We are the Hike Essex Ramblers. We open the way for everyone in our local community to enjoy the pleasures of walking.
This is a circular walk exploring a tranquil stretch of the England Coast Path & The Saxon Shore Way in Kent, with wildlife filled marshes on one side and the River Thames to the other.
The journey begins with a trip across the Thames on a passenger ferry (5 min crossing) from Tilbury to the historic maritime town of Gravesend, Kent.
TILBURY/GRAVESEND FERRY - We will catch the 10:42 ferry from Tilbury. Tickets can be purchased on the boat (£5.50 return card/cash).
Conditions have been particulary bad so far this year, so come prepared for the worst, lots of mud and standing water (and hope for the best). We will carry on regardless.
From Gravesend we head east and join the start of 'The Saxon Shore Way'; a 153-mile long-distance footpath that goes all the way from Gravesend to Hastings. Along the way we pass Shorne Marshes, an old firing range featuring 700 ponds formed as the result of bomb craters. Further on we pass by the remains of Shornemead Fort, a disused (and neglected) artillery fort built in the 1860s. We then turn south across Higham Marshes, an area of mudflats and saltmarshes, home to many wading birds. Once we have crossed the marshes, we turn west following the Medway Canal all the way back to Gravesend.
POCAHONTAS 1596-1617 - Back in Gravesend we will visit the memorial statue of Pocahontas, at St Georges Church, where she is buried. One of the most famous Native American women in history, daughter of the powerful Chief Powhatan, she fostered peace between English colonists and Native Americans at the Jamestown Colony in Virginia, eventually marrying one of them. In 1616 Pocahontas, her husband, their one-year-old son and a group of other Native Americans, sailed to London where Pocahontas was revered as a princess and attended plays and balls and was even presented to the royal family. In March 1617, shortly after setting off along the Thames for the voyage home, Pocahontas fell ill and was taken ashore in Gravesend where she died of an unspecified illness (aged just 20/21). Since then, increasingly fanciful and romanticized representations of her life have been depicted in books, songs, plays, musicals and films, including the Disney animation from 1995.
https://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/pocahontas
PUBLIC TRANSPORT - The nearest train station is Tilbury Town, which is 1.6 miles away (25min walk). There is also the 99 Bus from outside the station (every 30mins) that will take you to/from the Landing Stage.
PARKING - (Tilbury) Free parking is available at the 'The Worlds End' Pub, Fort Rd, Tilbury RM18 7NR (5min Walk to the landing stage).
LUNCH - Bring a packed lunch & snacks etc, we will stop apx halfway for a picnic lunch.
We finish the walk at Gravesend Town Pier where you are free to explore the town, catch the ferry back to Tilbury, or join us for a drink in the Three Daws, a historic tavern that dates to the 1400s.
The ferry back to Tilbury is every 30mins, last sailing is 19.00
10.30 at Tilbury Riverside pontoon RM18 7NJ Alternatively, you can meet us in Kent, at Gravesend Town Pier from 10.45am, the train station in Gravesend is 0.4 miles from the pier (8min walk).
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