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The River Medway in England flows from Turners Hill, in West Sussex, through Tonbridge, Maidstone and Rochester in Kent, to the River Thames. From 1746 the limit of navigation was Tonbridge, but the channel was improved to Leigh in 1828. Small craft such as canoes can sometimes travel as far as Penshurst. The lowest (tidal) lock, opened in 1792, is at Allington. The stretch from Leigh to Allington is known as the Medway Navigation, and is 19 miles (31 km) long. The mouth of the river is defined by Garrison Point, between the Isle of Sheppey and the Isle of Grain. The Medway Gap, where the wide Medway follows a steep and narrow valley close to Rochester, has been described as one of the most impressive topographical features in southern England. The Medway divides the county of Kent into two parts. Traditionally, the western part, West Kent, was administered from Maidstone, its inhabitants being called Kentishmen, while the eastern part, East Kent was administered from Canterbury, its inhabitants being called Men of Kent. The county was united in 1814, with Maidstone as the county town. A new 1.3km railway bridge, with a central span of 152m, was built in 2003 for the Channel Tunnel Rail Link project in order to cross the Medway Gap near Cuxton. A motorway bridge carrying the M2 runs alongside it. Two military actions are called the Battle of Medway; one during the Roman invasion of Britain and one during the Second Anglo-Dutch War. The Medway megaliths are a group of Neolithic chamber tombs including the Coldrum Stones and Kits Coty known in the valley. In 1942 the World's first test of a submarine oil pipeline was conducted on a pipeline laid across the Medway in Operation Pluto.
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