Sheppey greenway back on track
Published
Tuesday 15 April, 2025
Updated
Tuesday 15 April, 2025
A local community group has created an all-weather path along a portion of the Sheppey Light Railway line, thanks to support from Swale Borough Council.
The Sheppey Light Railway Greenway is an ambitious project to open a walking, wheeling and cycling greenway following the path of the former railway line that ran from Leysdown to Queenborough.
The volunteer-led project is aiming to reopen as much of the old route as possible to create a safe way to cross the Island on your own steam - on foot or by bike.
More than 20 volunteers and local businesses banded together to install the all-weather surface on the portion of council-owned track bed, between Drove Road and the pedestrian link to Buddle Drive.
The first stage of the project was completed in 2023 when volunteers cleared and widened the path from Scrapsgate to the Sheerness Golf Club.
They then cleared a thick forest of brambles which had made the next portion of the railway’s path inaccessible and have now installed a fence along this section to improve the safety of the route.
The funding, from the council’s Community Infrastructure Grant, was used to help clear and resurface parts of the route, and to install fencing, improving the safety for people using the greenway.
The group have now raised an additional £6,000 to fund a detailed route plan across the Island, which is now being drafted and will help outline the future layout and direction of the project.
Before closing in 1950 the railway’s steam trains used to carry passengers across the island stopping at Harty Ferry Road, Eastchurch, Brambledown, Minster-on-Sea and Sheerness, along more than 8.5 miles of track.
Tim Foreman, Chair of the Sheppey Light Railway Greenway project, said:
“This is just the start of the SLR Greenway project and with the continued support and help from residents, land owners, businesses and councils this will be a project that we can all really enjoy and be extremely proud of.
“As well as remembering the history associated with the Sheppey Light Railway it affords a safe and natural route for our children and everyone to experience.”
