Blog
Kayaking around Canvey Island
A short sea kayaking adventure within easy reach of London A kayak circumnavigation of Canvey Island is a surreal experience, taking in big, estuarine seascapes, a massive gas refinery and wildlife-rich sea marshes. Get the tides wrong and you’ll also encounter lots of mud. Canvey Island is located about 40 miles east of London, an […]
Ghost ships of the River Thames
The Thames is always moving. Many Londoners don’t even realise the River Thames is tidal, changing direction roughly every six and a half hours, as millions of tonnes of water flows first one way, and then the other. In the centre of town, the Thames rises and falls by as much as seven metres throughout […]
Kayaking the Medway Island Forts
A day trip to explore the Medway island forts, Fort Hoo & Fort Darnet These Medway forts date back almost 150 years and can only be reached by boat, such as a trusty kayak. The forts were built on the recommendations of the 1859 Royal Commission, to protect the important naval dockyards of Chatham from […]
Kayaking on the Thames: River Roding to the QE2 Bridge at Dartford
A day out on the Thames estuary experiencing huge skies, surprising wildlife and bizarre barges. For this trip, launch into the Thames at the mouth of the River Roding in Barking. This is on the north bank of the Thames, east of London City Airport. Park on River Road next to Barking Creek Park and […]
Kayaking the River Wandle in south London
The Wandle is a surprisingly healthy urban river, rising in Croydon and flowing through Sutton, Merton and Wandsworth before joining the Thames. It can be explored by kayak or canoe – but low bridges and pipes, weirs and a 500m section of subterranean paddling mean it’s definitely not for the inexperienced. Last time we tried […]
The River Roding – a canoe trip from Creekmouth to Ilford and back
Many of London’s old rivers have been lost, buried beneath centuries of urban expansion, but some still flow into the Thames. The River Roding, in eastern London, is one such river, joining the Thames at Barking Creek in the east of London. Canoe access can be made at Creekmouth, where free on-street parking is available […]
