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 …
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 walk had so much promise; Jack’s first outing on a beach, fish & chips, WWII defences, eroding headland, fossils, a harbour, and The Naze nature reserve. While we don’t recommend this exact route, there’s still plenty to see around the headland, just make sure you time your trip to co-incidence with low tide for maximum benefit. This particular route had a few eyesores but the main drag for us was the circa. 3 miles of endless, overgrown sea wall next to the reserve; it was just too relentless and monotonous in the summer heat.