Tag Archives: walker

156a Burnham-on-sea to Brean

The waves look as if they are made from frothy chocolate. On the brown sands I meet Beagle hounds, airplane flyers, and a solitary kite surfer. Continue reading

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127b Mawgan Porth to Porthcothan

And then I am walking above an area whose features read like poetry on my map: Whitestone Cove, Pendarvas Point, Redcove Island, Bedruthan Steps, Queen Bee’s Rock, Diggory’s Island, Pentire Steps.
But it’s not just the names that are beautiful. Continue reading

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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.
Continue reading

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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

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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

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27. Rochford to Great Wakering

My husband joins me and we discover a minature railway and enjoy a grand view of Barling Tip. I acquire – and lose – a walking stick, get sprayed by stinking marsh water and nearly step on a “snake”. Continue reading

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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

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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 ….

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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

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