Around Britain

Off again to the peninsula between the Rivers Crouch and Blackwater. A day return took me to Burnham on Crouch. When I changed trains at Wickford there was a heavy shower. The rain hurled itself on the platform so furiously that it sprayed people on seats beneath the station roof. Everyone got up and stood with their backs to the wall keeping as far away from the downpour as possible. It made me hesitate as my route would take me far out into the countryside where there would be no shelter. The storm abated and I decided to continue with my journey.

I headed north from the station and turned right at the church. When a bridge crossed over the railway, I left behind me the last contour line for several miles. The road skirted Dengie Marshes. It passed Bammer Wick, Twizzlefoot Bridge, West Wick and East Wick. The Vikings were here. Hawthorn bushes in full bloom lined the roadway. There was a short avenue of Horse Chestnuts and the occasional May tree. The wind bent the crops. The moving blades caught the sun and shimmered white in a green sea.

I turned north at Coney Hall. Behind me there were rain clouds which the wind was driving my way. From these clouds to the ground the rain formed a grey curtain. A small dog ran barking down the drive of a large house and out into the road. I picked up a stick and ran at it playfully but it had no sense of fun. The wind and rain hit me simultaneously. My hands turned cold and I struggled into my waterproof.

When the road turned left to Middle Wick I found it blocked by a steel barrier. It looked like a minor public road on the map but I decided to take a footpath over the marshes instead. At Asheldham Brook there was a footbridge but, on the other side, the path had completely disappeared under a field of crops. I turned right on an embankment that followed the brook to the road. At the next junction I turned left on the Southminster road. This passed a small cemetery and then a beautiful old house at a crossroads near Landwick Farm. Dengie had its own church, St James's, but the village itself didn't seem to exist. I could only see a few scattered houses.

I now approached a chimney belching white smoke. I had spotted it almost at the start of my walk and assumed then that it was the Power Station near Bradwell. In fact it was in Asheldham but I couldn't find out what it was. It was part of a group of buildings with the sign up “Dengie Crops Ltd”. There were a number of lorries and more signs indicating there was a public weighbridge at the site.

Soon after I reached the B1021 and turned to Southminster, the unpretentious town accommodating the terminus of the Crouch Valley Line. A train awaited and set off a couple of minutes after I sat down. This section had taken me 3 hrs 45 mins.

I caught the 10.33 from Liverpool Street. At Southminster I headed north out of the town. After about 15 minutes I climbed over a gate into a field and changed into my running gear. I had calculated that I would do 20 miles today so I had to run to get back to the station at a reasonable hour. Mostly I jogged and ran alternately.

I left the B1021 at Asheldham and turned left at a manor house to pass through Dengie which was no more than a couple of houses. Later I rejoined the B1021 and soon entered Tillingham. This had a number of weather-board houses and an evangelical church hall for the “peculiar people”. There was a small green at the centre next to the Fox and Hounds. This had a picture of a fox in a ditch watching the hounds go by as he had apparently outwitted them.

The sign post now directed me towards the marshes. The Bradwell Marshes were shown on the map. The road took me through a cluster of buildings called “Dots & Melons” on the map but there was no clue why this should be. It didn't seem to be a place name. About now I joined St Peter's Way – a long distance foot path. I reached the sea defence wall by way of Weatherwick and Sandbeach. These were farm buildings, the first of which had been abandoned. I jogged along a track on the landward side of the embankment. After a while I climbed up to have a look at the sea. It was separated from me by a wide expanse of salt water marsh but I picked out the breakers in the distance.

Ahead I could see St Peter's Chapel, a simple stone building with a red tiled roof. As I came near to it I passed through a Nature Reserve. There was a telescope on a tripod but no one was about. On the side of a hut there was a list of the type and number of birds that had been seen over a period of a few days. I entered the Chapel. I found out that it had been built by St Ceda in 654 AD. He had constructed it on the foundations of the main gateway into Othona Roman Fort. This was one of the six Forts built in the third century to watch out for Saxons. It had a good view of the entrance to the estuary of the River Blackwater. Two thirds of the site of the fort was now covered by the sea at high tide. I didn't see any evidence of the fort's existence but I had little time to look around. This was a wonderful place. Apparently there is a pilgrimage to the Chapel on the first Saturday of July every year and as many as 2000 people take part. There's an open-air service, a picnic and some entertainment for the crowd.

I left the Chapel by the path which took me to Bradwell-on-Sea. I had decided not to visit Bradwell Waterside and the Power Station as it was a dead end. I turned off the B1021 to pass by Bradwell Hall and turned off the road towards the spire of St Lawrence Church. The nearby Water Tower was almost as prominent a feature as the church. A back road took me south until I reached a bridle way passing through a Nature Reserve. I then rejoined the B1021 to regain Southminster where I caught the 1720 train. The station was all locked up although a sign to a café had led me round to the back of the station. That was also locked up so the café venture must have failed.

The weather was as fine as it could have been so far into Autumn. The clouds never threatened and the sun broke through every so often to bathe me in light and cast a strong shadow. It didn't really warm me as it would have done a month ago.

