Sheppey: Swale, Queenborough, Sheerness, Warden Point (16 miles)

Having walked the England Coast Path (ECP) along the East and South coasts of the Isle of Sheppey, I returned to walk the West and North, thus completing a circumnavigation of the Isle. Here's a map.

Essentials:

Start: Park at Sheerness Tesco (charge). Train to Swale (hourly; 10 minute journey)

Walk: ECP Queenborough, Bluetown, Sheerness (8 miles), Minster Leas (12 miles). Then beach around Warden Point (16 miles).

Finish: Warden Oasis Store, Bus 360 back to Sheerness

Notes: ECP is well signed. Earth embankment and dirt track to Rushenden, then hard surfaces to Minster Leas. ⚠️Beach walk round Warden Point requires low tide and suffers from muddy landslides: see warnings below.

As before, I parked at the Tesco Superstore in Sheerness, which is very convenient for transport links around Sheppey. The bus stand for the main island buses is adjacent, and the station is just a short walk away. The Superstore has long opening hours, and good facilities you might need after a long drive. You will exceed the free parking time, and so need to pay a fee (around £4, using the YourParkingSpace app). Also, the car park is secure: you might consider parking in dirt laybys on the back road near Swale Station, but the area feels slightly dodgy for leaving your car for a long time.

Block House on Warden Point Beach

It was set to be a sunny hot summer's day, and I planned a walk of two halves.

In the morning, I would take the train from Sheerness to Swale (a rather isolated station just south of the Swale crossing), cross back over the Swale on the Kingsferry swing bridge, then follow the ECP via Queenborough back to Sheerness (8 miles).

In the afternoon, I would walk the ECP to Minster Leas Beach, where the official ECP ends, and get the 360 bus back to Sheerness (4 miles) (RED line on map). The ECP between Minster and Leysdown has yet to be finalised. There is no continuous right of way close to the coast, and the earthen cliffs are constantly eroding. I think if any route is ever finalised it will involve much walking along busy roads, and/or traversing the many caravan parks along the coast.

However, when I arrived at Minster Leas Beach at around 3pm, I figured that weather, time and tide were on my side to go 'off piste' and make the walk along the beach around Warden Point to finish at Leysdown, thus completing my circumnavigation of the Isle. Actually I finished at the village of Warden, making 8 miles from Sheerness, and got the 360 bus back to Sheerness. I was thus about a mile short of Leysdown where I started the other half of my circumnavigation, a pity, but I was really knackered and opted for the closer bus stop.

Thus , I walked a total of 8 + 8 = 16 miles. You could do the two halves as separate walks on different days. The first half would make a good rail ramble, bookended by the stations of Sheerness and Swale.

The ECP was easy to follow from Swale Kingsferry bridge through to Minster Leas Beach, but if you decide to do the beach walk around Warden Point, caution is needed. It's a long walk, 4+ miles, and parts of the beach will be covered at high tide, so it can only be done at low tide, so best set off about 2 hours before low tide. The earthen cliffs are crumbling and subject to constant landslips, so don't linger beneath them. Those landslips deposit swathes of mud over the beach: YouTube videos show that this mud can be boot-suckingly deep. However, I found that these muddy bits were firm to cross, probably because the mud had dried out in the summer heat, but after rain and in winter I suspect they will be much worse. Footpaths shown on the OS map leading away from the beach are inaccessible due to the landslips, and so won't provide an escape route. Finally, the naturally stony beach is also littered with tree debris and much man made detritus (bricks, concrete, and other rubbish), and so, in places, is heavy going to walk on. All that said I successfully completed the walk in about 2 hours, and rather enjoyed the sense of achievement in the face of such dire omens.

Whilst not a stereotypical 'pretty' coastal walk, I found this walk full of variety and interest, in summary:

continuation of the Swale marsh and wetland (a somewhat disturbing feature was a red coloured pool, see photos)
Ladies Hole Point (!), the most Westerly point on the Isle, and peninsula with a rather ramshackle maritime depot of some kind. Some old vessels are moored here (inc Pirate Ship).
Queenborough, unexpectedly quaint historic port town where the Swale meets the Medway, with esplanade giving excellent views over to the industry on the Isle of Grain
bizarre footpath through acres of imported cars (Sheerness is a major car import hub)
historic Bluetown, which housed the workers at Sheerness naval dockyard, and was so-named because standard issue naval blue paint was used to paint the doors. The massive original brick dockyard wall remains. I called in at the heritage centre in an old music hall, and was given an informative guided tour by the enthusiastic volunteers.
Sheerness esplanade, with views across the shingle beaches to Southend on the other side of the Thames Estuary. I also made an excursion along towards the the port, with it's ominous looking Bastion towers
Minster Leas Beach, a somewhat more refined beach, backed by grassy slopes
impressive, if dangerous, earthen cliffs on the Warden Point walk (don't linger!)
Incongruous concrete defensive structures on Warden Point Beach: these were once on the clifftop, but erosion has deposited them onto the beach. They are old blockhouses and also a concrete acoustic mirror
Warden Beach is said to be an excellent place to find fossils, especially sharks' teeth (I was too knackered to try.) There are also views across to Whitstable, and out to the Anti Aircraft Towers and wind farms out on the estuary.

For refreshments, there are pubs etc in Queenborough (I had coffee at the friendly Bosun's cafe), in Bluetown, in Sheerness, and at Minster Leas Beach. Where I ended my walk at Warden, there is a convenience store (Oasis) and pub (The Warden Bay) right next to the bus stop.

For all my coast walks, see this page.

For the other half of my Sheppey circumnavigation, see this post.

For a cycle ride including Sheerness and the Queenborough Line canal, see this post from my companion cycling blog.

Here's more detail in photos.

Train arriving at Sheerness Station

Walk over old Kingsferry road/rail Bridge (new bridge to left)

Join the ECP

Under the new bridge

Path on embankment beside the Swale

Wetland

Outflow of some kind (nearby sewage works?)

Alarming red pond

Looking across the Swale at high tide

Sheerness docks complex comes into view

Maritime facility of some kind at Ladies Hole

Large mound at Ladies Hole Point, Grain Cranes in distance (the island in front of Grain is Deadman's Island, where many convicts were buried in the 19th Century)