The River Medway flows in the South East of England through the lands known as the High Weald. The name 'Weald' is derived from the West Saxon word 'Wold' – 'forest' or 'forested hill' – and it is high upon one such hill that the Medway first emerges. She springs up within a high wood in the village of Turners Hill, travelling through the different lands of Sussex and Kent for 70 miles before merging with the River Thames.

The waters of the High Weald run in a very particular way. The rock of the High Weald is mainly that of a hard sandstone and the soil mainly of thick clay, with some lighter soils above. As Wealdland clay is virtually impermeable to water,  running water must find its way across the surface of the steeply sloping land by carving deep but narrow valleys, called ghylls, which lead to the creation of a multitude of small streams, many of which form forceful flows even during the drier months. These hills, steep valleys and ghylls give the Wealden Vale its unique appearance. Beautiful streams can be found all over the forest ways as their courses find their route down towards the main flow of the Medway: she connects a vast network of water together.

It is the nature of the sandstone, clay and soils beneath them, that cause these streams to sometimes 'wander’ over time. This may well be how the river was originally named, for in ancient times the Britons called the river 'The Vaga', translated as ‘The Wandering One’. The invading Saxons later changed the name to Medvag, meaning the 'middle wanderer' with the 'middle' perhaps associated with the river flowing through the middle of an established area of settlement. Over time, a change in the vowel sound meant that her name evolved  to Medwege and eventually the Medway, or 'the middle way'.