Walking the Essex Coast - Leigh to Shoeburyness

Between Leigh Station and the MOD site at Shoeburyness lies seven and half miles of unbroken access to the coast, with Southend-on-Sea, the largest town in Essex, right in the middle. As a family, the Cobbs preferred to spend the day on the beach at Chalkwall or Westcliff and then walk into Southend at the end of the day. I always hoped we would go to the Kursaal, but in the Sixties it was a den of inequity (according to my parents), so we ended up at Peter Pan’s Playground instead (now morphed into Never Never Land). Southend is the only known place where I’ve eaten a boiled egg (1959) and the Cobbs still enjoy a day out there once in a while but without the walking.

I decided to start in Shoeburyness as I'd never been there before. I nearly never left the station as I got locked in the ladies toilets by an over-zealous cleaner. It was a very fine morning, warm sun, a soft breeze and for once I felt a bit overdressed. Shoeburyness is a military town of long standing. There was a fine Royal Artillery Garrison, complete with chapel, school, hospital, a wonderful horseshoe shaped parade ground, barrack rooms and fine buildings for the Officers. Their purpose was to guard the mouth of the Thames. The Garrison closed in 1976 and is now a bijou housing development, a mixture of renovated military buildings and new build. The Chapel is the developer’s HQ. Sign of the times.

The MOD still have a strong presence in Shoeburyness with firing ranges along the coast. About a mile of coastline at Pig’s Bay is completely inaccessible. I started my walk from the East beach of Shoeburyness, home to the Thames boom, a WW2 defensive installation that almost as long as Southend Pier. There were plenty of other gun emplacements and blockhouses along this stretch of the coast. East Beach is very pleasant, a large strip of grass next to a sand and shingle beach. It was extremely popular with dog walkers but people were less friendly here than on other parts of the coastal walk. Not a friendly place for van owners either! (Another bloody height restriction)

Walking around Shoebury Ness (headland) was the most enjoyable part of the day, the sun was warm, no traffic noise, waves lapping at the sea wall and no view of Southend. East Beach is separated from Shoebury Common by the Garrison site and old firing ranges. The ranges have become Gunners Park and a nature reserve, and a cycle path follows alongside the sea wall. It must be some sort of concessionary route as the way out was firmly barred at Shoebury common and I had climb over the sea wall and walk around the fence. This part of the coast is very good for sea birds and I was treated to marvellous flying display from a flock of small plump birds believed to be Knots. The flock changed colour from grey to white as they changed direction.

After Shoebury Common the coast and the A13 are very close together all the way to Southend. There were plenty of hardy souls out walking or getting their beach huts ready for the glorious summer we are all surely going to enjoy. As I reached the town centre the lovely weather faded somewhat, but not enough to frighten off the punters from seaside delights of Essex’s premier seaside resort.

Southend Pier, the most famous thing about Southend, is over a mile long, so I decided to take the train. I emerged from the ten minute ride to find the end of pier in a squall. Everyone had taken shelter from the wind and rain in the café so there was no room for me. The sun deck was empty and views were hazy to say the least. I walked back along the pier and as I neared the land the weather improved, the sun coming out as I returned to shore.

The next part of the walk was along the cliffs to Westcliff. The cliffs are about a hundred feet high so the views over the Thames estuary are impressive if visibility is good. Clifftown is rather genteel, not a word normally associated with Southend, all white brick, large windows and wrought iron verandas. Clifftown is a Victorian era development with an obligatory statue of said Queen pointing in a rather rude manner. The Royal Terrace is Georgian, the Royal in question being Princess Caroline, the wife of the Prince Regent, a woman with a very bad reputation, who would probably feel quite at home if she visited Southend today.

The cliffs were also laid out with pleasure gardens, dating back to Georgian times and have recently been renovated courtesy of the Lottery. Prittlewell Square is a fine example of a Victorian public space with a wrought iron gateway and pond. The Cliff Lift, a funicular railway linking the cliff top with the beach, has also been restored to its former Victorian glory but wasn't open. I seem to remember that they looked quite pretty at night with fairy lights.

On reaching the Cliffs Pavillion, which does not feature in Pevsner, I returned to the seafront. I paused for a Rossi’s ice cream, another Southend speciality and continued along past the beaches of Westcliff and Chalkwall. The tide was out by now and a few people were out digging bait or walking the dog, and one very hardy couple were having a paddle!

At Chalkwall Station the railway runs right next to the coast as the cliffs are quite close to the river at this point. The nature of the river and coast also changes being more industrial, with fishing boats aplenty. The large military vessel easily spotted from the train is the Wilton, a former minesweeper and now a club for yachting types. Wilton was a bit of a bargain for them as she is made of plastic and won't rust.

The London, Tilbury & Southend railway opened in 1854 and completely split the village of Leigh from it parish church on the hill. This has helped old Leigh retain its village atmosphere, with a cobbled main street and clapperboard buildings. The Old Smithy has been restored into a heritage centre and museum. Fish is still caught and sold by Leigh fisherman from the booths and shacks that line the road back to the station. The train ride back took an hour to cover the ground it has taken me three months to cover on foot. This walk marks the end of the ‘easy’ bit of the Essex coast, the Thames estuary.

To see more pictures of Southend and the rest of the Thames estuary coastline click here.