Thames Estuary Trail

Twenty years ago, local newspaper reporter, Tom King wrote Thames Estuary Trail: A Walk around the end of the World - the first and to date, the only book that describes the entire estuary coastline as an epic 83-mile walk.

The book maps the walk around ‘the unfashionable end of the Thames’ and along the way captures the people, the histories, the frustrations and the magnetic beauty of the place that once you are introduced to it, keeps you coming back. Much has changed over 20 years and much has remained just as compelling and enigmatic as when Tom first captured it.

Estuary 2021 has partnered with the Thames Estuary Growth Board to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the book by launching, as part of the festival, a long-term project that will improve the Trail, its footpaths, access to the water, signage and information to create one of the UK’s great journeys on foot.

As part of Estuary 2021, Tom will revisit the trail and write a new chapter to the book that extends the walk further along the coast from the Isle of Sheppey to Margate. He will also include a new introduction which considers the developments and changes over the last 20 years. A second edition will be published and launched during the festival, alongside an artist-commissioned, illustrated map and four new, specially commissioned artworks that will inspire the intrepid among you to set out on the walk of a lifetime.

We know that there are many walkers who already enjoy the estuary landscapes. We would love to hear about your experiences, see your photographs and hear your ideas on how signage, access or facilities along the trail might be improved over the coming years. Please share using #ThamesEstuaryTrail.