The North Kent Marshes

摘要

Big skies, bracing winds and bird rich and only a stone's throw from London - Irene Palmer ponders the magic of the Thames Estuary's secret wilderness. As my flight enters the broad mouth of the Thames Estuary, I savour the bird's-eye view of this area I know so well. The coastline resembles the gaping, dislocated jaws of some fossilised dinosaur that once roamed here, but time has rendered it harmless and tides have scattered its teeth to form countless islands. My eyes scan the pewter-grey mudbanks and mudflats and a distant shoreline etched with filigrees of sinuous creeks. My fellow passengers mostly ignore the fantastic views, because this isn't a 'must-see1 UK destination - and yet it is one of those rare places where big skies reach to limitless horizons, giving a sense of wilderness, where encountering another person is a rare event. And though it looks empty, it teems with wildlife.