Cliffe Pools, Kent

The RSPB’s Cliffe Pools reserve lies in the murky marshland country near Gravesend, north Kent. These flooded former clay pits are overlooked by the grim fort where Charles Dickens had young Pip running in terror through the mist to bring a file and some ‘wittles’ to the convict Magwitch in Great Expectations. The reserve is managed by the RSPB. Great crested grebes perform their elaborate courtship rituals on the pools in spring, the scrub woodlands are full of migrant songbirds, and lapwings nest in the grassland. www.rspb.org.uk/cliffepools

WALK HERE: Download Cliffe Pools at www.lfto.com/cwroutes