Upnor Castle

Saturday 14th & Sunday 15th October

"The Garden of England" plus Maritime Heritage
Very green. Mainly tranquil. Some historic flourishes

Contributions welcome.

Video of the best available pictures

Click any picture to enlarge

More of a summary than a report

Friday 13th October - Skeleton crew (beaten by buraucracy - obliged to use the alternative slipway - notes further down) launched at EA Slipway near Hampstead Lock and Yalding station. 51.227063, 0.413820 - Picture.
Moored at Hampstead Marina.
Shuffled trailer and cars to Medway Yacht Club (the final destination).
Adjourned to the hotel, Premier Inn at Sandling near Allington Lock.
Dinner at the adjacent Malta Inn.

River Medway

Hampstead Marina

The four rail bridge pictures above were taken on Saturday. More below

"A fine exploration of North Kent"

"An enjoyable exploration of a new part of the country, with plenty of features of interest"

"Gorgeous, scenic weekend of camaraderie in kind conditions". "Enjoyable weekend despite the problems"

Saturday 14th October - Afternoon
Began the afternoon cruise a little ahead of schedule.
Sylvan scenes predominated. Ancient bridges. Glimpses of villages.
Maidstone (old and new) provided interesting contrast.
Allington Castle was clearer through the trees than the picture suggests.
Allington. Moored above the lock alomst outside the hotel.
Collected cars from Yalding.

East Farleigh

Click any picture to enlarge

Sunday 15th October - 12 crew
09:30 met at Hotel.
10:00 in Allington Lock.
With the slowly strengthening ebb tide, soon passed through Aylesford, followed by Snodland, Halling and Borstall (The original one is now closed!).
The upper tideway was cluttered with large amounts of flotsam and jetsam.
More industry here than yesterday, but still mainly rural as far as the outskirts of Rochester.
Closeup view of many "fine-boats" in a timed "Heads" race.
Welcomed at Rochester Cruising Club (pre-arranged) for Sunday roast and R&R.

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Rochester Cathedral

Sunday Afternoon -
Time for a brief wander to see the Castle grounds and Cathedral.
Onward with the ebb tide through Rochester, past Strood and Chatham (Fort Amherst high on the hill)..
Spied some historic ships in the Historic Shipyard.
Upnor Castle, and Arethusa (training "ship") all too soon cued us to round up and come alongside the pontoon at Medway Yacht Club.
Refreshments, Car Shuffling, then a few challenges with the slipway due to low tide (we had been warned!), and head out to do battle with the motorway.

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Chatham

Statistics - Saturday 14/10
Before lunch, 5.2 miles, 2hrs 30 mins. 1 lock.
Lunch, 1hr20.
After lunch, 10 miles, 3hrs 10 mins. 3 locks.
Anticipated - Day 1. Non-tidal 18 miles +9 Locks

Statistics - Sunday.
Before lunch. 10,8 miles, 2hs 35. 1 lock.
Lunch, 2hrs 20..
After lunch. 3.5 miles. 1 hr.
Anticipated - Day 2. 1 lock +Sheltered tidal 15 miles

(For comparison Wed 18/10 pm we covered 4.8 miles in 1hr14mins, max speed 5.3mph.)

Regrets? - It would be easy to spoil this page with a diatribe about the river closure at East Peckham rail bridge.
EA had granted permission for us to continue if we could fit.
We negotiated with Network Rail. They said that if we produced proof of EA's permission, they would allow us through. We produced it. They U-turned.
We surveyed the bridge on Friday. There was plenty of headroom (far more than at Yalding/Hampstead lifting bridge). And as for their "Environmental barrier". .. Enough!

Cons - We were needlessly and at short notice, denied access to the "Magnificent Seven" greenest miles of the navigable Medway, and one of our five castles.
Had we known earlier, we could have planned a shortened route with only one night of accommodation.
Pros - We explored, Swallows and Amazons style, five un-planned miles around Yalding.
Overall the event was a useful "Taster" for a Medway Raid.
A 2-day "down-hill" row from Tonbridge to Upnor could be an addendum to a Medway Raid?
Lowest headroom = 1.9 metres.