179 Chatham – Luton – Weeds Wood – Walderslade – Alexandra Hospital

The 179 is one of Nu-Venture's busy Medway locals, threading a circular route from the Chatham Waterfront Bus Station up onto the high ground at Walderslade and back again. It is a useful workaday service, but it also offers a pleasant ride across some of the most distinctive townscape in north Kent, from riverside terraces to the wooded hilltop estates above the Medway.

The journey begins at Stop A2 on the Waterfront, with the broad sweep of the River Medway and the masts of Sun Pier in view as the bus pulls away. Climbing past Upbury Way, the road rises out of the town centre and into Luton, the steep Victorian suburb whose streets cling to the valley sides. The window frames rows of brick terraces and small corner shops as the bus passes Bank Street, Castle Road and Albany Road, with glimpses back down towards Chatham's rooftops and the dockyard cranes in the distance.

Past Luton Junior School and the Hen and Chickens, the route enters Wayfield, a post-war estate laid out across a shallow valley. The 179 works its way along Churchill Avenue, calling at the Churchill Clinic and the parade of shops by the Spar, before climbing again towards Burma Way and the top of the ridge. This is the steepest part of the run, and on the upper deck of a tall bus you would feel the gradient in your seat.

At the top, the bus arrives at Walderslade, a hillside community wrapped in trees. Passing the Poachers Pocket and turning into Weeds Wood, the route winds between the pines and silver birches of Weeds Wood itself, a pocket of woodland that gives the estate its leafy character. The road threads past Silverweed Road and Sussex Drive, then on through the Village Centre, before the loop swings round past Tunbury Avenue and the cul-de-sacs of Catkin Close, Oaks Dene and Podkin Wood.

The outer point of the route is the Alexandra Hospital, set in its own grounds on the ridge. From here the bus retraces its way back through the Walderslade estates, drops down past Weeds Wood, threads Wayfield again and descends the long hill through Luton into Chatham, returning to the Waterfront with the river once more in view. For a short local service the 179 packs in a remarkable change of scenery, from tidal Medway to ridge-top woodland and back inside an hour.

The 179 may be a workaday Medway local, but linked with a stroll or two it makes the basis of a relaxed half day exploring the contrasts of Chatham, from tidal river to wooded ridge. Start at the Chatham Waterfront Bus Station, where the riverside walk along Sun Pier offers wide views over the Medway and across to Rochester's castle keep on the far bank.

Before boarding, it is worth wandering up into Chatham town centre for a coffee on the High Street, or detouring along the river to the Historic Dockyard if you have more time, with its preserved warships and ropery. The Waterfront itself is a good place to watch the tide turn, with gulls wheeling over the pontoons and the spire of St Mary's on the skyline.

Boarding the 179 at Stop A2, the climb out through Luton gives a real sense of how Chatham is built on hills. As the bus passes the Hen and Chickens and turns into Wayfield, you are crossing into the inter-war and post-war housing that spreads across the slopes. It is a part of Medway most visitors never see, and a reminder of how rapidly the town grew in the twentieth century.

At Walderslade, consider stepping off near the Village Centre for a wander into Walderslade Woods, a Local Wildlife Site of mixed broadleaf and pine that runs along the ridge. Paths thread between sweet chestnut and silver birch, with views opening occasionally across the Medway Valley. In spring the floor is patterned with bluebells, and in autumn the fallen leaves make the going beautifully soft underfoot.

Continuing the loop, the bus passes the Alexandra Hospital and the residential closes around Podkin Wood and Catkin Close, names that hint at the woodland that once stood here. A short walk from the Tunbury Avenue stop brings you into Tunbury Wood, another fragment of ancient woodland with quiet trails good for an hour's ramble.

Back on the bus, the descent through Wayfield and Luton offers fine views down over Chatham, with the dockyard cranes and the line of the river spread out below. Round off the day back at the Waterfront with fish and chips on the riverside, or cross into Rochester for a wander down the historic High Street past the Guildhall Museum and the cathedral precincts. A simple local route, but one that strings together a surprisingly varied slice of Medway.