A 5 hour driving lesson in the blazing sun. The day after, I walked from Upnor to Hoo and back to Borstal. You can follow the shore at low tide and collect oyster shells and broken bottles along the way; warm milk happiness decoding the glass remnants, learning the story of some old bottlemaker, somewhere down the coast. This time it was Powell and Ricketts from Bristol, and the drink was done with in 1880 something*. Across from Upnor is St Mary's Island. The island is well-developed now, but in the 1500s it was a minor defensive post. A chain ran from Upnor Castle, across the River Medway to St Mary's; they'd simply raise it up in the case of threat from a Spanish fleet. Elizabeth I had a fort built opposite, at Hoo - Cockham Wood Fort - with bricks after the colour of her hair. St Mary's later became the burial ground for the Napoleonic POWs imprisoned on the local prison hulks. Rumours have it that some of the more badly behaved prisoners were tied to stakes and ...