Walking by the river Medway can be either a disappointing excercise or a most pleasant experience. The country park at Teston is a place where a pleasant experience ca
n be found. In fact it is compulsory. When I was a lad the Medway was the sort of river your grandparents warned you about but I found it a river that although dangerous as rivers can be, was a tranquil river in good weather and exciting in bad. On this day we saw it in its tranquil, sun drenched mood with boats moving gracefully on the water, people fishing and families picnicking on the grass.
n be found. In fact it is compulsory. When I was a lad the Medway was the sort of river your grandparents warned you about but I found it a river that although dangerous as rivers can be, was a tranquil river in good weather and exciting in bad. On this day we saw it in its tranquil, sun drenched mood with boats moving gracefully on the water, people fishing and families picnicking on the grass. 
I was interested in the Teston lock and the weir hoping to see it working but instead it appears that there is nobody in attendance and I suppose if you want to use the river you have to limit your trip to either above or below the lock. As it is for the footslogger it is a pleasant sight especially watching the ducks fighting the fast flow on the weir. It was fun watching one of the birds battling against the rapid flow and no amount of instructions advising it to go with the flow and fly up made any difference. It seems that ducks, like cats do not understand English (you tell a cat to stop murdering that rabbit and it ignores you) It was a sort of duck surfing
that they all seemed to be on the verge of doing yet wary of actually doing it.
that they all seemed to be on the verge of doing yet wary of actually doing it.We met up with people enjoying the day in their own way - less frantically than the ducks and as tranquilly as the swans who cruised like small sailing boats and occasionally diving headfirst into the water to feed.
Others, as I said took a different view. The lady with the glass of wine and her husband declared that the time was wine or beer o'clock and raise
d the yard arm high enough for the sun to squeeze underneath it. I fully approve.
d the yard arm high enough for the sun to squeeze underneath it. I fully approve. Some went fishing and we saw the inevitable man and wife with children fishing; which means that man fishes; wife tends to the children; wife and children get bored. The two families we saw did not look happy. The young man with the smile was extremely happy and seemed as if he was indulging in the sport with the right attitude - you are not there to feed the family but to have fun murdering fish if you catch them or otherwise just sitting by the river contemplating your naval. What's wrong with that?
In effect the idea of a river walk is to see river things and to enjoy the water. W
e saw fish; we saw ducks and swans and boats and enjoyed speaking with people.
e saw fish; we saw ducks and swans and boats and enjoyed speaking with people.But as an outing or a day out walking beside the river is a pleasant exercise and one which we must do again. So watch this space for another in depth water visit.
The stone bridge at Teston which is not monitored by traffic lights yet seems to manage the traffic quite well enough thankyou.
It was pleasant to re-visit the river and understand that although the river is dangerous when roused it can also be a most relaxing and pleasant place to wander. For two middle aged intrepid walkers it was, in the words of the weirdo in Life of Brian - a doddle.
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