The Hoo Peninsula

In the marshy landscape of the Hoo Peninsula you can find much of British history. Saxon and Roman remains point to mans first efforts to hold back the sea and use this land for agriculture. The Churchyard in Cooling provides the backdrop for one of Dickens best known works 'Great Expectations'. In Cliffe you can find the remains of an Edwardian explosives factory and at the RSPB reserve on Northward Hill what is left of a radio station used in the Second World War. Today the military history of the area remains but at Lodge Hill the unused Ministry of Defence site has now become home to a substantial nightingale population. This is the great irony of The Hoo landscape, we can clearly see the imprint of heavy industry at places like Grain where we find essential power stations and infrastructure yet it's isolation has also made this place attractive to birds and rare wildlife. Helen Mark explores this unique part of Kent and uncovers just some of the stories which exist beside the container ports and farmland.