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Rainham to Grays Walk

Dracula, outdoor art, concrete barges, an ace nature reserve, industrial sculpture, history and heritage, accompanied by the mighty Thames.

Easy London

History

Club walks since April 2015, and a summary which goes back to Jan 2010.

Date Option Post # Weather
Sat, 13-Sep-25 Rainham to Grays (or Purfleet) 7 dry mainly sunny and a bit windy
Sun, 21-Jan-18 Rainham to Purfleet or Grays 2 Sleet and rain and cold
Mr M Tiger
A PICNIC-ONLY walk
(but see Royal Hotel below)
Toughness 2 out of 10.
Rainham to Purfleet plus circuit of RSPB reserve: 12.6 km (7.9 miles)
Rainham to Purfleet excluding reserve about 8km (5 miles)
Rainham to Grays including reserve, 12.8 miles / excluding reserve (10.1 miles).
Urban and gritty, just like us, an evocative, atmospheric walk completely flat, well signposted, and on tarmac or other hard surfaces. It starts through an area rich in flora and insect life. On the way to Purfleet, you pass concrete barges, abandoned since the D Day landings. Look out too for 'The Diver' sculpture in the river, and a string of jokey wooden ‘tombstones’.
The RSPB Reserve at Rainham Marshes has a visitor centre, not quite what it was, now the café has gone, but there’s still picnic and toilet facilities. Entry to the reserve is free.
Directions: I’m suggesting walk 203 as your main source because this describes both Rainham to Purfleet and Purfleet to Grays. (Walk 172 describes the same route as far as Purfleet).
On reaching the reserve, you have choices.
  • Continue to Purfleet.
  • Go further to Grays
  • Return to Rainham, about 3 miles back. (For this, you would need the “return to Rainham” section of walk 172, Rainham to Purfleet, found on this page).
On the approach to Purfleet, be sure to dip down to the museum building to look back at the impressive line of soldier silhouettes.
A little later, the path veers from the river beside the Royal Hotel.
Purfleet was one of Dracula's hangouts, but you should be alright, he's long undead.
The section past Purfleet is a walk of two halves. Look left, it’s grim and industrial, but look right and you got the river – and (possibly) oystercatchers. Other birds available.
One update: To regain the riverside after Purfleet, follow walk 203 to point 19 and, shortly after passing a gate on the right-hand side, go right through a gap between concrete blocks. This takes you back to the flood wall. Follow the 'land' side of it, left, sometimes between it and chain-link fence, over rickety bridges, through tunnels, until, eventually, you cross over the wall to the river side. You continue alongside a renowned graffiti wall (let’s be kind and say ‘street art ‘). Some is of high quality, some less so, and some is flaking away.
En route, for a change of 'scenery', you have the option of a diversion inland through a nature area, to view a pre-Norman church. It’s more than the “few metres“ described, more like a few hundred.
Travel:
Get the 10:07 from Fenchurch St (Platform 15) calling at West Ham 10:17, Barking 10:23 arriving Rainham 10:31.
Trains return from Rainham at xx:03 and 33, from Purfleet, xx:28 and xx:58. Four trains an hour from Grays. The xx:22 and 52 via Rainham (furthest platform), the xx:00 and 30 via Ockendon (near platform).
Rainham station is in London Travel Zone 6. Purfleet is one stop beyond. and Grays is two stops beyond. Get a return to Purfleet or Grays. If covered for the zones, you would just need a single from Grays (or Purfleet) to Rainham.
Lunch: Picnic, Rainham Marshes RSPB Visitor Centre. .
Tea: Purfleet ending: Royal Hotel, Purfleet. London Road 01708 860 852). The Royal is located 450m from the station. (Despite its forbidding exterior, if you go round the front of the building, to the car-park side, you will find an entrance leading to its bar).They serve food on Saturdays 2-7pm.
Rainham ending: The Phoenix, A community-run pub, near the station.
Near Grays, you’ve got the Wharf. There are probably other pubs nearer the station but, by then, Mr Tiger, who recently tested the route, was scurrying for a train and didn’t investigate.
The directions caution against doing the Grays section if there is a risk of flooding. (Looking OK at time of posting. Check here).
  • author image
    Mr M Tiger
    Sep-25

    7 (unless any are still looking for “platform 15” at Fenchurch St) Showers had been threatened and London pavements were wet but the day stayed dry mainly sunny and a bit windy A walk not without interest and quite a variety of plantlife. Along the riverside, skeletal remains of hemlock and fennel(?) dominated.

    Eventually the reserve was reached and picnics were consumed. All elected to take the tour but one, with an eye on the weather, cut it short and head for Purfleet.

    After one and a half circuits of the reserve (don’t ask) and more eyes on the weather, no one was up for the extension to Grays. Not even the walk’s poster “sigh”.

    On to Purfleet. One look at the outside of the Royal Hotel was enough for 3, who headed for the Station. The other 3 followed. Just missing the 58, the ‘other 3’ returned to the Royal where drinks were consumed. A bit sports TV-ish but there’s the choice of a garden or a ‘balcony’ thing with a view of the river. We sat there and listened to the gunfire.

Chris L
Rainham to Purfleet or Grays
Length: 12.8km (8 miles) or 16.2km (10.1 miles) Toughness: 2/10

If you’re fed up with winter mud, this is an easy walk on firm surfaces along an atmospheric stretch of the Thames Path just outside London, with alternative options for the afternoon.

After traversing the edge of the RSPB reserve at Rainham Marshes, lunch can be taken at the RSPB Visitor Centre cafe at the far end of the marshes. Those with an interest in birdwatching can then explore the marshes at leisure or join the guided Wildlife Walk starting at 1pm at the Visitor Centre. In either case, you’ll finish the walk with a short 1km stroll to Purfleet station.

If your tastes tend more towards industrial heritage, you can continue along the Thames Path after lunch, passing the Purfleet Heritage and Military Centre (closes 3pm), to proceed to Grays on a challenging route through dramatic industrial landscapes and under the soaring Dartford bridge. On the way is a location used in ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’ and another associated with Dracula as well as an amazing exhibition of graffiti art. The extensive fly-tipping that formerly blighted part of this stretch appears to have been removed and there have been no recent reports of it resuming.

10:19 Grays train from Fenchurch Street (Limehouse 10:23, West Ham 10:28) arriving Rainham at 10:42.

Return trains from Grays to Fenchurch Street are at xx:00 (Purfleet xx:06), xx:11, xx:30 (Purfleet xx:36) and xx:41 (journey time 37 mins). Buy an off-peak day return to Purfleet or Grays, according to your preferred destination.

You can find further information and the walk directions for both options:
Rainham Marshes & Purfleet, and
Rainham to Grays.
T=swc.172
  • Sean
    Jan-18

    It won't necessarily be your cheapest option but it's worth noting that you can use Oyster PAYG at all these stations, even though Purfleet and Grays are outside TfL Zone 6.

  • JohnL
    Jan-18

    2 Sleet and rain and cold . This would be an interesting walk on a better day. From the station you are directly on to the marsh and soon the Thames bank. The path is macadam all the way to the RSBP, so no mud! It was a great relief to get out of the cold into the warmth of the RSBP cafe for soup or a veggie curry. Lots of binoculars and scopes to try out from the cafe and the plenty of birds to see on the feeders. It was still sleeting after lunch so we got the train at Purfleet.