This North Essex walk is one for the nature lovers, taking in four nature reserves. The walk can (and should!) be extended by rambling along the trails within these reserves before re-joining the main route. There’s a variety of terrain; farmland, woodland, meadows, and River Stour estuary and salt marsh. It’s an undulating walk with …
Month: August 2020
The quiet, flat 12 mile route offers both farmland and coastal terrain. At roughly halfway you reach the main points of interest; Bradwell Shell Bank and Chapel of St. Peter on the Wall. There are other elements preventing this route feeling like too much a trek; three pubs, Church of St. Nicholas, Bradwell Waterside Marina, Bradwell Power Station, and of course, the coastal views. The seawall section is easy to follow, but over-zealous sowing and poor signage makes some of the inland route hard to follow, even with a map.
Although a long walk, this flat and peaceful route is easy going. It starts in North Fambridge, ending in Burnham-on-Crouch, with a train journey and short walk back to the start. Most of the walk is an easy to follow 9 miles of seawall along the River Crouch on the Salt Marsh Coast Trail. This is not as repetitive as it might sound. There is plenty of wildlife and as the river approaches the sea it becomes livelier and the surrounding scenery changes.
This well-trodden route offers plenty of coastal views and wildlife to enjoy while being easily accessible by rail and therefore never too far from civilisation. The bustling Thames Estuary is home to marine wildlife, fishing fleets and container ships. As is to be expected then, the walk has numerous examples of urban and wild coexisting. The walking route is busy and suffers from graffiti and litter in places but there’s an abundance of wildlife to make up for it; we were lucky enough to spot an adder!