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Seeking wildness & space around Greater London

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Ian Tokelove

Ian Tokelove

I enjoy exploring the wild spaces, rivers and seas around London. I promote kayaking, canoeing and SUP opportunities across London at www.canoelondon.com

Walking
Marsh walking from Higham to Cliffe Fort and back

by Ian Tokelove June 23, 2019

June 23, 2019

A circular walk from Higham, Kent, including wildlife-rich marshes, views of the Thames, Cliffe Fort & Cliffe PoolsThe road that follows …

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Walking the wild side of Canvey Island

by Ian Tokelove May 27, 2019

May 27, 2019

Canvey Island offers a remote, wild walk, an easy 45 minutes away from London by rail. The top, western half of …

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Walking
Walking the Vange and Fobbing Marshes, from Stanford-le-Hope to Pitsea

by Ian Tokelove February 16, 2019

February 16, 2019

The Vange and Fobbing Marshes are an area of low-lying wetlands in Essex, to the east of London. They are a …

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Remote London

Remote London is a website dedicated to the quieter, wilder side of Greater London and beyond. Places away from the crowds, where nature can flourish undisturbed. Places where you can walk and see few others.

Remote London mapped

ian.tokelove

Wild spaces, rivers & seas
#RemoteLondon #CanoeLondon
Kayaking, walking & writing

The estuary, yesterday - autumnal light edging tow

The estuary, yesterday - autumnal light edging towards winter. Lots of over-wintering birdlife out on the mudflats, especially close to the Crossness outfall. The colourful ‘floating’ shots are from a recently refreshed bird-watching screen, overlooking the estuary at Crossness Nature Reserve. - - - #RemoteLondon #Crossness #RiverThames #Thames #ThamesEstuary #Estuary #UrbanRivers #LondonRivers #LondonsRivers #LondonWalks #ExploreLondon #Estuary #UrbanLandscape #Edgelands #Derelict

Canvey Wick, an Essex nature reserve blooming on t $Canvey Wick, an Essex nature reserve blooming on the foundations of an abandoned, unfinished 1970s oil refinery. Wiry plants push through the fractured, thick tar foundations of oil tanks, and sea buckthorn offers up an intense citrus tang from its bright, autumnal berries. Brownfield at its best, home to rare and endangered wildlife species, thriving where we failed. - - - #CanveyWick #CanveyIsland @buglife_ict @thelandtrust_ #RemoteLondon #Abandoned$

Storm walk last weekend. Sidmouth beach and High P

Storm walk last weekend. Sidmouth beach and High Peak, to the west of the town. A few surfers eager for the waves. - - - #Sidmouth #Surfing #Surf #SouthWestCoastPath #CoastPath #HighPeak

Sliding down the estuary last Sunday, aboard the W

Sliding down the estuary last Sunday, aboard the Waverley for a visit to some of the remaining Thames Forts. London disappearing behind us, then Kent and Essex, as we headed out towards an endless horizon. The Waverley is a sea-going paddle steamer, the last of her kind. Painted in red, black and white she shone even under Sunday’s grey, murky sky. The forts were WW2 anti-aircraft batteries, positioned out at sea to shoot down German bombers as they tracked the glint of waves towards the capital. Decommissioned and disowned in the fifties, they remain as lonely sentinels, loved despite their dilapidated condition. This was an almost 12-hour trip, so it’s not for everybody. The last I saw of the Waverley was as she headed back under @TowerBridge. She’s now off the western shoreline of Scotland, returning home to Glasgow. But she’ll be back next year. - - - #RemoteLondon #ThamesEstuary #Estuary #Thames #Abandoned #ThamesForts #MaunsellForts #KnockJohn #KnockJohnFort #ShiveringSands #ShiveringSandsFort #RedSands #RedSandsFort #Waverley @waverleyexcursions

