Day 68 – Sittingbourne to Gravesend

 

 Date: Sunday 24^th April 2011   Distance: 50.17 Miles

 

 

We left at 9am and went through Bobbin to Lower Halstow on little lanes beside apple orchards and right along the edge of the coast. At Upchurch we thought it appropriately named because of the unusual double roof to the steeple. Friendly locals, but with nowhere for coffee meant we wouldn’t linger.

 

At Lower Rainham we took the Saxon Shore cycleway. The entrance was covered in gossamer seeds, maybe dandelion or old mans beard, looking like frosting over the foliage. The path had very narrow vehicle restrictions that wore out the spanner from turning the handlebars, to get through, so often. Here we heard the first cuckoo and it was a pretty ride via Horrid Hill( it wasn’t that horrid) with plenty of wildlife in the estuary and wrecks of old boats.

 

We rode through a marina and at the leisure Park we had our coffee break at a picnic table. The official cycleway took us across many junctions in the road with traffic lights wasting a lot of time and if we had gone the other way round we would have only crossed once. No-one else was cycling. We wonder why????!

 

We weren’t allowed in the historic dockyard. Building works caused confusion about the direction of the path but we soon picked it up again in the Old Town streets. This is an interesting part of Rochester with old book shops, tea shops and the Cathedral and Castle area was lovely with good views. Beside the Cathedral must have been an ancient tree with masses of cherry blossom making a pretty spot amongst the buildings.

 

We rode over the old bridge across the Medway and were soon in Strood. We turned off the road just at the Strood sign and passed a Russian submarine( hammer and sickle on its side) languishing in the river. It was apparently bought from a Folkstone owner who had exhibited it there, but now it sits with a list and rusting away without any sign of anything being done to it for the last 5 years.

 

We had a steep climb up by more white cliffs and we were in a Ministry of Defence area again riding alongside wire fences guarding a dog training area and poisonous dangerous substances. A gate had a sign saying” Welcome to the Naval base” on the left side and on the right “No admittance M.O.D.”

 

There was more pretty cycleway(1) to the pub at Lower Upnor, “Kings Arms” where there was nice pint of Adnams. Heard a cuckoo again. Glimpsed old sea defence at estuary edge- Castle Upnor from Tudor times but to visit was really expensive and it didn’t look much.

 

Next came a desolate section on quiet roads. We could see power Stations but avoided Grain with its oil depot and where a new road was being built. A new bit of road took us past clay pigeon shooting and yet another cuckoo was heard. We could see Canvey Island and Southend across the water.

 

Needing another break we stopped at another pub with a tiny caravan park beside it. There was an Easter Egghunt going on for the children. They had to find plastic ones to exchange for quite generous large chocolate eggs.left out and had to succumb to some chocolate fudge cake with ice cream. Mmm. It looked unlikely that we would make the 4.45 train but we pushed hard( thank goodness for the intake of sugar)in case. It had been hilly in places but at least we had freewheeled a bit. A cycleway would take us into Gravesend but the narrow gap between tubular bars meant we had to keep getting off and turning the handlebars again and we had already lost about 1 hour and a half today from doing this. What with this and the lumpy chalky surface catching the train seemed less likely.  The cycleway ended in a derelict industrial area with broken glass and no clear clue which way to go. Fly tipping is rife in this part of the world! Out in the street there was still no sign of a station but after asking several people we eventually rolled up as the train was arriving. With no time to get a ticket we threw the bike on and bought a ticket when we changed at Rochester. The nearest station was at Newington where there was no easy access for bikes or disabled- up over bridge over railway line- and we cycled back to the Premier Inn, where we were just 5 minutes late for a 6.30 dinner. 50 miles and a hard day!