I was out 5 hours 7 mins today.

Deterred by dark evenings, it is nearly five months since I last made progress round Britain. A day return took me once more to Southminster. I headed due north via Sheepcotes on a lane which became a track. Again I passed through the nature reserve near Asheldham Grange. Ahead I could see the massive water tower near the church of St Lawrence. St Lawrence itself consisted of little more than these two buildings. I headed across a field along a right of way indicated by an old sign encrusted with lichen. Although not much over 30 metres up at this point I had a distant view across fields of St Lawrence Bay and Blackwater River beyond. I descended to the road and reached the substantial Public House on the front at St Lawrence Bay. I learnt that the population was 2000 in summer but only 600-700 in winter. Boats were hauled up to the top of the beach and many of the houses looked empty. A small bus emblazoned with the words Village Link drew up empty and soon left with no passengers.

The sea wall had a hard top indicating frequent use at least in summer. I followed this up river and saw no one except a couple sitting on the beach. The man waved and then looked out across the water with his binoculars. I reached a private boat club at Stansgate and headed south along a rough road which improved after I passed an imposing building called Steeple Wick.

At Steeple the Village shop was closed permanently but another had opened near the church. This had a stubby four-sided steeple. I followed the road until Mayland, a bigger place next to Maylandsea, and then turned south. To avoid the roads I took a path across fields and soon arrived at Althorne. The railway station was some way from the town and at a much lower level down towards the River Crouch. There were dozens of cars parked there no doubt belonging to commuters. Before long the 1611 came in and bore me back to London.

I was out 3 hours 58 minutes and covered 15.5 miles. It was a superb day. Not a puff of wind and the sun almost had warmth. The trees remain leafless and the grassy banks at the side of the road without flowers. In Althorne a man was mowing his lawn. Surely that wasn't necessary.

I bought a Day Return from Liverpool Street to Althorne at 1.47 pm but missed the connection at Shenfield. This made me hesitate. My target today was Maldon and there was no station so transport on from there was uncertain and I would arrive at Maldon quite late. Nevertheless I felt I couldn't turn back. I alighted at Althorne at 3.47 pm and set off at once.

I was soon on a footpath heading north. I passed by buildings not on my map and a golf driving range. A portly Alsatian espied me and advanced barking. I considered leaving the path to avoid the dog but there was no clear way of doing this. As I got close the dog started to go past so that he could get round behind me. I turned suddenly and stared at the animal as I was nervous about getting bitten again. At this the dog panicked and ran off in alarm. He didn't seem to be a very formidable specimen of his breed. The path crossed the odd road and then took me past Lawling Hall near Maylandsea. Near the end of Lawling Creek I entered a blank white area on the map, no contour lines, streams or other markings of any kind. The flatness and lack of feature made it difficult for me to fix on an objective and there was no continuous path for me to follow although St Peter's Way was shown on the fringes of the blank area. I came to Mundon Hall but I didn't know what it was for a while. There was no name outside Mundon Hall and the map indicated the site of an old church nearby but I couldn't see anything. In an adjacent field there were four llamas. I took a byroad which avoided Mundon and came to the Maldon Road. This was busy and there was no pavement until I reached a row of houses on the outskirts of Maldon.

Maldon looked as if it was made up entirely of modern housing estates. I wanted to catch a bus to any railway station as it was 6 pm already. I went to the road leading to South Woodham Ferrers hoping to catch a bus to the station there. I found a bus stop which indicated that there was a bus to Chelmsford about 10 miles away. The bus didn't come at the appointed time so I proceeded towards the centre of Maldon. It looked as if I would have to find a taxi. Maldon has, I discovered, an old centre with a church, hotels and shops. There was a bus stop for the same Chelmsford route with a telephone number to ring for enquiries. I rang and was told that the 6.37 bus was running. It duly appeared and bore me to Chelmsford Station. I bought a ticket to Shenfield where my original ticket became valid.

I was out 2 hrs 33 mins today.

Took train from Liverpool Street to Chelmsford. At Chelmsford Bus Station I took the 31X bus to Maldon and alighted at All Saints Church which had a triangulated spire. The battle of Maldon (991) was fought to the south east of the town by what is now South House Farm close to what appears to be a causeway providing access to Northey Island in the River Blackwater estuary. At 1446 I started out along the main street and soon descended Market Hill. It was an absurdly late start for a long stage. There was every chance that I would have to stay in a B&B if I did not make it to Colchester in time to travel on to Woodbridge. This was the first day on this exercise when I set out knowing that I would not return to Westminster that night.

Market Hill had old houses on either side as befitted a town which received its charter in 1171. I crossed River Chelmer and then River Blackwater to reach Heybridge. Maldon is a large town not to have a railway station. It did once have one as evidenced by the dismantled railway shown on the map connecting Maldon to the station at Witham, 3 to 4 miles away to the north west. There is a further dismantled railway south of the town leading to South Woodham Ferrers connecting up to the London/Southminster line.

