Industry on the Marsh

Today's Little Expedition, the first of the new year, is in my usual area, North Kent Marsh, but with a rather more industrial slant. Right next to the RSPB reserve at Cliffe is the Brett Complex,including Brett Aggregates,Brett Paving and Brett Landscapes. I thought the sight would make an interesting photographic project. I have been there many times before and it is heavily featured in my Youtube video "Man and Nature", however I hadn't taken serious still photographs.

Although the Brett plant is in a fairly remote location it has good transport links, with the branch railway line going right into the works. The wagons above are just a couple of the many that go in and out. The other main link is from the Thames as there is a jetty about a mile away.

I started my expedition at the main plant in Salt Lane, and went down the footpath that bisects the sight.

On either side of the path are giant hoppers and this one has this skeletal construction on the top, although I couldn't work out what its purpose was.

In an area obviously occupied by Brett Paving was this little forklift next to a whole stack of paving slabs. A big job for a little forklift. This was taken on a Sunday so everything was quiet, but come Monday morning it was obviously going to be busy!

One of the predominant features of the site is the multitude of conveyor belts, from ground level up to these criss-crossing overhead. They carry sand or aggregates from one place to another.

Having completed my tour of the plant I retraced my steps down the footpath, past the railway and round to Salt Lane to start my trek out to the jetty, following the line of the long series of conveyors that bring the aggregate and sand from the visiting ships.

It is not one continuous belt but a series, with a rise at the end of each that take the sand up and over the next and dropping it through a hopper, shown in the picture above.

Near Cliffe Fort is this belt that deposits sand onto this towering pyramid. Close by is the flooded pit that is now home to the Blue Circle sailing club.

Cliffe Fort has been closed as long as I can remember but it is still possible to walk around the outside. This section has a lookout post perched on top. 

Built in the 1860’s, Cliffe Fort is one of the three Thames Side Forts that were designed to defend the Thames Estuary. It was also built to work in conjunction with Coalhouse Fort in Essex to prevent a hostile fleet reaching London via the Thames.

Construction of the fort was difficult due to the marshy ground that the fort is built on; cracking and subsidence caused many problems for the men working on the fort. More surprisingly, this marshy ground was also home to malaria mosquitoes, which made life even more difficult for the construction workers

This is the jetty on the Thames where the ships come in with their cargoes of sand aggregates.

The following description comes from the Kentrail website.

"On the Thames, immediately adjacent to Cliffe Fort, deep water jetties were erected to moor ships which had been involved in sea dredging. These ships comprise of ''scoop'' apparatus which allows them to excavate gravel from the seabed, this of which is subsequently stored in the hull and then conveyed to the aforementioned jetties. Being deep water piers, ships can moor at any time, regardless of the tide. Between the jetties and the gravel works, there is a one mile long conveyer belt which transports the accumulated gravel from the moored ships to the works complex. At the works the gravel is then filtered between further conveyers, which ultimately pour the aggregate into waiting hopper wagons, these of which primarily have three destinations: Purley, Crawley and Stewarts Lane. The trio are holding sidings, where trains are re-marshalled into other formations for destinations elsewhere - it is known that ''London Concrete'' are at least based at Stewarts Lane."

Laying near the jetty was a collection of last rusty mechanical items including the one above, that I couldn't begin to imagine what they were used for. Just after taking this  I met a couple who had walked all the way out there to go inside the fort, only to find that they couldn't. We had all noticed a scaffold board placed over the fence, so obviously the local youths had found a way in, despite the many signs forbidding entry and warning that it was dangerous.

Pushing on for a short walk to a bench I crossed the old torpedo slipway built at the beginning of the 20th century for the Brennan Torpedo. If you want to know more here is a link.

After a short break I had intended going back the way I had come, but I wanted to take shots of the wreck of the Hans Egede. So instead of the nice dry concrete road I had come on, I now submitted my shoes to the muddy sea wall.

The Hans Egede was built in Denmark in 1922 and named after a Danish missionary. Its initial purpose was to be a Missionary Ship that sailed to Greenland where it was used to convert the Inuit people to Christianity. In its later life it was used on the Medway to transport Coal and Grain. While being towed up the Thames it started taking in water and went aground on Blyth Sands. To avoid it becoming a hazard to other shipping it was dragged to the shore where it remains to this day. Next to it are the remains of an old wooden jetty. (below).

Some more info has come to light, Allan Green is quoted on a Globalnet site "The vessel is the Hans Egede. A wooden, auxiliary 3-masted vessel, built in 1922 by J. Th. Jorgensen at Thuro, Denmark. Apparently, she was reported damaged by fire 1³/₄' west of the North Hinder light vessel on the 21st August 1955. She was towed to Dover where the fire was extinguished. In 1957 she passed into the ownership of the Atlas Diesel Co. and was towed out of Dover by the tug Westercock. She then spent some years in the Medway as a coal and/or grain hulk. 

She was then towed to Cubits Town on the Thames. Unfortunately, as the tug Fossa from Gravesend was towing her up Sea Reach the strain on the structure, which had become weakened over the years, proved too much causing her to take in water and sink. After grounding on the Blyth Sands she was beached at Cliffe."

I then set off for home and the further I went the more I regretted going this way. It was very, very, muddy! After the snow thaw and the recent rain the path had been used by horses and was glutinous in consistency. It made walking more and more tedious. There were compensations though. Hundreds of ducks on the river, and common terns on the island in the sailing club pool. Then I came to the wreck of a car that has been there for many years. How anyone got it out there is beyond belief, and I imagine it will stay there until it totally disintegrates.

After that I had to endure more mud, plenty of casual water, even more mud, and then on the last stretch brambles across the path. The perils of the country walker! I was seriously regretting not wearing my Wellington boots.Eventually I was back at the Brett plant and the lagoon alongside it, and had some good views of geese, widgeon and tufted ducks.

All in all a good day. The sun had shone the whole time, the first time for at least a month. I was happy but exhausted!