Tag Archives: walking

Stage 33. Allhallows-on-Sea to Hoo St Werburgh

Mud has reached past my laces to the tops of my boots. With each step, I feel my boots being tugged downwards. I am in danger of sinking to my knees – or ending up barefoot. Eventually, with considerable frustration and a heavy heart, I admit defeat.
Continue reading

Posted in 05 Kent | Tagged , , , | 10 Comments

Stage 32. Egypt’s Bay to Allhallows-on-Sea

I have lost the path. I struggle through brambles and long grass, then across boggy marshland intersected by water filled ditches. As I jump across a ditch, landing on a bed of flattened grass and reeds, something long and thick slithers away from close to my left foot. It is a snake.

Continue reading

Posted in 05 Kent | Tagged , , , , | 24 Comments

Stage 31. Gravesend to Egypt Bay

During this walk of Great Expectations, I pass through Dicken’s wet and marshy countryside, encounter two old forts, a sunken schooner, the launch site of an ancient torpedo and stumble through the marshlands of the Hoo Peninsula. Continue reading

Posted in 05 Kent | Tagged , , , , | 13 Comments

30 (cont): Tilbury to Gravesend

The light is fading. In my walking boots, and with my rucksack and poles, I stick out like a sore thumb. I do not belong in this area …..
Continue reading

Posted in 05 Kent | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

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

Posted in 04 Essex | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

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

Posted in 04 Essex | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

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

Posted in 04 Essex | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 18 Comments

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

Posted in 04 Essex | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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 ….
Continue reading

Posted in 04 Essex | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

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

Posted in 04 Essex | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 20 Comments