At the water’s edge stands a second world conflict pillbox, a magnet for a whole lot of roosting birds. A flock takes to the wing and, by way of my binoculars, I make out curlew and brent geese; within the distance a pink container ship slinks slowly alongside the horizon. There’s nobody round, the readability of the chilly morning gentle on the Thames including to the sense of remoteness.
I’m on the Isle of Grain, on the tip of the Hoo peninsula in north Kent, being launched to the latest part of the England Coast Path, formally open at present (12 January). This 47-mile stretch runs west from the village of Grain to Woolwich and varieties a part of, ultimately, a 2,800-mile nationwide path across the coast.
“It’s thrilling as a result of it opens up components of the Isle of Grain that the general public couldn’t entry earlier than,” says my information, Jenny Bowen from Pure England. “It additionally hyperlinks with the present Thames Path, which runs from the Cotswolds to central London, that means there’s a ‘supply to sea’ strolling route alongside our most-famous river for the primary time.”
Our stroll begins on the tiny hamlet of Grain, the place the views stretch throughout the confluence of the Thames and Medway to Southend, glowing within the winter solar, and Sheerness on the Isle of Sheppey. As we comply with the route barely inland, we move a smattering of homes, a church and a pub earlier than a brand new path leads up on to the ocean wall.
The Isle of Grain just isn't an island in any respect, however an unlimited, open expanse of pancake-flat saltmarsh, peppered with indicators of business and a defensive maritime historical past. Yantlet Creek meanders to our proper, edged by reeds; ponies and sheep wander a few of the most distant grazing land within the south-east; low tide reveals glistening mudflats stretching to the horizon. To the left, pylons and silhouetted fuel works add a grittiness to the scene.
We cease to picnic on one of many tiny seashores dotted alongside the river, a boundary stone close by marking the top of the Thames estuary. Opening the brand new path has been an extended course of, Jenny and her colleague Francesca Sanchez inform me, involving environmental assessments and numerous conferences with landowners and native councils. Whereas a few of the route follows current paths, entry to some personal land has been granted for the primary time, eroded footpaths have been rebuilt and culverts added to empty waterlogged land.
“It’s an advanced course of, weighing up totally different pursuits – however the objective is to all the time preserve as near the coast as potential, with out disturbing wildlife,” says Francesca.
As we wander on we meet a neighborhood couple out for a stroll – eager birders excitedly stating a hardly ever seen shiny ibis. The entire space is essential for winter birdlife and pockets are protected. New indicators inform walkers what to look out for, and our sightings embrace black-tailed godwit, ringed plover and dunlins, although marsh harriers stay elusive.
The trail sweeps near the water as soon as extra as we move the abandoned Allhallows Vacation Camp. From right here it’s a wild 12-mile stretch to the RSPB’s Cliffe Swimming pools reserve, with no villages, automotive parks or connecting footpaths on the best way.
Additional west the trail takes walkers to Gravesend, with close by Shornemead fort, put in to guard London within the 1860s, and the choice of a ferry throughout to Tilbury and the Essex coastal path. Highlights for many who proceed to Woolwich embrace the Swanscombe peninsula – newly designated a web site of particular scientific curiosity – and the Queen Elizabeth II bridge (the busiest estuarial crossing in Europe). From Woolwich, the Thames Path continues to the Cotswolds – that means a 232-mile path now runs from its supply to the North Sea.
The England Coast Path itself will ultimately be the longest coastal strolling route on the planet. Of the 67 sections, 16 are actually open, with extra to comply with this yr, and proposals for 65 stretches have been submitted to authorities for approval (simply over 99.4% of the route).
Our restricted time means additional exploration should wait for an additional day and we flip again in direction of Allhallows. The cries of seabirds fill the air, the incoming tide laps the shore – and this wild, forgotten fringe of the nation quietly bewitches with a peculiar magnificence all of its personal.
This text was amended on 12 January 2022. The brand new part of the trail runs west from Grain to Woolwich, not east as said in an earlier model.
The Grain-Woolwich stretch of the England Coast Path is well accessed through public transport. Stations alongside the route embrace Woolwich Arsenal, Erith, Slade Inexperienced, Greenhithe and Gravesend. Buses join Grain and Allhallows to Rochester.For extraon the strolling route, go tonationaltrail.co.uk
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