The Walk: From the car park at the Grain Coastal Park, follow the England Coast Path to Allhallows and onward to St Mary's Bay, then head inland down to the village of St Mary Hoo.
Map
NB The map shows my GPS track, with various diversions and excursions which you may not wish to follow precisely.
Why do it: Despite the industrial surroundings of the Isle of Grain, and the down-to-earth holiday park at Allhallows, this bracing walk offers a surprising sense of remoteness.
Between Grain and Allhallows you pass through flood meadows recently (2023) made accessible by the opening of a new section of the England Coast Path. West from Allhallows, the path along the Hoo coast is beside wild mud flats and along grassy embankments.
There are views across the Thames Estuary to Southend, Canvey Island and Thames Gateway Port, and there are several beaches (Yantlet Creek, Allhallows, Coombe Point Bay, and St Mary's Bay.) Flocks of wading birds should be seen on the mud flats. Near St Mary's Bay are the roofless shells of old explosive stores.
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| Between Grain and Allhallows |
Distance: 12 miles
Logistics: Park at the Grain Coastal Park - free at the time of writing (November 2023). After exploring the coastal park if you wish (there are views across to Sheerness on the Isle of Sheppey) head back through the village to join the England Coast Path heading West. Note there is no direct access to the England Coast Path from Grain Coastal Park.
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| Grain Coastal Park Car Park |
Get the bus back to Grain from St Mary's Cottages on the main road at the village of St Mary Hoo. The bus stop shown on Google maps has vanished, but the bus should stop at the mouth of Hall Road. (The bus was late when I did it, and this isn't a very nice spot to wait on a dark winter's evening.) The bus (191) goes via Allhallows. Such are the vagaries of bus services these days I would check latest services and times online: the public transport option on the Google Maps Directions seems quite efficient.
Challenges: Between Grain and Yantlet Creek the path skirts inland following the boundary of a former MoD explosives test range, which is off bounds due to the risk of unexploded ordnance: stick to the path if you want to live.
Heading West out of Allhallows, it is recommended to follow the official path which sticks to firm ground skirting the marshy Dagnam Saltings. A path does meander through the Saltings, but at high tide it is flooded, and at low tide you must either vault some deep muddy creeks, or take to the muddy beach. I tried it, and decided to turn back.
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| Dagnam Saltings |
Combe Point Bay is a nature reserve, where public access to the shore and saltmarsh is discouraged.
I found one of the pedestrian gates on the path near St Mary's Bay was locked, illegally, since it is a public right of way. I got round it by an awkward diversion onto the embankment. Please report any such blockages via the Rights of Way page of the Medway Council website.
The path generally follows good tracks or grassy embankments, but, in addition to the obvious marshy areas, expect mud after prolonged rain.
Refreshments: Pubs in Grain and Allhallows.
Nearby Walks
To be added.
For a map showing all of my coastal walks, see here.
For a cycle ride around the Kent Coast from Whitstable to Dover, see this post on my companion cycling blog.
Photos
November, bright sunny day, cold wind.
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| Grain Coastal Park |
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| Grain church |
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| England Coast Path is signed |
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| Warning sign for MoD test range |
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| Steps up onto the embankment |
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| Isle of Grain storage tanks (LNG?) |
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| Path beside the MoD access road |
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| Lots of water channels |
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| Heading up towards Yantlet Creek |
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| Mouth of Yantlet Creek. A "London Stone" in the water nearby marks the limit of the Port of London Authority. There is companion marker on the northern side of the Estuary near Southend. |
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| Monument at Yantlet Creek to some poor soul who drowned here |
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| View across Thames Estuary to Southend (try as I might, I couldn't make out Southend pier) |
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| Beach |
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| Beach with storage tanks |
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| Approaching Allhallows |
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| Allhallows beach |
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| Allhallows holiday park |
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| Amusements |
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| Beach at Dagnam Saltings |
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| Path through the Saltings |
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| Old blockhouse |
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| This creek was wider than it looks |
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| Official path along field edge |
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| Looking back to Coombe Point Bay |
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| Looking across to Thames Gateway Port |
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| Locked gate (awkward step over barbed wire to the right) |
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| Embankment path, looking across to Thames Gateway port |
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| St Mary's Bay |
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| The buildings without rooves were explosives stores |
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| Heading south towards St Mary Hoo |
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| View back towards Thames Gateway Port |
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| Church at St Mary Hoo |
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