Hulked (Bedlams Bottom)

This Hulked Sound Walk follows a self-guided circular route from Iwade to Bedlam's Bottom, weaving together stories, poems, songs and music inspired by the history of the Thames barges and the environments their hulks inhabit. Created by writer Jeremy Scott and sound artist, Anna Braithwaite, the sound walk includes contributions from naturalist Carol Donaldson, song writer Jack Forbes and poets Maria C. McCarthy and Alice Backhurst. Bedlams Bottom is a quiet section of the Saxon Shore Way located to the west of Sittingbourne, approximately 10 miles from the Hulked Sound Walk at Lower Halstow. The area has a dark history of wrecks, receding, pocketed mudflats and doomed escapes from prison hulks. The upside of this quiet and some say, uninviting landscape, is that bird life is thriving. Visitors can hope to spot shelduck, lapwings, knots, wigeon and golden plovers. The Bedlam’s Bottom walking route is not easily passable by those with limited mobility.