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Seeking wildness & space around Greater London

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Purfleet

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Walking the Mardyke and the lost fens of Essex

by Ian Tokelove September 13, 2021

September 13, 2021

The Mardyke is a small tributary of the Thames, draining the lowlands of southern Brentwood & Thurrock before joining the river …

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Walking
Purfleet to Grays, exploring the Thames Path

by Ian Tokelove February 19, 2020

February 19, 2020

Walking the Thames path from Purfleet to Grays and exploring this wild & ragged edge of London. Nature flourishes along this …

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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.

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Recent Posts

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
Walking the Broomway, Britain’s deadliest footpath
Walking the Mardyke and the lost fens of Essex

ian.tokelove

‘Engaging with the Intertidal Zone’: a guided

‘Engaging with the Intertidal Zone’: a guided walk across saltmarsh and into Benfleet Creek, led by Gerolamo Gnecchi with @sylak_ravenspine, as part of @EstuaryFestival
Once down in the creek the mud is soft and welcoming, in places ready to hold the unwary in an unwanted embrace. Colours and sound are muted, just the soft sizzle of rain on water, and the suck of silt beneath one’s feet. Loved it.
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#RemoteLondon @creativeestuary #BenfleetCreek #CanveyIsland #Benfleet #ThamesEstuary #Estuary #Creek #SaltMarsh #Saltings

Wandering below the coastal cliff path. Old quarry

Wandering below the coastal cliff path. Old quarry workings at Winspit Quarry and St Aldhelm's Head. Isle of Purbeck, Dorset, last Monday.
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#StAldhelmsHead #StAldhelms #StAlbansHead #IsleOfPurbeck #Dorset #SouthWestCoastPath #CoastPath #WinspitQuarry

The small but fabulous St Aldhelm's Chapel, poised

The small but fabulous St Aldhelm's Chapel, poised on a Dorset headland, a stone's throw from towering sea cliffs and far below, the crashing Atlantic swell.
Dating from the 12th century, stone-carved graffiti testifies to its age, painstakingly carved by the long dead.
The chapel may have first been a military watchtower or a beacon, before conversion in the 12th century.
A nearby modern lookout station, staffed by volunteers, also watches over the seas. Built in the 1970s, the lookout is leased to the National Coastwatch Institution on a curious rent of ‘one crab per annum if demanded’.
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#StAldhelmsChapel #StAldhelms #StAldhelm #IsleOfPurbeck #Dorset #SouthWestCoastPath #CoastPath #NationalCoastwatchInstitution #NationalCoastwatch

Etched by rust and pocked by salt winds, this WW2

Etched by rust and pocked by salt winds, this WW2 turret still watches over the remote, coastal paths at Seacombe Cliff on the Isle of Purbeck.
It’s a rare survivor, one of less than 200 Allan-Williams Turrets manufactured in 1939-40. Designed for a crew of two and equipped with a mounted machine gun, the turret rotated through 360 degrees, providing an all-round field of fire.
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#Allan-WilliamsTurret #Allan-Williams #AllanWilliamsTurret #AllanWilliams #SeacombeCliff #IsleOfPurbeck #Dorset #WW2 #SouthWestCoastPath #CoastPath

Deptford: the tide falls back beneath a cold iron

Deptford: the tide falls back beneath a cold iron sky. Low waves scour the foreshore.
Random, disjointed voices drift down from the world above, and float low across the river from the distant Isle of Dogs.
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#RemoteLondon #Deptford #Thames #UrbanRivers #RiversOfLondon #RiverThames #ExploreLondon #urbanlandscape #riversoflondon #TidalThames #ThamesForeshore #Abandoned #DeptfordStrand #ConvoysWharf #ConvoysWharfJetty

Lunch break at the @barbicancentre, overlooking re

Lunch break at the @barbicancentre, overlooking remnants of London’s old Roman wall, in the company of a male common darter. This beautiful dragonfly was using me as a launch platform, as he hunted tiny midges.
Dragonflies aren’t just pretty, they’re also one of the planets most proficient predators, with a kill rate that can hit 97%. Along with amazing eyesight and flying skills, they can predict their prey’s movement, effectively planning ahead and intercepting their lunch on the go!
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#Dragonflies #Dragonfly #Odenata #Barbican #WildLondon #BarbicanCentre