On Saturday I walked out to Cliffe Fort in Kent, w

On Saturday I walked out to Cliffe Fort in Kent, where the remains of Great Nore sea fort lie in a debris field across the foreshore. Great Nore guarded the mouth of the Thames and Medway Estuaries into the 1950s, before being demolished as a danger to shipping. The forts were basically anti-aircraft platforms on stilts. Much of Great Nore would have been recycled, and the rest ended up here. Closer to the seawall, the Hans Egede is rapidly disintegrating. Just her lower hull survives, reminiscent of some splayed, prehistoric sea creature. At Cliffe Fort, additional fencing is being installed to stop access and trespass. However, the works are temporarily making access easier than usual. I spotted a couple of young lads making furtive entry, black-clad in traditional urban explorer mode. The gale made the going hard work, but it was preferable to my cancelled booking for the @WaverleyExcursions paddle steamer’s trip out to the remaining Thames Forts – that would have been exceedingly bracing! - - - #RemoteLondon #HooPeninsula #ThamesEstuary #Estuary #Thames #NorthKentMarshes #EnglandCoastPath #CoastPath #Cliffe #CliffeFort #Higham #HighamSaltings #GreatNoreSeaFort #GreatNoreFort #GreatNore #HansEgede #HansEgedeShip

Sunday, a looping walk out of Higham into Kent’s

Sunday, a looping walk out of Higham into Kent’s Hoo Peninsula. A near silent landscape saturated with a damp mizzle. - - - #RemoteLondon #HooPeninsula #ThamesEstuary #Estuary #Thames #NorthKentMarshes #EnglandCoastPath #CoastPath #Cliffe #Higham #HighamSaltings #CliffeCreek

A coastal walk between Faversham and Whitstable at

A coastal walk between Faversham and Whitstable at the weekend. When I last walked this way the inland fields near Faversham were low-lying pasture, dotted with regular lines of tiny flags, a ghost outline of things to come. Now the fields are home to the largest solar farm in the UK, a geometric landscape of sharp photovoltaic panels, gleaming like wet slates under a blue sky. On the other side of the seawall path, the retreating tide exposes endless mudflats, richly carpeted with inky-green algae, so dark they resemble volcanic sand. The way is remote and quiet, until the first beach huts are reached on the outskirts of Whitstable. The path beyond is a mix of beachside shabby and glass-fronted new-builds of increasing luxurity and excess. I reached Whitstable Harbour just as the sun was kissing the sea, a spectacular sunset that was drawing a crowd. The walk took me an unrushed five hours. The train back to Faversham took just nine minutes. - - - #RemoteLondon #ThamesEstuary #Faversham #Whitstable #GraveneyMarshes #CleveHillSolarPark #CleveHill #CleveMarshes #Estuary #CoastPath #CoastalWalking #SaxonShoreWay #SeaSalter

Memories of July, and a heatwave walk along the St

Memories of July, and a heatwave walk along the Stour Estuary, from Cattawade to Lower Holbrook and back. Saltmarsh gives way to long, empty beaches, backed by low earthen cliffs lined with scrub and oak. Exposed tree roots quest futilely into the air above the beach, and some oaks have fallen in winter storms. Where the cliffs are free of vegetation, their sandy earth is pocked with the nests of sand martins, and the smaller nests of solitary bees. In places the route wanders inland through peaceful countryside and expensive real estate, before reaching the small, tidal harbour at Lower Holbrook. On my way back I inadvertently lost the path and found myself walking through the extensive grounds of the rather elite Royal Hospital School, where a year’s boarding fee costs more than my annual earnings. I jumped a barbed wire gate, returning to the free path, and headed west towards the sunset. - - - #Cattawade #LowerHolbrook #StourEstuary #Estuary #CoastPath #CoastalWalking #Stour #StourAndOrwellWalk #Suffolk

