A return to the sea after long Essex estuary walks. The comforting sound of waves, with pier rides, a sandy beach, a long promenade, and … wind farms.
Colourful beach huts line the sea-front, including an acknowledgement to Banksy. Council workers shovel windswept sand from the promenade back to the beach; an endless task.
Walton Pier is undergoing refurbishment for the summer. It looks very grim, like a long warehouse. The tiers of beach huts are far more attractive, huddled beneath the black clouds.
After walking along concrete promenades and sea walls all morning, it’s pleasant to step down onto the beach at The Naze, overlooked by the 18th century navigation tower for ships sailing in and out of the busy port of Harwich. There’s a huge amount of sandstone erosion, with trees stranded rootless on the shore.
Sadly, a dead seal lies on the shingle, and the circular hole in its side looks suspiciously man-made. There have been shooting incidents here in the past. Hard to comprehend.
A rough, overgrown embankment path winds round Walton Hall Marshes.
I tread warily past the Witch’s House from Secret Water, the eighth book in Arthur Ransome’s Swallows and Amazons series.
It’s a long walk round the marshes to avoid the Bramble Island explosives factory and storage facility. I’m not tempted to take a short cut across some decaying wooden footbridges.
I can’t resist a rotting boat.
The most direct route is along a very busy road, so I explore an alternative network of paths across fields; some a little less used than others.
The weather worsens; the rain lashes down. I have a waterproof jacket but the weather forecast was not bad enough to warrant packing my waterproof trousers for a day hike. A big mistake.
Harwich seems so close, but there’s a horribly exposed final loop, walking along the windswept embankment top. My trousers are soaked and my legs are freezing from the wind chill. It’s easy to see why people get hypothermia in the mountains without the right gear.
Taking shelter under Harwich Low Lighthouse, I peer through the rain, across the harbour to Felixstowe, before reluctantly stepping back out for a sodden trudge to find the train station.
Essex has really given me a farewell kicking. This is the last of my day hikes due to the increasing travel time. When I return to the East Coast it will be to take a ferry across the harbour to Suffolk on a multi-day hike, including the mysterious Orford Ness.
Walk distance: 29 miles.
Total distance: 1,741 miles.
Wow – another long walk. Pity about the weather. Well done for keeping going – I guess your legs are a lot shorter now!!
Haha. My face is certainly more weathered! Look forward to catching up soon.
That doesn’t look like the weather you had on your other Essex walks, when I was envious of your clear blue skies!
It did make the marshes look suitably moody. I found an old bunker which I explored with my head torch. I did not include the photos but it looked very “Blair Witchy” inside so I did not linger. 🙂
I did visit Orford Ness. I took the boat out there and had a walk around. I think sadly the lighthouse is gone now?
Then later I drove round to Alderburgh with the intention of walking along the beach back to Orford Ness. There are numerous private keep out type signs along the beach but legally if you are below the high tide mark along most of the coast (including this bit) it’s not private and you can walk there, so I continued. Unfortunately for me one of the people fishing along the beach turned out to be an off-duty National Trust warden who warned me against continuing. Of course I had already paid to visit but apparently they count people on and off so might cause an issue if the warden saw me and thought everyone had left.
So anyway just thought I’d better let you know that the NT don’t like you walking there (even though I think legally there is nothing wrong).
Thanks for the info Jon. I guess I will book a boat slot. I plan on buying a ticket to see as many as possible of the buildings there. There is also a very interesting art exhibition scattered around.
Hi Tony. Really enjoying all the blog posts. Keep them coming! Andrew
Hi Andrew. Lovely to hear from you. We should grab a beer at London Bridge sometime on your way home.
29 miles, eek! Especially with cold, wet trouser legs.
Another long walk Tony ! I’m just back from Newcastle v Arsenal, where I combined the game (very poor showing by The Arsenal BTW) with 3 days walking from Wallsend to Cresswell….. About 40 miles of quite mixed walking but at least the weather was better than yours … It seems 😃 keep on walking mate🚶
Nice…my home town. Newcastle that is. I am more of a rugby fan than a football fan, but good to see The Toon get a decent result for a change.
The Toon were pretty good mate… And the area/people are so friendly… I based myself in Whitley bay… Got Lincolnshire to walk next week… If my knees are up to it 😂