Monday 14 February 2011

Harty pictures

With the sun coming out this morning I thought I'd take a few photos of the area round the reserve. Double click on each one to better view the scene.

This first one is of The Ferry House Inn, as it looks down onto The Swale waterway to the left.


Taken more or less from the same spot as the above one but looking left across The Swale to Harty Ferry on the mainland side. Harty Ferry was once a small, probably rowing boat, that plied between the Inn and the mainland. On the mainland, either side of the small fishing boat, is Oare Nature reserve.


Mocketts Farm house, with the Harty Road, little more than a lane there, to the left of it


Both this one and the one above were taken from the same spot, at Telegraph corner on the Harty Road. This one looks east towards Leysdown and shows the yellow and reeded sweep of Capel Fleet in the centre as it winds it's way round to eventually end up at The Swale NNR.


A view of Harty Church and Sayers Court farm buildings in the distance, taken from the reserve sea wall.


This building was originally the Old Forge and blacksmith's cottage but has been renovated and enlarged now for the landlord of the Ferry House Inn.


Brewers farmhouse alongside the staff entrance to the reserve. This is privately owned and has nothing to do with the farmland around it.

8 comments:

  1. Seeing those photographs makes me rue the family situation I had when we moved to Birchington rather than return to the Island, but makes it easy to understand why you write so lyrically about the eastern end of Sheppey !
    A couple of queries - (a) how old do you reckon Brewers is and presumably it was the area's farmhouse at one time ?
    Ken L
    (b) where is the old forge ? - is it at the top of the turning down to the Inn ?

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  2. Ken,
    Re. the old Forge - if you go through Elliots farmyard and out the other side, its a couple of hundred yards along there. If you carry on past it you end up at the church.

    As far as I know, Elliots was always the farmhouse for the area, but I don't know much about Brewers history other than it used to be called Longwood.

    As you will recall eastern Sheppey can look very picturesque on a sunny day and fortunately it hasn't changed much.

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  3. Thanks for that Derek, I know where I am now although I never knew that the building was originally a forge. I walked past it often enough, especially towards the end of the summer when the wooded area a little further on used to be alive with the sight and sound of Turtle Doves - quite magical.
    Ken

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  4. Ken,
    The wooded area is still more or less there but not so the Turtle Doves I'm afraid.

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  5. Nice to see what you see Derek. Lovely photos and I can see many a pleasant hour could be spent wandering there especially in the Summer. I suspect it can be pretty hot at times though with obviously not much shade for protection.

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  6. Jan,

    It is particually nice in the summer and whilst there are hot days, being flat and alongside the coast there normally tends to be at least a breeze.

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  7. Hi Derek.
    Nice to see some scenic shots of the area. It is always good to read about birds and where they are seen but when there is a photo to back it up it can sometimes make more sense and be helpful for those that want to go and see the birds.

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  8. Thanks Ken,

    My little camera isn't much good for bird close ups and anyway they're common on most blogs, so I stick to showing the area or site, so that people can see what I'm talking about.

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