Purfleet & West Thurrock: 20 years in the past, on twenty second April 2003 I used to be nonetheless recovering from a coronary heart assault and slightly minor surgical procedure. Delays and cancellations within the NHS should not new, and I’d spent a number of weeks in hospital ready for the op, with three or 4 cancellations as emergencies bumped me off the listing at brief discover – one time I used to be even on a trolley on could approach to theatre. Again then the main scarcity, and one which seldom made the information, was of medical doctors and it nonetheless is, with the federal government nonetheless dedicated to doing little or nothing about it, even refusing to debate the junior medical doctors claims.
My precise operation, when lastly it occurred, went effectively, however 24 hours later I used to be an emergency too, collapsing the the ward bathroom as my blood strain dropped spectacularly because of a big dose of a unique drug by way of a cannula incorrectly inserted by a junior physician (the nurses had been extraordinarily scornful) and I used to be nonetheless far too weak once they launched me house to hitch the million or extra (together with my son and spouse) the protesting towards the Iraq battle the next day. I believe I used to be extra upset about that than my coronary heart assault.
My GP signed me off work for just a few weeks (although most of my work was freelance and from house, and I used to be in a position to proceed this) and prescribed aspirin and train together with just a few different medication to cope with my blood strain, which I’ve been taking day by day ever since, together with insulin for my diabetes, additionally recognized once I went into hospital. And because of the NHS, all this has value me completely nothing. And after I used to be signed off as match for work in March, although I used to be nonetheless very weak, I managed to go and {photograph} a few protests.
Strolling was nonetheless for the primary month or two just a bit taxing, however after a few weeks I used to be nice on my Brompton, the place I may take it straightforward later I went on some longish rides. And because it was a folding bike I may put it on trains and the underground to take me away for extra distant beginning factors. And in April 2003 I went on rides from Dartford, Rainham and, on twenty second April 2003, to Purfleet, the place I cycled alongside beside the Thames to West Thurrock and again.
Once I posted photos of this and different rides on My London Diary, I famous “I didn’t get round to including these different photos from April 2003 till very a lot later, and haven’t obtained round to giving them captions.” And I wrote nothing concerning the trip on the time. All had been taken on a Nikon D100 with a Nikon 24-85mm lens.
I travelled as much as London on a Travelcard which lined a journey to any station in Zones 1-6, which meant the closest I may get to Purfleet was really the station earlier than, Rainham. Then it wasn’t potential to comply with the riverside path from Rainham to Purfleet, which then ended at Coldharbour, so I needed to cycle alongside the street to Purfleet by way of Wennington. The map now reveals a riverside cycle path.
This a part of the trip had little curiosity, apart from passing a few of the works for the Channel Tunnel Rail Hyperlink, the place I took just a few photos earlier than taking place Tank Hill Rd to achieve the riverside near the Purfleet Armada Beacon.
Navigation from there to West Thurrock (and on to Grays and the sting of Tilbury Docks on different events) was merely a matter of following the riverside path. However it was then an especially attention-grabbing path, previous numerous industrial websites and beneath the Dartford Bridge (and fewer noticeably over the Dartford Tunnel.
It is a extensive and attention-grabbing stretch of the river, additionally crossed by a 400kV excessive voltage energy line from Swanscombe, with the 2 623ft pylons on both sides being the tallest in Britain. The gap between the 2 towers is outwardly 4,501 toes, round 0.85 miles or 1.37 km.
Pilgrims en path to Canterbury crossed the river from shut by St Clement’s Church, taking to boat throughout to Swanscombe the place the trail up from the river remains to be the Pilgrims Highway. However there was no boat accessible to me, so I turned inland into West Thurrock.
St Clement’s Church was Grade I listed in 1960 and components at the very least are thirteenth century. It was utilized by a a youth unemployment scheme after common providers closed in 1977 and the inside was gutted, and after the mission closed it was badly vandalised.
Dominating the church is the Procter & Gamble detergent manufacturing unit begun right here in 1940 and in 1987 once they had been celebrating the corporate’s 150 years in enterprise they took over the maintenance of the church which took 3 years to revive. The church, which was the placement of the funeral in ‘4 Weddings and a Funeral’ is now open to the general public as soon as a month from April to September.
I can’t recall my route again alongside numerous roads to Rainham station, however there are just a few photos I took, primarily of the A13 and the Channel Tunnel Rail Hyperlink on My London Diary.
Tags: 400kV, A13, bridge, Channel Tunnel Rail Hyperlink, Cobelfret, containers, CTRL, Dartford Bridge, detergent works, folding bike, footpath, London Pictures, oil storage, peter Marshall, Proctor & Gamble, Purfleet, pylons, Queen Elizabeth, River Thames, riverside path, St Clement’s Church, swanscombe, Stroll, West Thurrock
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