Jane’s Walk 2025 – Day 8
Off again, feeling much refreshed and ready to go. That day off was very important as we were both feeling tired, and I think even Moses appreciated the rest. Today, we are finally leaving behind all the industrial areas of the Thames and the Medway. It has been interesting learning about the different products produced here both in the past and now in the present and into the future.
We join our walk again at the bottom of the Conyer Creek, which was once full of barges taking bricks from the nearby works and apples and cherries to London. This land was owned by the Archbishop of Canterbury from the eighth century who had a palace at Tyndall Street where Henry III often stayed. Henry VIII’s fruiterers replaced the worn-out stocks of apples and cherries introduced by the Normans with new stocks, and the fame of the orchards of this area grew from then on. Apparently, previously, the Romans grew vineyards here right down to the water’s edge of the Swale. Perhaps they will return now that English wine is so popular.
We have a very easy and pleasant walk along the edge of the Swale, on well-maintained embankment paths. The Swale is sometimes called the Swale River, but it is not a river, being just a piece of water separating Sheppey Island from the Thames Estuary. In front of us is Fowley Island, home to oystercatchers, black headed gulls and other nesting birds. We pass another Thames Barge in full sail along this; they are very beautiful boats. After about 2.5 hrs we stop at Harty Ferry a popular place for bird watchers. The ferry, now disused, used to take people over to Sheppey Island. Moses is able to have a welcome swim as it is not too muddy here.
Soon after we turn right into the Oare Creek. This whole creek is lined with hundreds of small boats of all shapes and types as this is a popular sailing place in the season but quiet today on a September Monday. We stop for lunch at the bottom of the creek and then have to complete the walk slightly differently than was planned due to the fact that where we were supposed to end was totally inaccessible for Richard to pick us up in the car. The footpath we found ourselves following came perilously close to a herd of cows and calves, not a safe route for us with a dog. We manage to skirt round them safely and finished at our new end point.
