The Strand is Gillingham's slice of riverside, a 19-hectare park stretching along the southern bank of the Medway estuary about a mile and a half north of the town centre. It has a small beach (sand brought in over the years to make a passable bathing strip), an outdoor swimming pool, mini-golf, tennis courts, and a children's play area.
The view across the estuary takes in the Isle of Grain, the chimneys of the former Grain power station, and on clear days the cranes of the London Gateway port further upstream. The Strand pool is a Grade II listed 1896 lido — one of the few surviving Victorian outdoor swimming pools in the south-east — and is open from late May to early September with surprisingly warm water. A pleasant walk or short drive from the centre.