Was that February or May, I get so confused. Needless to say (pick your superlative) a wonderful day. 13 of us caught the train to Gravesend. 32 ish miles later, having circumnavigated the Hoo penninsula we were in Gravesend to catch the 16:55 home.
Took the usual route to Lower Higham where the pub advertised parking at your own risk, see the attached pic for the reason why. Then we took a left and went on a little meander down to Church Street at the end of the road. Discovered a wonderful double Nave Church. A nice little surprise as we did not know what to expect. Then headed down down to Cliff Fort where Ray was ready with his handouts on the Hans Egede which is the rotting hulk near the fort. Handouts on the Brennan Torpedo with launch sequence instructions (missed the cruise ship passing by, don't know how it was so big).
Leaving the fort went to Cooling, St. James Church, 'Little stone lozenges, each about a foot and a half long, which were arranged in a neat row... and were sacred to the memory of five little brothers of mine - who gave up trying to get a living exceedingly early in that universal struggle' - Charles Dickens, Great Expectations (in fact there are 13 little lozenges).
Then went to the pub in Cooling to find they had the barbie blazing as they were expecting a rugby club and not us!! The kindly accommodated us and provide a very nice lunch.
Riding on we rode towards Allhallows but turned off to do the Southern side of the Hoo. A nice set of reasonably quiet roads and fields of brussel sprouts or was that cabbage or ?? that I could smell. A quick stop at Uppnor castle. A wonderful little street down to the castle. And finally past the Russian Sub just before Strood Train Station.
Timed it perfectly as we arrived just before dark. Overall a very nice day out of London, saw some new sights, got some exercise, sun and fresh air!!