Litter-picking London’s River Ravensbourne, as p

Litter-picking London’s River Ravensbourne, as part of a larger crew. I went solo and headed upriver for a bit. With one channel blocked I took the culvert under Elverson Road station, immersed in the sound of running water and the rumbling of overhead trains. The river was flowing deeper and darker than usual, swollen by overnight rain, and the flattened vegetation on the banks was entangled with discarded plastics. Occasional shafts of sunlight revealed small dark, darting fish, sparks of life in the urban river. We got a good haul of trash. With thanks to @BrookmillPark and @HealthyRiversProject. - - - #RiverRavensbourne #RemoteLondon #RiverCleanUp #UrbanRivers

“The rusting boat was a small tug and was towed

“The rusting boat was a small tug and was towed to where it remains now in the 1980's. I don't recall where it came from originally… There was a young boy of about 14 yrs and his dad living on it for a couple of years. "One night the gas tanks were set alight but the two were able to escape before the tanks exploded and burnt the boat to its existing condition. Dad and son never returned. The boat has been left in situ since then.” I’ve been intrigued by this curious, remote hulk since I first noticed it, out on the River Roach in Essex, close to the village of Paglesham and its small boatyard. Unable to dig up any info, I turned to the ‘Paglesham Past and Present’ website, and they responded to my request, for which I am grateful. Every boat has a story. I’d love to know more, so if anyone out there has more info, do get in touch. And thank you, Paglesham Past and Present: www.pagleshampastandpresent.co.uk - - - #RemoteLondon #RiverRoach #Roach #Essex #Creek #Paglesham #ThamesEstuary #Estuary #CoastPath #PagleshamBoatyard #Abandoned #Wreck #TugBoat

My favourite urban coastal walk, Purfleet to Grays

My favourite urban coastal walk, Purfleet to Grays in Essex, along the Thames estuary. Abandoned jetties, container ships, oil silos and chemical works. And lots of wildlife. Scrubby vegetation encroaches along the path, rich in late-summer seedheads, and house martins skim the saltmarsh edge. Blackberries in places, and damsons too, for those who like their fruit wild 🍇 - - - #RemoteLondon #ThamesPath #ThamesEstuary #Estuary #UrbanLandscape #edgelands #Essex #Thurrock #WestThurrock #Purfleet #Grays #Coastpath

Walking the River Roach last Monday, out from Roch

Walking the River Roach last Monday, out from Rochford and Stambridge Mills to Paglesham boatyard and back. Along the way, the seawall paths are tightly wrapped with prickly wild grasses and in places, the roads are surfaced with crystal-white fragments of crushed cockle shells. The remnants of Charles Darwin’s famous ship, the Beagle, lie hidden in the saltmarsh, just beyond Paglesham boatyard. In around 1847 the ship was repurposed as a Coastguard Watch Vessel, a static base for coastguards, whose principle job was stopping smuggling. And a lot of that went on in the Essex creeks, back in the day. The body of the ship is long gone, but the keel is believed to be preserved under the salty mud. Sadly there’s nothing to see, other than a small interpretation panel, overlooking the saltmarsh. - - - #RemoteLondon #RiverRoach #Roach #Essex #Creek #SaltMarsh #Saltings #StambridgeMill #StambridgeMills #Rochford #Paglesham #Darwin #CharlesDarwin #TheBeagle #ThamesEstuary #Estuary #CoastPath #SeaWall

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Recent Posts

Walking the River Roach, from Rochford to Paglesham boatyard and back
Walking Faversham Creek and Oare Creek, and the Oare Marshes in Kent
Walking the River Roach: Rochford to Barling Ness
From the Swale to Bedlams Bottom, a Medway Marshes walk
Walking the River Roding, from Redbridge to the Barking Creek Barrier & the Thames
Walking the River Ebbsfleet, from Northfleet Harbour to its Springhead source
Yantlet Creek: a short walk between two estuaries, the Thames & Medway
Walking the River Crouch: Burnham on Crouch to North Fambridge
Walking MOD Shoeburyness and the Wakering creeks
Exploring Milton Creek, from Sittingbourne to the Swale

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