Step 1: take a train to London Bridge at the week-end for a yummy fried breakfast in My Tea Shop because an army marches on its stomach and The Boy is still at an age where the idea of having chips on your breakfast plate is just on the right side of decadent. Step 2: meet a bunch of random people off teh internets and take a train to Gravesend . Walk through the old covered market which was the first chartered market in the country, watch The Boy admire the New Tavern Fort guns after the visit to the leper house (pdf format). Step 3:decide we are a bit peckish and head to The Three Daws for beer and beef sandwiches while admiring the cast iron pier . Step 4: take the ferry across to Tilbury. Step 5: start walking along the Thames downstream, there's plenty along the way to entertain little boys and gown ups alike. There's Tilbury fort (though I'll admit the aerial views of it are more spectacular than the ones on the ground) and Coalhouse fort , the views of the working river (with passing ships and discharging apparatus), there's wildlife and horses (including warnings about adders and what appeared to be shelters for them). A section of the walk is alongside a walled power plant and at regular intervals, ladders allow a peek inside while old fashioned paint pot grafitti-ists provided plenty of reading material if walking alongside a concrete wall isn't your thing. Step 5: Wave at the derelict Bata factory and the Bata Estate when heading towards East Tilbury Station and catch a train back into Fenchurch Street. Step 6: take home a tired and ravenous but very happy little boy.
Blowing the cobwebs
26.6.08 21:45
