For today's walk, I explored the area around Sittingbourne. I'm not sure how to describe Sittingbourne's location - it's sort of near the North Kent coast by the Swale, which is a strip of sea separating mainland Kent from the Isle of Sheppey. The Swale is shallow, muddy and marshy, and is visited by huge numbers of birds but not by many people. Despite being close to the large town of Sittingbourne, the creeks and marshes to the north can feel like a desolate wilderness.
I have to admit that I've never liked Sittingbourne, which is why it's taken me so long to do a walk there. I've driven through it on the A2 many times and I've visited the shopping areas occasionally, and I've always thought it to be a scruffy, industrial, grotty place. I didn't change my mind about the town centre or the industrial northern part today, but I discovered that the area to the south of the A2 is really nice and the villages just outside the town, such as Borden, Tunstall and the wonderfully named Hearts Delight are extremely pleasant. And the section of my walk between Sittingbourne and the Sheppey bridges along Milton Creek and the Swale was quite fascinating.
I parked in the centre of town and headed north, following Milton Creek to the Swale and on to (and under) the old and new Isle of Sheppey bridges. Then I made my way to the village of Iwade and out into quite empty countryside following quiet lanes to Chestnut Street. From there I walked through Borden, Hearts Delight and Tunstall and back into Sittingbourne from the south. The distance was 16.25 miles.
The first challenge was to find the path out of the industrial area to the creek. I was relieved when I spotted it...
The path led to Milton Creek. Looking back I could see a sign down by the creek showing 'The Mouth' and 'The Head'...
I went towards the mouth...
The path followed the creek and the Swale for about 6 miles and there were nearly always high industrial fences to my left. I passed sewerage works, power stations, cement works and the like, but no people. The path was clearly very rarely used so I was surprised to come across a picnic table. It was a nice spot, but at least 3 miles from civilisation!
I thought this was worth a photo - it's a power station that burns rubbish, and it looks good too!
Further on I passed another power station (it's in the distance here). This one had big piles of what looked like scrap wood nearby, so I guess it's also a rubbish-burner:
The path took me inland for a while along an embankment where cattle had churned the path to mud very recently. I was happy to see them some way off to the side of the path!
I passed a derelict railway track. The new Sheppey bridge is in the distance...
This is a narrow part of the Swale with Sheppey across the water. That part of the island is Elmley Marshes, the site of one of the largest nature reserves in England and (I think) the biggest privately-owned one.
Looking towards the Sheppey bridges - the old lift bridge (closest) is still in use.
I took most of today's photos during the wilderness part of the walk, so there are only a few of the last two-thirds. This is typical of the lanes I walked between Iwade and Borden:
The church and a pub at Borden:
An oast house and thatched cottages at Tunstall:
The thing I really liked about this walk was that it changed my mind about Sittingbourne. Okay, lots of the area
is pretty grotty, but I like desolate marshes and discovering charming old villages. And Sittingbourne itself has some extremely nice parts too.