Fort Micro 14
Fort Cliffe
A series of caches placed at the location or approximate location
of the Victorian forts known as the Palmerston follies,
These include the Medway forts, (some of which are in private
hands and some of which are no longer in existence), as time goes
on, other fortifications etc may be added which are not 'Palmerston
Follies' but no harm done, except for you purist out there.
The location is generally of the main gate or what use to be the
main gate as near as I can judge, however some times it is not
possible to get to the gate so it will be somewhere adjacent, some
of them will take a bit of ingenuity, some of them will take a bit
of daring do.
Permission, where possible, has
been
sought.
If any body would like to expand this series please do, I
would just ask that you could let henly know first so he can keep
track of the Fort numbers and names to avoid
duplication.
Cliffe Fort is a Royal Commission fort built
in the 1860s on the edge of the marshes to protect against
invasion via the Thames. A Brennan Torpedo station was added
in 1890, the rails of which are still visible at low water,
and was used as an anti-aircraft battery in World War II. It
is now inside a gravel extraction site and is inaccessible
and very overgrown, but can be viewed from the riverside
path.
Although on private property I have cycled down the approach road
several times there is a boat club there and it is adjacent to the
bird sanctuary, there are always people picnicking at the lake side
and I think if you behave yourself there is no problem, the public
footpath runs through the property.
The idea behind this series is to take people to
the sites and hopefully help to save them from ruin for future
generations, hence no fancy caches just a plain micro.
Good luck and have fun :).
There's plenty to enjoy in Chatham and Rochester so why not make a
day of it, And do some of the other caches in the area.
.