line…
I now have a short stretch of road to clear the estate before heading back to the coastline. On the road I passed this memorial to the site’s former use, before it was a power station…
The route back to the coast is unclear. The English Coastal Path is well signposted, but that cuts inland at this point. There is a Public Footpath through the marshes but on the ground it disappears into six foot high reeds that look easy to get lost in!
In the end, I decide to follow the outside of the Kingsnorth fence and hope that there is a way across the stream that seems to exist at the far end just before you reach the coast. The going is very muddy…
…but eventually I reach the stream at the end. Even better, there is a way across right in front of me!
Its taken a couple of hours to reach this point so I stop for lunch on the seaward side of the Kingsnorth site.
From here it is only an easy half hour walk to my finish for the day at the marina in Hoo St Werburgh. The path is nice and flat atop a grassy bank. Perfect!
Now, you may have noticed that today’s walk has been suspiciously light on old coastal defences. Well don’t worry, they turn up along this bit!
Out in the estuary on a small island is Hoo Fort. This was built in the 1850s to protect Chatham Dockyard and is now derelict with no public access.
There are also a couple of World War 2 pillboxes beside the path…
My walk today ends at the boatyards of Hoo marina.
A nice little walk, this one. The sun was out and it was quite mild for the time of year, so it has whetted my appetite for more after a couple of months off! Fingers crossed I can get out again soon…
