It was also a very big tide today with no wind to ruffle it leaving it like the proverbial mill pond. I wandered out to check for any rodents or shrews caught out by the rapidly rising water but there were no Harvest Mice this year although I did find several Brown Rats looking for higher ground. They are actually quite tricky to find at Rainham Marshes and it is not every day that you get one in the open. Fine creatures.
Anyway, with the high tide came a big ship... the HMS Bulwark which had been up at Greenwich for a few days. Very fast but barely a wake created as it powered out of the Thames to who knows where.
All images by me except the last which is by Brenda Clayton
Hms Bulwark has just come back from a six month refit, after serving in the Pursian Gulf as security for the Iraqi Oil Rigs, and also patrolling the waters off of East Africa deterring piracy. A great sight she is too.