National Cycle Route 179
Ride overview
‘The sea-reach of the Thames stretches out like the beginning of an interminable waterway. In the offing the sea and the sky are welded together without a joint.’ (Joseph Conrad - The Heart of Darkness)
For an easy family day out, where there are great views, a classic medieval castle, a churchyard made famous by Dickens, one of the best RSPB reserves in the land, and as many orchards as you could possibly wish for, this is a lovely day out. It is a route which is ideal for those unused to cycling big distances, or for a family day out from London. You ride under huge skies, with views of the Thames and Medway throughout. Cars are rare and the birds numerous, the countryside open and sometimes breezy! It is a luminous place of haunting beauty.
Ride Practicalities
START/FINISH: Higham station DISTANCE: 25km. TOTAL ASCENT: 211m TERRAIN AND SURFACES: Quiet roads throughout, Cars are rare - the roads meet the SUSTRANS traffic-free criteria FOOD: There are no cafes on the route, but there are pubs; Cliffe; The Six Bells, Cooling; The Horseshoe and Castle, Lower Higham; Chequers all serving family meals ACCOMODATION; It is possible to ‘camp’ inside St. James’ Church, Cooling. Camp beds, tea and coffee are provided. Book through www.champing.co.uk MAINLINE TRAIN SERVICES: Higham, no need to book bikes onto train, or for an hour longer, regular trains to London Victoria. LINKS TO OTHER RIDES: Around the Hoo, London to Rochester, NCN 1 Dover to London
Ride Notes
Cliffe marshes are one of the stranger highlights of the ride. The gravel and sand pits are now RSPB reserves and are home to some rare species, particularly in winter. Bird spotting is easy, there are so many of them - the air if filled with noise, the lakes covered with mobile feathers. It’s a lonely place, full of atmosphere, semi-wild, and there are many gravel tracks which are exhilarating to ride on. You may discover the old fort, and the torpedo launch mechanisms beside it. The nearby woods, in springtime, are carpeted in bluebells.
Back up on the ridge, you ride to Cooling, perhaps the Hoo’s most evocative place. The castle which looks the very part of a medieval fort with turreted walls, round towers, a drawbridge and moast, was built in the 1380s by the Cobham family, the local lords of the manor. It acheived national fame in 1554 during Sir Thomas Wyatt’s rebellion against Queen Mary I. The castle was besieged aby 4,000 men and its walls were the first to be battered by gunpowder propelled weapons. However, the seige did not last long and Lord Cobham who only had only eight men armed with four or five handguns, four pikes and some blakbylls to defend the castle. Wyatt proceeded to London and was defeated before being executed for treason. Today Jools Holland of the Squeeze, lives there. Opposite is church whose graveyard was made famous by Charles Dickens. In Chapter I of Great Expectations, Pip is surprised by Magwitch an escaped prisoner.
'Pip's graves' - The setting for the opening chapter of Great Expectations.
The riding continues under huge skies whose cloudscapes delighted JMW Turner, passing goodness knows how many orchards. Fields of rape and wheat stretch down to the Medway. You ride on small lanes this way and that, through a landscape which at times appears devoid of people. There are options to extend the ride - visit https://www.wheremywheelsgo.uk/routes/54km-around-the-hoo should you have the energy to deviate to Lower Upnor, or even to finish at Rochester. Both add very few kilometres to the route and both are worth riding to.
Every route on this website has been carefully researched as well as ridden. However situations on the ground can change quickly. If you know of changes to this route, or cafes, pubs and the like which you think other cyclists need to know about, feel free to share your thoughts below.
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