Isle of Sheppey Yantlet Creek at the Isle of Grain to the west, it was occasionally used in ancient times by shipping to and from ports such as Chatham and London to reduce exposure to bad weather in the Thames Estuary or North Sea. The Kingsferry Bridge was first built in 1860, thus eliminating the need for ferries. Over time, there have been four bridges built over the Swale at this point. All bridges had to allow sufficient clearance for shipping heading to the commercial docks at Ridham: On 5 September 2013, fog caused a 130 vehicle pile-up on the Sheppey Crossing bridge
Sittingbourne and Sheppey (UK Parliament constituency) Sheppey Central, Teynham and Lynsted, West Downs, and Woodstock. The constituency was created in 1997, mostly from the former seat of Faversham. It covers some of the district of Swale, including Sittingbourne and the Isle of Sheppey. (On Sheppey is Queenborough which was a borough constituency until abolition as a rotten borough in 1832.) The constituency has been a bellwether of the national result since its 1997 creation. Unemployment claimant levels in November 2012 were close to the national average (3.8%) at 4.5%, in line with Cleethorpes, Thurrock, Hammersmith and Meriden. Sittingbourne and Sheppey (UK Parliament constituency) Sittingbourne and Sheppey