7th April 2024. Setting out at dawn from the Isle of Grain, at the mouth of the Medway estuary, with Sheerness dockyard across the water, and the strange abandoned Grain Tower, a remnant of wars past, sitting out in the mud flats, reachable only at low tide. Then finding a way past the power stations, oil depots and memories of military air bases that seem to turn Grain into an island more than any water does. Winding around Stoke Saltings, and then finding paths that more often than not go inland away from a coast that too readily becomes unpassable when the tide rises. Passing other remnants that show how strategically significant the Medway has always been. Finally reaching Medway’s sprawling conurbation, with Rochester Castle standing guard. 19 miles.
