The watery landmarks of Kent are flowing with history and beauty, as is pointed out in a new book, Rivers of Britain. Chris Price reports.

Britain’s rivers are among the best known in the world and Kent’s waterways stand out among them for their importance to trade and natural beauty. Our meandering bodies of water are teeming with wildlife, steeped in history and thanks to their bridges, pubs and docks are home to some stunning architecture.

From the picturesque to the positively industrial, all aspects of Kent’s rivers are covered in the new book Rivers of Britain, by Stuart Fisher. As the editor of Canoeist magazine, Fisher has written monthly guides to the canals and waterways of Britain for many years and devotes three chapters to Kent’s major rivers: the Thames, Medway and Great Stour. Each page is dense with text and images, making this as much a comprehensive guide to the water and surrounding area as it is a casual coffee table read.

Fisher writes in plain language and sets the scene in every chapter, explaining to the uninitiated how the Medway flows north east to the Thames estuary, separating the Men of Kent on the east side from the Kentish Men on the west. Each chapter then travels from source to estuary, pointing out each town and landmark to the readers as if they are a tourist coasting upstream on a gondola.

“Fordwich was a major port for Canterbury at the time of the Conquest and supplied fighting ships for the Sandwich contingent,” writes Fisher in his chapter on the River Great Stour, before delighting readers with quirky facts. “Britain’s smallest community with a town council, 250 people, Fordwich also has England’s smallest town hall. The half-timbered building has stocks and a ducking stool for nagging wives.”

Not only of interest to sailors, fishermen and canoeists keen to discover beautiful unfrequented spots, the book also marks out stopping points and lookouts for ramblers and cyclists navigating the river’s path. There are also suggestions for good places to take river trips. The chapter on the River Thames is the longest in the book by a nautical mile, with images and descriptions of internationally famous landmarks.

Fisher saves his description of north and east Kent for his chapters on the Medway and Great Stour, instead describing Crayford Ness, the River Darent, the Dartford Marshes and the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge as the Thames stretches its legs for its home straight between Kent and Essex before reaching the North Sea. The area’s industrial history is captured nicely when he talks about Greenhithe and Swanscombe.

It says: “Ingress Abbey, rebuilt in the 1830s with London Bridge stone, is cited between Greenhithe and Swanscombe with its cement works and has provided moorings at times for the training ship HMS Worcester and the Cutty Sark. Sir John Franklin left here in 1845 to find the Northwest Passage but did not return.”

For a captivating guide to Kent and Britain’s river system, this is a good place to set sail.

Rivers of Britain by Stuart Fisher is published in paperback by Adlard Coles Nautical and is out now. It’s priced £25.