The England Coast Path (or rather King Charles III England Coast Path as it’s now called) section of the Thames Path is officially 47 miles in length. This section starts/ends at Grain Beach on the Isle of Grain. In 2022 and 2023 I broke the 47 miles down into 3 stages – Grain to Cliffe, Cliffe to Greenhithe and Greenhithe to Woolwich. Grain and Cliffe are relatively isolated with each served by a bus service to/from the Medway towns. These bus services make Cliffe a good place for a stop and any one of the Medway towns a good place for staying a couple of nights in a hotel.
For 2024 I want to challenge myself more than in previous years and thought that I might be able to break the 47 miles into just 2 stages – Grain to Gravesend and Gravesend to Woolwich. I always had the option of stopping at Cliffe if necessary.
Bearing in mind I live in Northamptonshire, in order to get a really early start for my first walk I chose to stay in the Premier Inn in Gillingham the night before. Next morning I was down for my cooked breakfast at 6:30 and was actively encouraged to take some fruit and pain au chocolat with me for a mid-morning snack – such lovely staff there. The 191 bus to Grain at this time of day stopped all over the place as it was a school service but by 8:50 I arrived at the Isle of Grain Beach and was ready to start my challenge. I’m always gobsmacked that the 5 mile wide estuary of the Thames at Grain began life 232 miles earlier as just a trickle of water in Gloucestershire. I set off on a lovely sunny morning, confident that the weather would deteriorate during the day as it has done for much of this year!
The Isle of Grain is so called because at one time Yantlet Creek used to flow from the Thames to the Medway cutting off the land to the east from the mainland. Over time the creek silted up to such an extent that the Isle of Grain is no longer a true island. Yantlet Creek does however still fill with water from the Thames end as far as Grain, meaning that you can’t actually walk alongside the Thames from Grain Beach round to the creek and beyond as there is no crossing point. Coupled with this, much of the land on Grain to the east of the creek is off limits being a former firing range and is marked on maps as ‘Danger Area’. So, for the first 3 miles of this walk, you first walk inland and then alongside the west of Yantlet Creek before reaching the Thames.
One mile after turning left at the mouth of Yantlet Creek I reached Allhallows Holiday Park, or Haven Kent Coast as it’s called these days. This would be the last point for the next 12 miles to stock up with water as you’re totally isolated until reaching Cliffe. Needless to say you must also have a charged phone with you if you’re walking on your own.
From Allhallows onwards the cranes of the London Gateway container port on the other side of the river near Corringham would dominate the skyline for most of the day but no matter how far I walked towards them they were always still miles away! The walk itself to Cliffe was uneventful. The path basically follows the river wall with a few minor detours. The land itself is marshland and salt flats. I passed 3 other people between Allhallows and Cliffe and 1 herd of cows, about par for the course.
By about 3:30, I was finally level with the London Gateway cranes on the other side of the river and was following the river as it turned to the left towards Cliffe Fort. At this point I would normally leave the ECP and walk alongside the lakes of RSPB Cliffe into Cliffe where I would catch the bus back to Chatham. It was another 6 miles to reach the centre of Gravesend and as I wanted to challenge myself, I decided to continue.
The ECP passes through the aggregates plant at Cliffe, in fact under one of the conveyor belts. The company that owns the aggregates operation at Cliffe also owns Cliffe Fort itself. The fort is listed on the English Heritage "Heritage at Risk" register. You can see a little of the old fort from the path but you get a much better view of the scale of it from a drone. After the excitement of the aggregates plant and fort, the river and path completed a near 90 degree turn and the cranes of Tilbury port and Gravesend came into view in the distance.
After passing what’s left of Shornemead Fort, sadly covered in graffiti these days, I was well and truly on the home run into Gravesend. By now I’d run out of water and after walking more than 20 miles today I was in need of something to drink. The Ship & Lobster pub is literally on the path. From the outside it’s not very inviting, despite having an elevated deck overlooking the sea wall. However, inside was what I call a proper old fashioned boozer and I was given a very warm welcome by the lady behind the bar.
Duly refreshed I made my way into Gravesend, finishing my walk at the railway station at about 6 o’clock. That was 22.5 miles completed today and best of all I wouldn’t have to rely on going back to Cliffe on the bus. I got the train back to Gillingham and walked the short distance to the Premier Inn where I had a relaxing evening.
Utterly impressive. I plan on doing Gravesend to Grain with a couple of friends at some point, so it's encouraging to see someone else brave (foolish?) enough to tackle it. How were your feet the next day? -Ellie.