A bird's eye view
As my flight enters the broad mouth of the Thames Estuary, I savour the bird's-eye view of this area I know so well. The coastline resembles the gaping, dislocated jaws of some fossilised dinosaur that once roamed here, but time has rendered it harmless and tides have scattered its teeth to form countless islands. My eyes scan the pewter-grey mudbanks and mudflats and a distant shoreline etched with filigrees of sinuous creeks. My fellow passengers mostly ignore the fantastic views, because this isn't a 'must-see' UK destination - and yet it's one of those rare places where big skies reach to limitless horizons, giving a sense of wilderness, where encountering another person is a rare event. And though it looks empty, it teems with wildlife.
The estuary narrows and the coastline becomes increasingly industrialised. Buildings and chimneys crowd the shores as we descend into London. It's good to be reminded I can find an antidote to city life on my doorstep, where the 'Garden of England' hides its wild nature.
Complex area
The North Kent Marshes is a complex area extending from Gravesend to Whitstable. Their beauty is an acquired taste - often bleak and unwelcoming, they lack the chocolate-box charms of the North Downs, and the horizon is punctuated by exclamation marks from power-station chimneys. Their natural resources have been exploited since Roman times, and the flotsam and jetsam of human enterprise have left areas of dereliction that are surprisingly species-rich - who would believe that rare ants, bees and wasps favour such places? And, despite industrialisation, large areas are wild and seldom explored.
Worth staying a while
The marshes can be visited in a day from London, but they don't reveal themselves easily. For a longer stay, choose Rochester as a base. From here, you'll find that cycling and walking is the way to penetrate the best wildlife areas. It takes four days to walk along the Saxon Shore Way from Gravesend to Whitstable (cyclists can follow the National Cycle Route), but it's more rewarding to make diversions and dip in and out as the fancy takes. I have selected three locations to give a taste of the main habitats in the area.
Northward Hill Reserve
Riverside Country Park
Swale National Nature Reserve
Further information
North Kent Marshes is under threat from a plan to build a four-runway airport twice the size of Heathrow at Cliffe. According to the proposals, the tens of thousands of birds that come here to feed and breed will be "discouraged" from a 26km diameter exclusion zone around the airport. Whether this will be possible is open to question. The danger of bird-strike has been dismissed by developers as "problematic but not insurmountable." Cliffe airport will be a most important test case for the Government's commitment to conservation. The consultation period on the proposal ends on 30 June.
Contact:
Department for Transport.
Kent Wildlife Trust
RSPB
Tide tables
Invaluable for exploring Kent's marshes. Available from Medway branches of WH Smith and chandlers. Quick Tide South East
Precautions
Be prepared for cold weather. The area attracts wind, and even in summer, the estuary can be several degrees cooler than inland. Beware of walking on the mudflats at low tide, because there are soft areas where it is easy to get stuck. And be aware of the speed of the rising tide when exploring areas exposed at low tide; it is easy to become marooned. Obtain tide tables or local advice.
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From an original article in the July 2003 issue of BBC Wildlife Magazine - Natural break.