Some maritime wanderings

Due to a variety of reasons I have not been able to get out in the water for the last two weeks but that doesn't mean that I haven't had a connection with the sea.  Visiting friends and family in the South East of the UK I have taken the opportunity to visit a number of places for the first time or to re-visit for the first time in a number of years.  Many of these places have a maritime connection, so here are just a few of the places, a number of which deserve a return visit with a kayak at a later date.

Sound mirrors or listening ears which are found on the north east side of Dungeness.  Located on an island they are difficult to get close to.  The 3 concrete structures were built between 1928 and 1930.  They were designed to pick up the sound of approaching enemy aircraft, up to 24 miles away, effectively giving Britain a 15 minute early warning system.  They quickly became obsolete as aircraft became faster and were certainly not needed after 1935 when radar was invented.

 

St Margaret's Bay is located mid way between Deal and Dover with the cliffs supposed to be the first place in the UK that the sun reaches everyday.  The beach is the closest point to France, which is only 21 miles away and is the place where Channel swimmers commence their challenge.  At one end of the beach is a house where Noel Coward lived for several years after the end of the Second World War.

Dungeness which consists of one of  the largest areas of shingle, in Europe,  is a cuspate foreland. An expression which will bring joy to the heart of any geographer.  We visited on a rather bleaknSunday afternoon but were amazed just how wild the area felt.  There is an old lighthouse, which was first lit on the 31st March 1904 but is no longer used as it is further away from the sea than it used to be and because from some directions it is obscured by the nuclear power station.  Much of the area is a National Nature Reserve and there is a bird reserve.  It was a fascinating place to visit and an area I will plan to return to either to paddle or cycle round.

I am always amazed by Greenwich in south east London, I can't think of anywhere else where there is such a tradition of maritime history.  We visited the National Maritime Museum and the Royal Observatory where it is possible to stand with a foot in either hemisphere

Birling Gap, near Eastbourne in East Sussex is somewhere I have visited numerous times of the years since I first went there in 1977.  Today was like so many others with rough seas breaking against the chalk cliffs.  The erosion has been quite spectacular.  The first photograph shows 10 windows in 1977 by Monday of this week there were only 6 left.

Coffee in Greenwich

An early morning start was the order of the day because of the tide times.  We needed to paddle to Greenwich and be back at Tower Hamlets just after 12.00 otherwise we would be paddling against a significant tidal flow.  The river is always quieter on Sunday mornings so we were able to be more relaxed when it came to crossing over or to passing some of the river ferry terminals.

I always find paddling past Canary Wharf and the Isle of Dogs a nostalgic experience as I lived in the area in the early to mid 1970's, when it was a completely different place.  We used to be able to see ships from our kitchen window and there wasn't an office block in sight.

Arriving in Greenwich we found a small rubbish covered beach on which to land before a quick sprint for coffee and muffins.  These were consumed on the river bank as inquisitive tourists passed by.  In previous years we have had time to linger for lunch but today time was tight because of the earlier tide and all too soon it was time to cross over the river and head back towards the Canoe Club.

Another couple of great days paddling in the heart of London thanks to the hospitality of the Tower Hamlets Canoe Club.  We already have next years dates fixed but with a slightly different programme which includes an over night trip.  It should be interesting.

 Early morning calm as we headed past the commercial hub of Canary Wharf.  The river was uncharacteristically calm.

 As we were approaching slack water we were able to explore the remains of some of the derelict wharves, left over from when London was the greatest port in the world .  Urban caving.

 Landing places are not always easy to find in Greenwich.  This rubbish strewn beach seemed the best option.  It is hard to believe that something like this is allowed to exist in a World Heritage Site.  We were lucky as the day before there was a dead dog on the beach.

 Coffee and cakes were the order of the day, barely an eye brow was raised as we mingled with the Sunday morning crowds in our dry suits.

 As time and tide wait for no man it was important to head back towards Tower Hamlets.  En route we came across an Antony Gormley sculpture close to The Grapes pub.

Launching the day before required some imagination, today it was exiting.  Keeping hold of the kayak with a foot whilst climbing onto a ladder and then reaching down to grab the bow required a certain amount of co-ordination.

The final movement of the kayak out of the water was completed with several willing volunteers.