2024 BIKE TRIP / Gravesend to Rochester (via Hoo)
Fiona Mckay
The Road to Rochester. Photo Credit: E Fitzpatrick, AIA
Of course , a Bike Trip from Gravesend to Rochester – 8 miles or so along a busy A227 and a frantic A2– would certainly not be worth writing home about. But - throw in the Hoo Peninsula twix that town and that city - and we have a day trip to remember.
Not one of the AIA bikers had any idea what to expect on the way to the Hoo peninsula or even – for that matter – how to pronounce its name. Is it WHO, or is it HOE, or is it somewhere in between? In any event, AIA bikers trust their favourite architect tour guide, Benedict O’Looney, to chart a day’s journey full of sights of unexpected interest interspersed with gentle English countryside. Gravesend, in fact, proved an auspicious beginning for the 2024 Bike Trip.
Who (or hoe) could have anticipated the range of Gravesend’s abundant architectural heritage until its historic, strategic location on the Thames was explained. Today, it now has high speed rail link to Central London to give it a renewed chance to shine.
A memorial to Pocahontas, the Native American ‘Princess’, who died passing Gravesend on her way back to America in 1617.
The Gravesend Town Pier, oldest surviving (1834) iron pier, and its mate from (1844).
A Light Ship Gallery and St Anders Art Gallery on the Thames.
One of the oldest surviving Borough Markets (Chartered in 1268), still a busy destination on a Saturday afternoon.
A surprising Victorian High Street.
A City Hall with a robust Doric façade.
A thriving, major Sikh Temple (15% of Gravesend population is Sikh).
The Bikers left Gravesend later than expected alongside the now defunct Thames and Medway Canal. The canal was built to speed up transport between the military sites on the two rivers, but it did not open until 1824 - too long after the Napoleonic wars ended to be a great commercial success. However, biking on a long, flat, straight, obscure and unpopulated tow road on the way to the Hoo Peninsula was an excellent start to the bucolic second stage of the Bike Tour.
Stops on the Hoo Peninsula included Cliffe, a village of Angle Saxon origin with a surprisingly significant 13th century church, St Helens, indicating that Cliffe was once an important post on the Thames riverfront. The river has receded so Cliffe now overlooks rather dreary marshland. However, glimpses seen through the trees across the Thames to the Tilbury Docks and Canvey Island were enticing.
Cliffe Church was large and elaborate. Photo Credits: E Fitzpatrick, AIA
After Cliffe and an excellent Saturday pub lunch, the roads led ever so slightly upwards again to Cooling and its 14th century castle, built to guard against French raiders from across the Channel.
As with St Helen Church, Cooling Castle looked slightly out of place away from any large population areas. Photo Credit: Brianne Hamilton.
The climb became steeper on the way to Hoo’s summit at High Haslow, where the Bikers stopped to admire the church and agree on the best route of several options DOWN to Rochester.
Several bikers rest after reaching the highest point of the Hoo Peninsula. Photo Credit: E Fitzpatrick AIA.
There were fewer participants on this year’s bike trip than the last one on 2022, due to scheduling conflicts for expected three ‘regulars’. Along with Ben O’Looney, past organiser, Lorraine King, and current organiser, Etain Fitzpatrick, attended and new Board Director Kristy Sels and her husband, Ludwig joined for the first time. Brianne Hamilton joined with her 10 year old son, Patrick. Patick hung in with the adults – a show of remarkable resilience – both physical and social.
Etain Fitzpatrick – in a show of remarkable navigation skills – eventually brought the group through a series of back streets and bike trails to the Medway with Rochester Castle beckoning in the distance. It was the end of a long day of sunshine, exercise and architecture, and – incidentally – a sizeable number of Continuing Education credits.
Rochester Castle beckons, but there is still a ways to go. Photo Credit: E Fitzpatrick AIA.
Crossing the Medway into Rochester itself, our guide, Benedict O’Looney, left us one of his quick sketches of Rochester as a lasting memento of the Bike Trip. You can learn more about his sketching techniques HERE.
Written by Lorraine King AIA
