176 Walderslade – Weeds Wood – Huntsmans Corner – Chatham

The 176 is one of Arriva's network of Medway town services, threading a long figure-of-eight from Gillingham across to the Walderslade ridge and back. It starts unassumingly on Plantation Road, then drops down through the neat post-war streets of Gillingham, past King Edward Road and Castlemaine Avenue, with glimpses of the Medway estuary opening between the rooftops as the bus turns towards Gillingham Green.

By the time you reach The Strand, the river is right alongside. This is one of the prettier interludes on the route, the lido and pleasure park sitting on the foreshore with views out across the saltings to the Hoo Peninsula. From the Strand the bus climbs back inland through Burnt Oak and Copenhagen Road, calling at the Westcourt Arms and Medway Maritime Hospital before swinging onto the main road into Chatham.

The middle section of the journey is pure Medway townscape. Chatham Waterfront Bus Station sits beside the river under the shadow of the old Royal Dockyard cranes, and Chatham Railway Station follows a couple of minutes later. From here the route begins its steady climb out of the valley, past Chatham Town FC and the cemetery, up through Huntsmans Corner and onto Magpie Hall Road, with the rooftops of the Medway towns spreading out behind.

The high ground belongs to Walderslade and Weeds Wood, a network of estates laid out among the chalk woodland of the North Downs. The bus loops through Snodhurst, past the Poachers Pocket, then into Weeds Wood on streets named for the chalk-loving wildflowers that still grow on the verges, Silverweed, Sorrell, Pimpernel and Larkspur. There are surprising open views here between the houses, southwards across the Medway Valley towards the downs at Bluebell Hill.

After looping past the village centre at Walderslade and the Alexandra Hospital, the 176 reverses its outward route, dropping back down to Chatham, recrossing the Waterfront, and returning through Gillingham to Plantation Road. It is a useful local link rather than a tourist showcase, but riding the full circuit gives you a proper cross-section of Medway, river, dockyard, hospital, woodland estate and back again.

The 176 is built for everyday Medway journeys rather than sightseeing, but it links enough genuinely interesting corners of Gillingham, Chatham and the Walderslade ridge that you can stitch a decent half day together from a single ticket. Start from Plantation Road in Gillingham and let the bus take you down through the residential streets to Gillingham Green.

Hop off at The Strand, one of Medway's most underrated spots. The Strand Leisure Park sits right on the river with a lido, a miniature railway in season, and a grassy foreshore looking out towards the Hoo Peninsula. It is a good place for a riverside walk and an ice cream before rejoining the bus.

Back on board, the 176 climbs through Burnt Oak and past Medway Maritime Hospital before dropping into Chatham. Get off at Chatham Waterfront Bus Station for the town's real headline attractions. The Historic Dockyard Chatham is a short walk or a quick onward bus ride and gives you submarines, warships, ropery and rigging sheds across a vast Georgian and Victorian site. Closer to the bus station, Chatham's Sun Pier and the redeveloped waterfront make a good riverside stroll.

Rejoin the 176 at Chatham Railway Station and ride it up the hill past Huntsmans Corner. This is the steepest, most interesting bit of townscape on the route, a long climb up Magpie Hall Road onto the chalk ridge. At the top, the bus enters Walderslade and Weeds Wood, where the streets are quiet and the views back over the Medway towns are surprisingly open.

Stay on for the loop through the village centre and past the Alexandra Hospital, or step off near Walderslade Woods for a walk in the beech and yew woodland that gives the area its name. The Woodland Trust's Walderslade Woods are a peaceful contrast to the busy estates around them.

Back on the 176, the return journey retraces the route through Chatham and Gillingham, with another chance to look across at the dockyard cranes from the Waterfront before the bus winds its way home through Gillingham Green and the Strand to Plantation Road. A simple, satisfying loop that shows off the full range of Medway life.