Portrait of an estuary. Crossness, a view of the T

Portrait of an estuary. Crossness, a view of the Thames and Dagenham, Sept 2024
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#RemoteLondon #ThamesEstuary #ThamesPath #Estuary #UrbanLandscape #Thames #RiverThames #Edgelands #Crossness #TidalThames

Old London Bridge was famously lined with building

Old London Bridge was famously lined with buildings, but did you know that the modern London Bridge has hidden ‘tunnels’ running below it, spanning the River Thames.
Eight rows of box chambers run underneath the bridge, housing the structural steel that supports the bridge. The chambers are paired, resembling four concrete arches from below.
The chambers’ height undulates across the river, each box separated from the next by a tight, crawl-through space.
Decked in fluorescent safety gear, harness and heavy, emergency oxygen kit, it’s an awkward squeeze at times. Our voices echo, but our steps are sucked into silence. It’s a quiet space, the outside world muted.
London Bridge is owned and maintained by @citybridgefoundation, the charity I work for, along with four other Thames bridges – Tower, Southwark, Millennium and Blackfriars. This was a work perk, accompanying journalist @mattfromlondon, alongside group engineer Tom Creed, safety crew and colleagues.
There is no public access here, but I can heartily recommend the visitor experience at nearby Tower Bridge - no safety kit or hard hat required!

Weekend walk between South Woodham Ferrers & North

Weekend walk between South Woodham Ferrers & North Fambridge, scouting Essex’s River Crouch.
At one point the path leaves the seawall, necessitating a high-risk, hair-raising stroll along the B1012. A beautiful walk otherwise, passing rough, marshland grazing and fields of freshly harvested flax.
A welcoming pint at the Ferry Boat Inn and finally a view of the remote Port Moor Cottage, beyond the reach of anything with four wheels.
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#RemoteLondon #EnglandCoastPath #Estuary #Creek #ThamesEstuary #CoastPath #Crouch #RiverCrouch #SouthWoodhamFerrers #NorthFambridge #PortMoorCottage @ferryboatinnessex

Losing myself on the edge of the land. A favourite

Losing myself on the edge of the land. A favourite walk into the Hoo Peninsula, looping out from Higham rail station, past the pylon line & across the marshes to the seawall & the Thames.
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#RemoteLondon #HooPeninsula #ThamesEstuary #Estuary #Thames #NorthKentMarshes #CoastPath #Higham #CliffePools #LondonGateway #SaxonShoreWay #EnglandCoastPath

Walking a lonely path on the edge of the world. Pi

Walking a lonely path on the edge of the world. Pics from a walk on Kent’s Hoo Peninsula, from Dagnam Saltings to Egypt Bay, then looping back inland. The return route starts with a dusty, rutted track called Manor Way; its rough borders lined with wildflowers glowing in the evening's summer sunshine. From a walk last Sunday.
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#RemoteLondon #HooPeninsula #ThamesEstuary #Estuary #Thames #NorthKentMarshes #CoastPath #DagnamSaltings #EgyptBay

Walking Essex creeks last weekend, out to the Blac

Walking Essex creeks last weekend, out to the Blackwater. The low seawalls are rutted, and the way almost consumed by rough grasses and wild carrot. Blue skies, blue water and heat. Escape.
The random spider pic is a wasp spider, a species I’ve always wanted to see. Totally harmless to us, I saw several webs at the edge of the intertidal zone.
This was a long walk between Maylandsea and the Marconi Sailing Club, and back.
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#Essex #EssexCoast #CoastPath #RiverBlackwater #Blackwater #Maylandsea #StPetersWay #MaylandCreek #PigeonDock #RemoteLondon #WaspSpider

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All content © Ian Tokelove 2023 unless otherwise stated.

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