A high point in Hoo

It’s always nice to see where we live from a slightly different perspective. Towards the end of last year I joined local churchwarden Mick Hollands, pictured below, for a tour of the tower at Hoo St. Werburgh Parish Church.  We were joined by Michael Pearce, who runs Village Voices.

The battlemented tower, including spire, is more than 120ft tall, and the views from the top are quite fascinating.

The photographs below show (in order) Branta Fields, the centre of the village, the now defunct Kingsnorth Power Station, the River Medway and Church Farm Close.

If you’d like to find out more about Hoo St. Werburgh Parish Church, take a look at their website by clicking here.

  

A visit by HM Queen Elizabeth in 1955

Yesterday’s announcement about plans for a new gas-fired power station at Damhead Creek reminded me of a booklet I was shown recently about another of the Peninsula’s energy industries. The booklet was printed in April 1955 to commemorate a visit by HM Queen and Duke of Edinburgh to BP’s Oil Refinery on the Isle of Grain.

The booklet was shown to me by a lifelong resident of the Hoo Peninsula, who worked at the refinery for most of his life. It describes the workings of an oil refinery and explains why a new refinery was needed at the time, how the Isle of Grain site was chosen and the engineering process for reclaiming marshland (known locally as ‘Fleets’). The refinery processed its first crude oil in February 1953, following the decision six years earlier to site the refinery at Grain due to the need for deep water access.

 

E.ON Public Exhibitions

I went to Lower Stoke last week to take at look at the E.ON public exhibition about their pipeline proposals on the Hoo Peninsula. This exhibition, along with one held in Hoo the day before, was part of E.ON’s consultation into proposals for a Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) pipeline. The pipeline could run from Kingsnorth to St. Mary’s Marshes and out into the North Sea, if a new cleaner-coal power station were built after the existing Kingsnorth Power Station closes in 2015.

As well as talking through issues and concerns regarding the impact on the landscape and disruption to residents, I was particularly interested to hear about the work to survey the seabed from St. Mary’s Marshes, out into the North Sea and up towards the North Norfolk coast. I knew there must be quite a few shipwrecks in that area, but didn’t expect such a huge number dotted around the maps on display.

If anyone would like more information about the recent exhibitions, contact E.ON on 0800 019 8315 or by email here.

To find out more about Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) click here and here.
 

E.ON Public Exhibitions – Pipeline proposals on the Hoo Peninsula

Residents on the Hoo Peninsula recently received a newsletter from E.ON. This gave details of their consultation into proposals for a Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) pipeline. The pipeline could run from Kingsnorth to St. Mary’s Marshes, then out into the North Sea, if a new cleaner-coal power station were built after the existing Kingsnorth Power Station closes in 2015.

There are two public exhibitions in the coming week:

Tuesday 18 January - from 10am until 4pm at Hoo Village Institute, 25 Main Road, Hoo, Rochester, Kent, ME3 9AA.

Wednesday 19 January – from 2pm until 8pm at Stoke Village Hall, Mallard Way, Lower Stoke, Rochester, Kent, ME3 9ST.
  

Winter Walk - Hoo to Kingsnorth

Another day, another dog walk. This time from Hoo to Kingsnorth walking along the riverside. Beautiful views of the mud flats, even with the ever present power station dominating the skyline.

Sunset over the Medway

These photographs were taken earlier this week near Kingsnorth Power Station, looking across the River Medway towards Gillingham and Chatham. Although a very cold evening walking from Hoo to Kingsnorth, the sunset views made it worthwhile.

Stoke Road / Eschol Road, Kingsnorth

Further to my earlier post (Jacobs Lane, Kingsnorth), these photographs were taken on Stoke Road, at the junction with Eschol Road. The first few images show Kingsnorth Industrial Estate in the distance, with the Power Station in the background. As well as photographs of open fields and pylons, there are also images looking out to Damhead Creek and beyond!

Jacobs Lane, Kingsnorth

Some spare time on Bank Holiday Monday and I decided to have a drive along Stoke Road, stopping at the junction with Jacobs Lane to look at the views out to Kingsnorth Power Station.  A gloomy old day, weather wise, but very nice to get out and about for some fresh air!  With these photographs, I seem to have a bit of a pylon thing going on . . .