I left the B1026 at its junction with the B1022 and left that soon after by turning right onto a minor road to Tolleshunt Major. I passed through an area of small lakes used by fishing clubs and glimpsed Great Totham to the north west. Later I came to Tolleshunt D'Arcy. To avoid the B1023 I took a track which passed near Gorwell Hall. This was not marked as a public right of way. I ignored a small dilapidated no entry sign which I might well not have seen. The track took me to Tollesbury (9 miles from the start). This was the furthest I could go on this peninsula if I ignored the embankment along the shoreline out to Shinglehead Point. I didn't have time to do that as I still had a long way to go. It was, however, slightly unsatisfactory that on this long stretch of my journey around Britain I did not glimpse the sea once, or even a river estuary, and that I didn't even enter Tollesbury but turned away from that town even as I reached its fringes.

I now took the road leading north west from Tollesbury towards Colchester, my ultimate destination. Surely that town is far inland. True, but my path is blocked by River Colne. At Wivenhoe this river is very narrow but the map told me there was no bridge over it until Hythe in Colchester itself. I found it hard to believe that two quite well populated areas on either side of the river should so lamely accept this inconvenient separation.

Soon I came to a minor road bearing the name “Colchester Road”. This was encouraging but it still looked a long way on the map. The first place I came to was Silcott-cum Virley. The main part of the village was away from the road at the head of Silcott Creek which gave access, via Silcott Channel, to the River Blackwater estuary.

After walking along the narrow and busy B1026 for a while, I escaped onto a minor road passing through Great Wigborough. This was not great at all but might have seemed so to Little Wigborough which followed it. I did not notice it at all as I passed through. Later came Peldon and Abberton as the road passed between a reservoir and Mersea Island to the south east. At Abberton I could have taken the quick route to Colchester along B1025 but instead I went across country to Fingrinhoe not far from River Colne. There I turned north west to Rowhedge and was soon in Colchester. Military Road with pubs called British Grenadier and Royal Mortar demonstrated its army connection. I reached Colchester Town station and was disappointed to find that the station I wanted (North Station) was still a long way off. It was about 9 pm and the town was busy. Scantily clad women were in profusion. One such coarsely indicated approval of me to her companion but she was probably just mocking me in a harmless way. The area was awash with pubs, restaurants and night clubs.

I caught a train to Ipswich at 2122 and then a bus to Martlesham where Polly met me. I was out for 6 hrs 33 mins and did 25.25 miles at 3.85 mph.

I caught an Anglia train from Liverpool Street to Colchester. I started walking at 1355.

Last time I was driven far inland by the River Colne which is unbridged until Colchester. I walked along the A133 before turning off towards The Hythe and finding a footpath alongside the river. I passed the University of Essex and then walked between the river and the railway. For a while there were wharves on the opposite bank adapted for various commercial uses. That ended and I was in countryside until I reached Wivenhoe. There was much building activity here and on the other side of the river. I walked past the station, and then, on the other side, over a disused railway which had once served Brightlingsea.

Brightlingsea presented a problem. It is a fair sized place on the River Colne 75% surrounded by water. It has no station and I had no information on bus services. If I went there I would have no time to reach Clacton-on-Sea. I decided to give Brightlingsea a miss. Strictly I should have gone there but it was not practicable.

At Alresford I joined the B1027 which would take me all the way to Clacton. It was tedious as the road only made provision for pedestrians where there were dwellings nearby. The road was busy and I had to concentrate on traffic dodging. My route took me through Thorrington, Hollybush Hill and St Osyth. At intervals I sniffed the smell of death on the roadside. There were rabbit warrens in some of the banks close to the road. I saw many corpses which looked like road kills. Later I wondered about this as a rabbit allowed me to walk right up to it without doing much to get away. It seemed to be ill and I noticed a swelling around its eyes.

At last I reached the outskirts of Clacton. I steered a course through poor housing to the station. I knew trains were one an hour but I didn't know when. At 1840 I reached the station and saw a train waiting. The locked doors were opened by a station hand. She said I was lucky to catch it as it had been due to leave at 1832. My luck held as no one asked me to buy a ticket between Clacton and Colchester. There I had to change from Great Eastern and wait for an Anglian train as my ticket was limited.

I had a strange sensation on the train from Clacton. There was an electronic information screen in the train suspended from the ceiling of the carriage. It gave details of the stations at which we would call on a moving line of script. It also supplied other information about safety measures and the need to take one's personal belongings when one left the train. There were loud speakers in the carriage over which someone, I assumed the driver, would supply similar information. I thought the voice was very clear and deliberate. After a while I noticed that the picture on the screen and the voice were almost, but not quite, synchronised. Information was imparted by both media at about the same time although it was not simultaneous and the wording was not identical. I realised that this could not be our driver but was a recorded voice. I found it slightly sinister. The feeling that one had human contact with the driver was an illusion.

At Colchester I waited for the London train. A station hand advised me to board the Boat Train from Harwich although, strictly speaking, it only stopped at Colchester to allow people to alight The train duly stopped but the doors didn't open for a while. When they did I boarded and travelled all the way to London without any stops.

I was out 4 hrs 45 mins today.