Tyrannosaurus Wrecks

On the banks of the Medway near the town of Hoo St Werburgh, is a boats graveyard, or so it appears. Like so many old dinosaurs, some almost skeletons, are the wrecks of long forgotten craft either afloat, just, or lying on the mud, or in some cases shingle. After my previous little expeditions when I had stumbled across a few wrecks I was keen to find more. I had read online, of this boat graveyard, and using Google Earth, an increasingly useful tool, I had spotted where they were.

I had headed down the dual carriageway that goes to the power stations at Kingsnorth and Grain, and turned right into the town of Hoo St Werburgh. This is one of the few places in Britain that sound like questions. The others I can think of are Ware and Wye. The answer to the question "Hoo St Werburgh" is that she was a Saxon Princess, a daughter of a King of Mercia.

Going through the town and following the signs for Hoo Marina, I ended up at the boatyards on the Medway.

Not far away, along the coastal footpath, was the view I had come for. In the picture at the top are some of the hulks still afloat.

This next view is a bit more typical, showing a rotting hull of a boat embedded on the strip of marsh between the water and the sea wall. I realised at this point that if I wanted some closer shots I was probably going to get a bit muddy, and I did! Some of the marsh was relatively solid and little pathways could be seen, but the vegetation sometimes hid soggy patches and I had to be careful where I stepped. In some places I was using my tripod as a sounding stick, and on one occasion it suddenly went about 12 inches in to the mud and I made a quick retreat.

As you can see not everything was where it started out. This rusty bit of machinery had found its way onto a bit of shingle away from the wrecks. Presumably someone had removed it from its place aboard, and got it this far, and thought better of it.

I always like to put a name to things, so when looking at old boats I look for a name on the bow or stern. In many cases the sea and the weather had contrived to remove any identifying marks, but in this case the letters WIL J are visible. This may be only part of the name, but to me it personalises it to the extent that it seems like he's an old chap having a gossip with his anonymous neighbour, who seems to pulling a face!

I have to say here and now that this was my favourite. It looks like it once had a bit of class and style, and with the pointed stern matching the bow, is vaguely reminiscent of a Viking ship. I like to think that the Saxons, who must have lived nearby,  used boats not dissimilar to this on the Medway 1300 years ago. 

As you can see from this shot of the other end the ribs are starting to show and looking almost like fossilised Dinosaur bones. Perhaps I'm letting my imagination run away with me now, but these sort of places have that effect on me.

So I had taken plenty of pictures, hadn't walked very far, hadn't climbed over any stiles, and could have headed home at this point. Oh no, that would have been far to easy! What I needed next was a 3 mile trek in a cold wind, with lots of stiles to climb over. As it turned out it wasn't that bad. All though the weather was cold about 5 degrees C, there wasn't any wind, and as long as I kept walking I was quite warm, and I only encountered two stiles. I hadn't gone far when I spotted a WW2 pillbox protruding from the sea wall. As I'm  a bit of  a sucker for that sort of thing, I hastened my step and then stopped there to take a few more photos.

...and then just around the corner, another one! Bigger, but not quite so aesthetic, mainly as it contained 6 inches of water and a bit of rubbish!

I headed down the sea wall for a mile or so just enjoying the walk and then thought I'd have a break. There were some concrete jetty supports jutting into the marsh with some horizontal pieces just right for a sit down. As I was sitting there looking at the shingle I noticed fragments of china scattered about. I can't resist picking up that sort of thing and in five minutes had collected the selection shown above. It was mainly pieces of plate, some clearly "willow pattern", and a few pieces of marmalade pot. I remembered reading that the area on the other side of the Medway at Lower Halstow was used as a dumping ground for London rubbish in the 19th century. The ash was separated to be used in brick making and the china and glass dumped in the river. Maybe something similar happened here as it is directly opposite High Halstow. I didn't take any away as I already have a collection I have found round my home, so I left these for someone else to enjoy.

I kept heading along the seawall until I reached Kingsnorth Power Station and I could go no further in that direction. Rather than retrace my steps, I always like to take a circular route so that everything is new, I headed inland. 

At first I was crossing reclaimed marsh with fleets and reeds and grazing sheep. The view above is looking back towards Hoo, and the spire off the Parish Church of Hoo St Werburgh can be seen in the distance. There were wild geese on the meadow who started to look nervous and waddled towards the safety of water when they saw me, but I was soon past them and they returned to their grazing. I followed the footpaths that led me across farmland and past the Kingfisher Angling lakes and then on by a narrow lane back to my starting point.

Another enjoyable day! I really like the atmosphere of the North Kent Marshes, and although I pass another hardy soul from time to time, I mainly feel that it's just me and nature, and the intriguing discoveries I make along the way. I hope that I have given you a flavour of the area along the Thames and Medway estuaries in my last few pages, and that you will be encouraged to visit these places yourself or embark on your own "Little Expeditions".

Next time I will try to steer away from Marshes,Wrecks,Forts and other abandoned buildings, and go somewhere different, but equally intriguing. However I know that I won't be able to stay away from the marshes for long!