Jane’s Walk 2025 – Day 2
The forecast is wet in the middle of the day, so we decide to set off early. Returning to our endpoint of yesterday, we walk away from the estuary, inland. We pass the imposing medieval stone gatepost of Cooling Castle. The castle dates from the 1380s and was built by the Cobham family, the local lords of the manor, to deter French raids into the Thames estuary. The castle has fallen down, but the gatehouse and some of the outer wall turrets are still standing, and the surrounding moat is visible.
We now get a glimpse of some of the Kent orchards, passing through a Victoria plum orchard and a large pear orchard, some having been harvested and others not yet picked. Large container lorries for apples pass us on the narrow roads. Eventually, we climb up our first hill into High Halstow Nature Reserve, a large forested area that contains, among other trees, some beautiful ancient oaks. We come out the other side slightly lost, having taken a wrong path in the forest, but are put back on the Saxon Coastal Path by a kind dog walker, Simon, who then wishes us well on our journey.
Walking down a well-worn track between harvested fields, I was just thinking how well the Saxon Coastal Path was kept and signposted. Just then, we come across a signed crossroads of footpaths saying that our route was to the right. However, this pointed to a totally overgrown area which looked more like a ditch than a path. This forced us to walk down the edge of a ploughed field without a verge. Something Tom hates doing. After negotiating nearly two fields of plough and feeling suitably fed up, I realised the path had reappeared on our right, and after scrambling through an overgrown ditch, we were back on the Saxon Coastal Path, thank goodness.
After crossing over a single track railway line we meet Richard on the main road and go for lunch in a cafe in Hoo St Werburgh. St. Werburgh was an Anglo-Saxon saint, a princess, and an abbess, venerated as the patron saint of the city of Chester. The word Hoo was the Saxon word for an outcrop or peninsula.
After lunch we walked back down to the coast, past a number of lakes teeming with wildlife then back on to the embankment of the Thames estuary along a stretch of rather depressing mudflats back to the outskirts of Hoo St Werburgh. As we approached it appeared to be a graveyard of disused boats, initially rotting hulks lying in the mud and then a large number of what appeared to be abandoned boats lying side by side on dry land. All rather sad! This part of the town was a plethora of warehouses which had to be negotiated before reaching the end of the walk.
