Description
The river crossing on the Gravesend-Tilbury ferry is the star attraction for this route. The main difference from TilGra 1 is using Dock Road and the Hairpin Bridge to escape from the HGV traffic between Tilbury Town station and Tilbury container port. On the approach to the ferry, at Tilbury riverside, the route uses the second bridge, a pedestrian walkway, signage on the ground is weak, an exhibit on that bridge gets attention but not the utility. Over in Gravesend the route still takes you through the Heritage Quarter, up the pretty and pedestrian-only High Street, and now this extends along pedestrianised Windmill Street (more of a high street feel) almost up to the station.
60% of the route is traffic free, although truly this means the pedestrian shopping streets and the ferry route, the only "off-road" parts are the Hairpin Footbridge and about 200m of bike path slightly screened from the lorries by brambles, it's hard surfaces all the way. There are buses and trains to travel onwards by at both Tilbury (town) and Gravesend plus shopping and sit down eating, but Gravesend has very many more options
The river crossing on the Gravesend-Tilbury ferry is the star attraction for this route. The main difference from TilGra 1 is using Dock Road and the Hairpin Bridge to escape from the HGV traffic between Tilbury Town station and Tilbury container port. On the approach to the ferry, at Tilbury riverside, the route uses the second bridge, a pedestrian walkway, signage on the ground is weak, an exhibit on that bridge gets attention but not the utility. Over in Gravesend the route still takes you through the Heritage Quarter, up the pretty and pedestrian-only High Street, and now this extends along pedestrianised Windmill Street (more of a high street feel) almost up to the station.
60% of the route is traffic free, although truly this means the pedestrian shopping streets and the ferry route, the only "off-road" parts are the Hairpin Footbridge and about 200m of bike path slightly screened from the lorries by brambles, it's hard surfaces all the way. There are buses and trains to travel onwards by at both Tilbury (town) and Gravesend plus shopping and sit down eating, but Gravesend has very many more options
Status
This route has been reviewed by 2 people.
This route has been flagged (1 time) for reasons relating to access.
Photos for Tilgra two
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Information
Route status - Live
Reviews - 2
Average rating -
Is this route good enough? - Yes (1) No (1)
Problems reported - Access (1)
Downloads - 0
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Geography information system (GIS) data
Total length
Maximum elevation
Minimum elevation
Start and end points
Tilbury
Grid Ref
TQ6360576373
Lat / Lon
51.46269° / 0.35378°
Easting / Northing
563,605E / 176,373N
What3Words
pools.groups.fully
Gravesend
Grid Ref
TQ6459174000
Lat / Lon
51.44108° / 0.36686°
Easting / Northing
564,591E / 174,000N
What3Words
zips.feeds.behind
| Tilbury | |
|---|---|
| Grid Ref | TQ6360576373 |
| Lat / Lon | 51.46269° / 0.35378° |
| Easting / Northing | 563,605E / 176,373N |
| What3Words | pools.groups.fully |
| Gravesend | |
|---|---|
| Grid Ref | TQ6459174000 |
| Lat / Lon | 51.44108° / 0.36686° |
| Easting / Northing | 564,591E / 174,000N |
| What3Words | zips.feeds.behind |
Sorry Land Cover data is not currently available for this route. Please check back later.
reviews
Jane Taylor
06 Apr 2024Sadly the Tilbury - Gravesend ferry has stopped running, and it is no longer possible to do this route.
Jane Taylor
25 Jan 2024Walked Tilbury to Gravesend.
A fantastic Slow Way connection between Essex and Kent, north and south Thames, port and town.
The highlight is the foot (and cycle) passenger ferry between Tilbury and Gravesend. This is the lowest crossing point on the Thames, the next one for Slow Wayers is at Woolwich, miles upstream. The Thames is wide and fast, a great place to imagine armies and explorers coming up such a powerful river looking for their chances.
Tilbury and Gravesend have very different characters and I enjoyed the ‘compare and contrast’.
Tilbury is a port town, a lot of vehicles coming and going, and the route has to follow the approach road in places. At the station there are a few shops.
At Tilbury ferry, pedestrian access is across a covered bridge with an exhibition, in glass, celebrating the people who arrived on ships at Tilbury to start a new life in England. I very much enjoyed this art work. Signage that this is the pedestrian route is scant to non-existent, follow the exhibition signage for ‘walkway’ instead.
The ferry is accessed across a busy car park; there is a covered waiting area. Generally ferries run every half hour, but I discovered there is a gap early afternoon when the ferryman takes his lunch break.
After a blustery crossing Gravesend was such a contrast. A modern pontoon, pedestrian streets with small independent shops (and chains if you prefer), all the way to the station. The meeting point is on the far side of the station from the town.
A good 4 stars but I felt the general environs at Tilbury keeps it off being 5.
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Daisy C
25 Jan 2024I'm planning to walk Cristie's new TilSta route in March so I'll have to visit your sad ponies and finish my review of this route. Maybe take them an apple.
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JohnMyerson
27 Jan 2024I did this walk in December 2012 having finished the LOOP at Purfleet. I more or less followed the route you did from Tilbury Station. Glad the ferry is still operating!
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JohnMyerson
29 Jan 2024I've walked the whole Thames Estuary walk (Tilbury to Southend) which includes TilSta. Very enjoyable. Good birdwatching stretches near Leigh on Sea.
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