Ruth Livingstone
My book: Walking the English Coast
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Winfield’s Award
Killer Cows: Cattle Safety
A terrifying experience that could have been a lot worse
Incident number: 1213 Response ID: 317,470,880 Date of incident: 26.10.25 Location: Footpath near the town of Eye in Suffolk, a few fields away from the playing field/par Status: Two people with dog on lead on PROW Holly’s story “Footpath we were following passed through a field with cows in. My husband went in first on […]
A close shave in Shotley Suffolk
Incident number: 1212 Response ID: 317,461,846 Date of incident: 26.10.25 Location: Between end of Wades Lane and River Orwell at Shotley, Suffolk Status: Two people without dog on PROW Dee’s story “Cows circled us, one with horns butted my husband several times. We tried to stay next to the hedge. The cow wouldn’t leave us […]
Leaping over a stile to escape cattle on Oxfordshire
Incident number: 1209 Response ID: 317,262,717 Date of incident: 15.10.25 Location: Between East Hagbourne and Blewbury in Oxfordshire (What 3 words ///gala.flopped.charities) Status: Lone walker with dog on lead on PROW Helen’s story “I needed to cross the field to get home… no close alternative route. I walked with the dog on the lead on […]
Category Archives: 04 Essex
30. Fobbing to Tilbury
“Or, if you walk into the village, you may be able to catch a bus.”
“I am not allowed to travel by bus,” I tell him.
If he thinks this is a little odd, he is too polite to say so.
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29. Southend to Basildon to Fobbing
I hesitate outside the dark mouth of the gloomy alleyway. For the first time on my whole journey, I feel very uneasy. I am not concerned about tides, or mud, or even snakes. It is the thought of ….. Continue reading
28. Great Wakering to Southend to Leigh-on-Sea
Southend is full of sunlight but I am surrounded by warning signs. I am forbidden from walking along the beach – first by Ministry of Defence warning signs and later by an oil spill. I scratch my insect bites and have some close encounters with blackberry bushes, before becoming trapped in deep, dark stairwell …. Continue reading
26. Burnham on Crouch to Rochford
I am planning to make good progress over the next few days. Who knows, I might even manage to leave Essex. With 350 miles of coastline, Essex has the longest coastline in England. I was not aware of this fact before I encountered its miles of estuaries ….
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25. Tillingham Marshes to Burnham on Crouch
The Dengie peninsula is flat, marshy and has a coastal walk 17 miles in length. I suffer my first serious bout of boredom …. then I see a mirage, a strangely decorated gate and discover an enormous mushroom. Continue reading
24. Bradwell to Tillingham Marshes
Around the Dengie Peninsula, there is a coastal path stretching from Bradwell Power Station to Burnham on Crouch; seventeen miles of coastal footpath, with no villages, no towns and no marinas; along which the only building of any significance is St Peter’s Chapel. A powerful atmosphere fills the place ….
23. Maylandsea to Bradwell
The wind is wild and the sea stormy. I meet a venemous, slithery thing. And I grow angry at people who obstruct my right to walk along the sea wall. Continue reading
22. Maldon to Maylandsea
Here is Byrhtnoth, the Earldorman of Essex, bold and fierce, looking out to sea. I see Bradwell Power Station ahead of me and realise am making little progress. I worry about snakes and twisted ankles …. then my phone dies. Continue reading
21. Tollesbury to Maldon
This walk starts under wide, empty skies and follows a meandering, sea bank. What is the story behind the lonely bench in this isolated spot? Later, I meet a semi-naked man, friendly sheep and excited children on bicycles.
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Ruth's Coastal Walk (UK) 