The Ship & Trades
A contemporary waterfront pub beside Chatham Marina in Kent, with outdoor seating, open views and an unexpected connection to the former Royal Dockyard.
Medway is home to some beautiful historic pubs, but The Ship & Trades offers something a little different. Found beside the marina at Chatham Maritime, this waterfront pub and hotel is one of our favourite places to stop after a long walk around nearby St Mary’s Island.
Inside, the mood is contemporary but gives a gentle nod to its surroundings. Timber, glass, rope and nautical details are found throughout, alongside the central bar and adjoining restaurant. But it’s on fine days and balmy evenings that the outside seating area really shines. Tables spread across a large area overlooking the waterfront and marina, with moored boats providing a focal point against a backdrop of modern residential towers and open skies.
Summer evenings are particularly noteworthy. With lingering warmth in the air, a gentle breeze coming from the docks and the soft clinking of rigging from nearby yachts, there is a certain holiday quality to sitting here with a chilled glass of white wine. Time your visit for just before sunset and the sky gradually changes over the marina, the last of the light catches across the water. There is plenty of outdoor seating, alongside a covered section offering shelter as Medway’s weather becomes less predictable later in the year.
Though modern in appearance, the building has deeper historical roots. Dating from the late 19th century, the steel-framed structure once housed offices and an engineering shop connected to Chatham Dockyard. By the 1970s, part of the building was used as the Ship Trades Planning Office, where refits and other work on smaller naval vessels were planned and organised. Downstairs, dockyard workers could collect and exchange overalls and heavy work jackets from a clothing store. It is an easily missed piece of Chatham Dockyards history beneath what now feels like a thoroughly contemporary waterfront pub.
Today, things are much more leisurely. The menu covers familiar pub favourites alongside seafood, sharing plates and dishes from the grill, with breakfast served in the mornings. We tend to come for quick drinks that turn into lingering evenings watching the sunset, usually ordering loaded fries after a long walk, but The Ship & Trades works equally well for lunch, dinner or meeting friends.
It’s the wider setting that is part of the real appeal. Chatham Maritime has become a destination of its own, with the Historic Dockyard, Dockside, places to eat and drink and St Mary’s Island all close by. Follow the public paths around the perimeter of the island and open views across the Medway gradually reveal themselves, with Upnor Castle visible across the water. Walkers, runners and dogs share the route, with the occasional canoe passing through an otherwise quietly residential landscape.
Our visits here are simple: walk the island and finish here. Find a table beside the water, order something to line the stomach and stay long enough to watch the light change over the Medway.
