As the author of this walk I feel duty bound to tell you that the Saxon Shore Way is badly eroding and its probable that when you start on this path there will be a sign telling you the route is closed. However it is still passable but obviously you do this at your own risk. In particular when you reach the short stretch mentioned in para 22 of the walk instructions you may have to do a bit of scrambling up a bank. I have been unable to ascertain what, if any, work is being done to repair the path.

As Thomas's post makes clear this is not your typical SWC walk. Pretty it ain't but it is different (see the photos on the walk's page) and there are some good birdwatching opportunitiesat Cliffe Pools.

Well, as per April and August comments in the 'Comments' section of the walk (the August one by our reliable 'Man in Black' amib), the path has been repaired. We'll find out on Sunday...

3 set off on this journey under dark foreboding skies turning to persistent light to moderate rain . The descriptions are all correct...this is not a usual Saturday country walk...but it is certainly not without interest. The Hoo Peninsula feels a very remote sliver of Kent with quite a stark Dickensian feel (perhaps the weather)...The morning largely crosses or skirts some horse paddocks and arable (or formerly arable) fields where we did forage some delicious late season pears in an abandoned orchard...The morning instructions required some interpretation at a few points -- but we did manage to arrive in Cliffe where we all enjoyed a Sunday roast -- slow in coming; but vast in serving....After lunch the real highlight...through the Cliffe Pools RSPB Reserve...where we spent some time looking at birds and the ghostly apparition of a cruise ship moving up the Thames in the fog...very atmospheric...Although some path closure signs do remain posted, the path around Cliffe Fort is indeed repaired -- though there are some very small sections of erosion a bit further along...causing no major difficulties. We were then surprised to meet a few ponies which turned into a huge herd munching the grass along the long riverside stretch into Gravesend...Arriving on the outskirts, you then pass through an area of delightful dereliction -- worthy of a Dickensian novel (which we figure will soon be razed for upmarket riverside flats). As we were just on time for the hourly Thameslink service, we opted to go directly to the station for the 17:59...forging bevies...though some google research did show an interesting mirco-brew/tap pub very near the station probably worth an investigation when next passing through...

Hope to join this walk, keeping a check on the weather.

14 on this walk including Chris L who had set out an hour early to research a possible route incorporating the interesting village of Cooling which has a fine pub and a church mentioned by Dickens in Great Expectations. Its real Magwitch territory out there in the wilder hinterlands of the Hoo peninsula. Weather was w= mild-windy-with sun-in-the-afternoon; perfect for this type of walk.

The group - including two young women first-timers enjoyed the "different" landscape of this part of Kent and the Six Bells served up some excellent meat roasts (all under a tenenr) which is all they do on a Sunday. I felt a bit envious of a family group who had a superb buffet laid on for them at the pub after a "blessing" service at the nearby St Helen's church where I and another walker had lunched on a bench next to the Victorian Charnel House! (Its not as bad as it sounds; the churchyard is quite lovely with some terrific views over the Thames Estuary.)

After lunch we meandered along the trails through Cliffe Pools meeting an Oxford Birdwatching Group with some very expensive kit before we reached the Thames itself and headed along the Saxon Shore Way to Gravesend. Although flat, with the wind whipping off the river right into our faces it was quite a trudge along the 6km path to the "industrial sector" of Gravesend where I stopped for a quick coffee at a Costa's before being whisked back to Stratford on HS1. A different day out, enjoyed by all I think, especially if you like big skies and expansive waterscapes and an opportunity to reflect that our most important and often interesting environments are not necessarily twee "country" villages and "national parks".

I have added some further points to the walk comments page.

A very pleasant day out. Took our time in the morning so as not to arrive at the lunch pub too early. Despite an unusual business model involving hopeful diners calling ahead and ordering what they wanted to eat (choice of 3 roasts), and then waiting about 40 minutes once they arrived at the pub, the food when it came was very nice.

In the morning we traversed a field of curly kale, green on one half and dark purple on the other; the purple variety was new to most of us. In the afternoon, a nice birder allowed us to look through his expensive telescope and pointed out the teals, widgeons and godwits for us. Had a bit of a climb where the path had collapsed, but nothing a group of fit walkers couldn't handle. A nice bit of sunshine in the afternoon, then a few kilometers walking straight into the wind. Certainly blew the cobwebs away. The views out over the estuary were impressive. The last kilometer or two, through the semi-industrial outskirts of Gravesend are not the prettiest, but after battling the wind on the shore of the Thames, I was glad of the shelter provided by the derelict buildings, barbed-wire-topped fences and stacks of containers.