Hoo/Grain: Upnor and the Medway shore (9 miles + 5 miles)

Following from my last walk between Rainham and Rochester, this walk covers the next section of the England Coast Path (ECP). It follows the Medway shore of the Hoo Peninsula, starting from the historic village of Upnor. It continues the theme of naval defences, marinas and marshland, plus the brutalist landscapes of the Hoo/Grain industrial zone. It is spilt into two parts, Part 1 between Upnor and Damhead Creek Power Station, and Part 2 between Stoke villages and the Grain gas storage complex.

NB The map shows my route, with various diversions and excursions which you may not wish to follow precisely. You can download the Google map info, as a KML/KMZ file, then convert to GPX using a site like GPS Visualiser. Part 1 is in BLUE, Part 2 is in RED.

Cranes on the Kingsnorth Coal Jetty

Essentials:

Logistics:

Because of the lack of convenient public transport options, I divided this walk into two 'there and back again' walks, omitting the long inland section of the ECP between the power station and the Stoke villages. The two walks can be accomplished in a single visit.

Part 1: Park in the Upnor Castle car park (free, 20 hours max). Assuming it's low tide, walk outward by the beach route as far as the Damhead Creek Power Station perimeter fence. Return the same way, except take the ECP alternative upper route from the Hoo Marina to Lower Upnor. Swap the beach and upper routes if necessary to get the best of the low tide along the beach.

Part 2: After completing Part 1, I drove to park in a dirt layby on the Grain Road just before the complex of gas storage tanks (see Google map). Walk along the embankment to the villages of Stoke and back again.

[NB You could possibly also do this walk from Rochester or Strood, walking the whole length of the ECP from there, and getting the 191 bus back (approx hourly, and a one hour journey).]

Walk:

Part 1 follows the ECP along the shore of the Medway Estuary, with an alterative 'high level' section for when the beach between Lower Upnor and Hoo Marina is flooded at high tide. The official ECP branches inland just before reaching the power station perimeter fence. I continued along the embankment to said fence, and along the concrete 'skirt' of the sea wall to the water intake sluice.

Part 2 follows the earth embankment alongside the Medway Estuary Marshes.

Both parts are well signed as the ECP (Part 1 is also signed as the Saxon Shore Way).

Distance: Part 1: 9 miles total. Part 2: 5 miles total (I went as far as Stoke Airfield.)

Refreshments:

Part 1: Two pubs in Upnor and The Pier on the waterfront at Lower Upnor (open at midday). Pub and Taggs cafe in Hoo St Werburgh (just off the alt route).

Part 2: Pub (Nags Head) in Lower Stoke. Stoke Medway Airfield also has a cafe

You might stop off at the Tesco Superstore in Strood for supplies, comfort break etc.

Points of Interest:

Part 1: Attractive village of Upnor (old weatherboarded houses along the High Street; Upnor Castle, late 16th Century). Massive brick walls of the old Upnor Ordnance Depot. Lower Upnor promenade: Arethusa training ship figurehead, City of London obelisks. On the beach: old concrete pill box; ruined red brick Cockham Wood Fort (built 1669 following the Dutch raid; abandoned 1818). Marinas a plenty, some with picturesque vintage craft. Pile of wrecked barges. More pill boxes. Marshland and mudflats with waders and wildfowl (I saw redshank, dunlin, wigeon, Brent geese). Victorian forts on Darnet and Hoo Islands in the Medway. Damhead Creek Power Station (liquid natural gas). Old coal jetty of now-demolished Kingsnorth Power Station, still in tact with awesome cranes still in place at the end. Throughout, views along and across the Medway to the Chatham Historic Dockyard, St Mary's Island etc. (see previous walk along this shore). The high level alternative route gives good views along the Medway Estuary as far as the Sheppey Crossing Bridge (see this walk), and passes through the village of Hoo St Werburgh whose striking church spire can be seen from the lower route (and also from the previous walk on the other side of the estuary).

Part 2: Grain gas storage complex and cranes of the London Thamesport, contrasting with grass pasture and Medway Marshes SPA. Stoke Medway private airfield.

Notes: Well signed as 'England Coast Path', but a GPX file will always be handy. (For Part 1, the ECP is coincident with the Saxon Shore Way, hence has dual signing. The SSW then branches inland, hence Part 2 does not have dual signing.) Upnor is a popular place to visit, so get there reasonably early before the car park fills up. Paved surface from Upnor along Lower Upnor promenade. On the beach route, the upper beach is firm shingle, but lower beach is muddy and slippery and best avoided. The beach will be covered at high tide, so check tide times carefully, and use alternative route if necessary. The path through the Hoo Marina complex has some gravel sections. The earth embankment to the power station had a good grass surface. The earth embankment for Part 2 was rough due to churning by grazing cattle. These embankments would be muddy in winter. I walked along the concrete 'skirt' of the sea wall in front of the Power Station: there were no signs explicitly forbidding this, but it may be covered at high tide, so you do so at your own risk. The alternative upper route is on a metalled farm road; the descent to the shore is on earth paths which may be muddy after rain.

For convenience of parking options, my walk excludes the ECP from Strood to Upnor. The latter part of this is sandwiched between Tower Hill and the the fence of an MOD site which obscures views to the river.

All my other coast walks can be found on this page.

Previous section of the ECP: Rochester to Rainham

All my walks in Medway can be found by selecting the 'Medway' label, including others on the Hoo Peninsula and Isle of Grain.

Photos: Late October, sunny morning, clouding over midday, sunny end

Part 1

Upnor Castle car park (fills up later in the day)

Upnor High Street

Upnor Castle and the Medway

Upnor High Street

Walls of the old Ordnance Depot

There was a large ordnance depot at Upnor

Obelisks at Lower Upnor: relating to fishing rights on the Medway

Restored figurehead of the Arethusa training ship

Upnor Castle on the Medway

Start of the beach walk

Pill box on the beach

Cockham Wood Fort

Ship moored at Hoo Marina

Lightship

Boats and flags

Tractors at Hoo Marina

Alternative ECP route sign

More boats

Barge wrecks

The embankment, Darnet Fort right of centre, Kingsnorth cranes left

Kingsnorth coal jetty: it was covered along its length to limit dust pollution as the coal was conveyed along the jetty. On the far left is the Kingsnorth Substation