The Swale and Isle of Sheppey

About 30 minutes earlier as we parked near Sittingbourne railway station it had been dull, overcast and raining. After a long gap - since March - we were back on the Round Kent Coast Walk on the section between Sittingbourne and Teynham.

We had intented to catch the train from Sittingbourne to Teynham and then walk to join the Saxon Shore Way at Conyer, walking along the shore of the Swale back to Sittingbourne. In the end we missed the train we were intending to catch so decided to walk from Sittingbourne instead and time it so that we didn't have too long to wait at Teynham.

The walk out to join Milton Creek and then on to the Swale was, at best, uninspiring dragging through what seemed to be endless light industrial units and even when we joined the creekside things didn't look up as there was an assortment of houses, garages with litter, all sorts of materials dumped and some very ferocious dogs.

Many years ago we used visit a Barge Museum out along Sittingbourne Creek, I think it has closed now as the directional sign had been blanked out. But on one of the visits trips along Milton Creek were being offered in an old converted lifeboat. We were able to travel on the last trip of the afternoon on the last of the ebbing tide to the mouth of Milton Creek where it joined the Swale. A journey very few people will have done in recent times.

Eventually we left all this behind and, as the clouds drifted away to the east and the sun came out we entered the desolate, eerie world of the North Kent Marshes. It was a good time to see them. The tide was full in, the sea like a mill pond, hardly a zephyr of a breeze and it was warm.

This part of the Saxon Shore Way has been creeks, Sittingbourne's Milton Creek and Conyer Creek. That leaves us the coast between Oare Creek and Faversham Creek to finish off this bit of the coast. Something we'll do in a few weeks' time so that we can finish up at Macknades for a Christmas treat as we did last year.

It was so peaceful out along the marshes of the Swale, with the low slung Isle of Sheppey forming the backdrop. Lots of opportunties for shots of long vistas with interesting reflections, especially along Conyer Creek where boats were making the best use of the tide and conditions to get to and from the marina. I was surprised how many boats there were in the marina given that for several hours every day the creek, like every other North Kent creek is almost dry.

All these creeks had been thriving industrial areas in the 19th century, brickmaking being one of the main activities. The bricks together with a myriad of other goods was shipped in the famous Thames barges along the Swale and Thames to satisfy London's voracious appetite. In time these magnificent vessels became redundant and, like this one, ended up beached and abandoned on the foreshore.

We timed the walk back almost to perfection, arriving at Teynham station with 20 minutes to spare to eat our lunch perched on what passed for passenger comfort in the only shelter on the station. After a trip of 5 minutes on the train we were back in Sittingbourne, the outward trip of which had taken us 2 1/2 hours to walk!