Walking the Essex coast

Cornwall, Pembrokeshire, north Norfolk, Berwickshire ... just three of the many magnificent county coastlines of Britain, all worthy of their own trail. But what of poor old Essex?

Well, it has its privations: nuclear plant, military ranges and the land that taste forgot which is Jaywick Sands. And there's barely a cliff in sight. But Essex is a far better county than many who do not know it aver. Its coastline often has a remakable loneliness that the developers cannot breach - see what passes for a marina at Oakely Creek (pictured) - and unbridged rivers such as the Colne and Crouch force long deviations inland. Indeed, the coastline is under threat not so much from humans as from nature itself; formerly reclaimed marshland is now being left to the mercy of the sea once more, in anticipation of sea level rise. That's not to deny that there's an awful lot of trudging past desolate saltmarsh, but just how much Dave Travers and I will discover over the next few years, as bit by bit we unravel it.

Towns and villages

There are far fewer settlements than you might think. Harwich is the natural start point in the north, so we started from Dovercourt a mile south; we'd 'done' the first bit when on the Essex Way some years ago. It's a lonely stretch from there until the Naze peninsula. Rights of way are in the wrong place to make a deviation beyond Walton-on-the Naze practical, alas, so we'll head through genteel Frinton and blowsy Clacton. Beyond here, we follow the Colne past Brightlingsea to Wivenhoe and indeed the outskirts of Colchester, the first bridge. We might take a break here and seek some other projects.

Turning south once more, there is an optional extra loop of Mersea Island before Tollesbury and Maldon. The rivers Blackwater and Crouch hem in the vast and empty Dengie peninsula; reaching Burnham will be a relief. We hope to ford the Crouch at the new town of South Woodham Ferrers. Rochford is next, and then the possibility of circumnavigating Foulness Island, military permitting. From Shoeburyness, it's built up all the way to Southend and beyond, so Southend Pier seems a good place to stop. Unless of course we go for a Thames extension ...

Transport

Rail lines and reasonable linking bus services make it practical to undertake linear walks using public transport. In the north, tracks lead to Harwich and Dovercourt, and from Colchester to Wivenhoe, Thorpe-le-Soken, Frinton and Clacton. Bradwell power station has the bonus of keeping open the rail line through South Woodham Ferrers and Burnham on Crouch. Rochford is on the Liverpool Street line to Southend, whose other rail service runs close to the Thames from Fenchurch Street to Shoeburyness. To check rail times I usually start with the National Rail site.

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Site created by Peter Aylmer of London

page created 21 March 2008