| Grove Ferry Picnic Area | |
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| Location | Upstreet, Kent |
| Coordinates | 51°19′24″N1°12′31″E / 51.3232°N 1.2085°E Coordinates: 51°19′24″N1°12′31″E / 51.3232°N 1.2085°E |
The Grove Ferry Picnic Area is near Upstreet, in Kent, England, on the site of an old hand-drawn ferry that once crossed the River Stour here. The area is maintained and managed by Kent County Council.
It is beside the Grove Ferry Public House, built in 1831 and now managed by Shepherd Neame. [1]
The Grove Ferry Public House took its name from a hand drawn ferry that crossed the River Stour in front of the building. The pub was also known as Grove Ferry Inn. A road bridge replaced the old ferry in 1963. [2]
Grove Ferry Boat Club was founded in 1964. The clubhouse, dating from the early seventies, is on the south bank of the river, just below the Grove Ferry Bridge. [2]
Kent County Council renovated the bridge in September 2000. [3]
It is close to the railway level crossing, (the site of a former dismantled railway station). The road leads down from to the crossing and then over the bridge, before heading to Grove Hill or Preston. When the level crossing is down, cars are queued back over the bridge.
The picnic site is to the right of the pub car park beside the river. It is a good starting point for sections of the long-distance walks; Stour Valley Walk, the Saxon Shore Way or the Wantsum Walks (beside the Wantsum Channel), all that lead beside the River Stour. [4]
Fishing rights were granted during the reign of King Henry II and are still available today along the river bank. Some of the fishing swims (sections of the river where fish are found) have been adapted for those with disabilities. The Canterbury and District Angling Club hold most fishing rights over the River Stour. [5] Subject to an agreement between the association and English Nature.
It is also adjacent to the Stodmarsh National Nature Reserve. The river is part of an area designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), recently upgraded to an international Ramsar site.
Sandwich is a town and civil parish in the Dover District of Kent, south-east England. It lies on the River Stour and has a population of 4,985. Sandwich was one of the Cinque Ports and still has many original medieval buildings, including several listed public houses and gates in the old town walls, churches, almshouses and the White Mill. While once a major port, it is now two miles from the sea due to the disappearance of the Wantsum Channel. Its historic centre has been preserved. Sandwich Bay is home to nature reserves and two world-class golf courses, Royal St George's and Prince's. The town is also home to many educational and cultural events. Sandwich also gave its name to the food by way of John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, and the word sandwich is now found in several languages.
The River Stour is a river in Kent, England that flows into the North Sea at Pegwell Bay. Above Plucks Gutter, where the Little Stour joins it, the river is normally known as the Great Stour. The upper section of the river, above its confluence with the East Stour at Ashford is sometimes known as the Upper Great Stour or West Stour. In the tidal lower reaches, the artificial Stonar Cut short cuts a large loop in the natural river.
The Isle of Thanet is a peninsula forming the easternmost part of Kent, England. While in the past it was separated from the mainland by the 600-metre-wide (2,000 ft) Wantsum Channel, it is no longer an island.
The River Itchen in Hampshire, England, rises to the south of New Alresford and flows 26 miles (42 km) to meet Southampton Water below the Itchen Bridge. The Itchen Navigation was constructed in the late 17th and early 18th centuries to enable barges to reach Winchester from Southampton Docks, but ceased to operate in the mid-19th century and is largely abandoned today.
The A28 is a trunk road in the counties of Kent and East Sussex in south east England, connecting Margate, Canterbury, Ashford and Hastings.
Sturry is a village on the Great Stour river situated 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) northeast of Canterbury in Kent. Its large civil parish incorporates several hamlets and, until April 2019, the former mining village of Hersden.
The Wantsum Channel was a strait separating the Isle of Thanet from the north-eastern extremity of the English county of Kent and connecting the English Channel and the Thames Estuary. It was a major shipping route when Britain was part of the Roman Empire, and continued in use until it was closed by silting in the late Middle Ages. Its course is now represented by the River Stour and the River Wantsum, which is little more than a drainage ditch lying between Reculver and St Nicholas-at-Wade and joins the Stour about 1.7 miles (2.7 km) south-east of Sarre.
The Stour Valley Walk is a recreational walking route that follows the River Stour, through the Low Weald and Kent Downs, from its source at Lenham to its estuary at Pegwell Bay.
Bennettsbridge is a village in County Kilkenny in Ireland. It is situated on the River Nore 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) south of Kilkenny city, in the centre of the county. Bennettsbridge is a census town, and has population of 745 as of the 2016 census.
The Saxon Shore Way is a long-distance footpath in England. It starts at Gravesend, Kent, and traces the coast of South-East England as it was in Roman times as far as Hastings, East Sussex, 163 miles (262 km) in total. This means that around Romney Marsh the route runs significantly inland from the modern coastline.
The following is a list of recreational walks in Kent, England.
Plucks Gutter is a hamlet in the civil parish of Stourmouth, Kent, England. The hamlet is situated where the Little Stour and Great Stour rivers meet.
Fiskerton is a village in Nottinghamshire, England on the west bank of the River Trent about 3 miles southeast of Southwell. The civil parish is Fiskerton cum Morton. The population of this civil parish at the 2011 Census was 902. The waterfront is home to million-pound residential properties, previously residences of merchants and businessmen who commuted in the 1800s to nearby Nottingham by rail from Fiskerton Station.
Stourmouth is a civil parish in the Dover non-metropolitan district of Kent, England. The parish contains the settlements of East and West Stourmouth, and the hamlet of Plucks Gutter.
Grove Ferry and Upstreet was a railway station in east Kent. It was opened by South Eastern Railway (SER), on the Ashford to Ramsgate line between Sturry station and Minster station.
Upstreet is a village in the civil parish of Chislet in Kent, England. It is in the local government district of Canterbury, and the electoral ward of Marshside. It is about 62 miles away from London.
Portskewett is a village and community (parish) in Monmouthshire, south east Wales. It is located four miles south west of Chepstow and one mile east of Caldicot, in an archaeologically sensitive part of the Caldicot Levels on the Welsh shore of the Severn Estuary. The Second Severn Crossing passes overhead carrying the M4 motorway. The community includes Sudbrook, Crick and Leechpool.
Haysden Country Park is a 64-hectare (160-acre) country park and Local Nature Reserve on the outskirts of Tonbridge in Kent. It is owned by Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council, the Highways Agency, Network Rail and the Environment Agency, and managed by the council.
Stodmarsh SSSI is a 623.2-hectare (1,540-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Stodmarsh, north-east of Canterbury in Kent. Parts of it are a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, a National Nature Reserve, a Ramsar internationally important wetland site, a Special Area of Conservation and a Special Protection Area under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds.
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