More Ambler than Rambler...

The Saffron Trail - Parts 3 and 4

2012-01-08T02:34:00.000-08:00

From Battlesbridge the Saffron Trail heads north over rolling countryside to Danbury and then west to Chelmsford, the county town. Section 4 starts in the centre of the city following the river Can west through parkland and then north along the route of the Centenery Circle, finishing in the pretty village of Great Waltham. Due to the length of the route and the shortness of the days in December, I covered the distance over three days.

I set off from Battlesbridge on a glorious winter day, clear blue skies and a biting polar wind bundled up in four layers of clothing. I soon warmed up as the Trail went up and down over several small hills. The ground was frozen and the stiles were slippery adding a frisson of danger to the expedition, at one point I nearly skidded off a plank bridge. The first four miles are across open countryside along field edges with some wide open vistas. The route passes through a deserted churchyard just south of East Hanningfield. The old church burnt down in 1883 and was rebuilt in the village rather than on the old site.

After a brief stop at the new church, I continued on to Danbury, a large Essex village on a hill (367ft/112m), said to be the highest point (at that latitude) west of the Urals. Danbury has a fine church with a tall spire (unusual in Essex) which you can spot from the A12. There is a panoramic view from the war memorial, mostly of Chelmsford unfortunately. Danbury is an excellent place to go walking as it is surrounded by accessible land. The Saffron Trail goes over part of the Common, now owned by the National Trust. Nearby is Danbury Country Park where I left Archie on the second day of the walk. Set within the grounds of Danbury Palace, there are ponds, woods and meadows, a good place for a picnic.

I returned to Danbury on Christmas Eve with the hope of getting to Chelmsford inside 2½ hours, arriving as dawn was breaking. However a combination of a head cold, the cold weather and getting lost in the country park meant I didn’t get quite as far as I intended. The trail heads north from Danbury down a really steep path to Lingwood Common, also owned by the National Trust. It then passes through a beautiful meadow in the grounds of Riffhams, a Grade II listed building. I spotted a bunch of cross country enthusiasts disappearing into the distance. The Saffron Trail shares part of its route with the Admiral McHardy Way, named after the founder of the Essex Police Force.

The last couple of miles west into Chelmsford are along Grace’s Walk, a dead straight bridleway and then along the banks of the river Chelmer, which were rather muddy. The river was canalised in the eighteenth century and linked Chelmsford with the open sea via Chelmer and Blackwater navigation. Back in the 1980’s I organised a trip along the river for my library colleagues from Paper Mill Lock. You pass three different locks on the Saffron Trail and I spotted several narrow boats at moorings. The only river traffic apart from ducks were canoeists from a local club.

I abandoned the Trail at Barnes Mill Lock and headed back to Maldon by bus. I returned on another cold day, enlivened by some blue sky and the occasional ray of sun. The idea was to quickly finish off section three and then continue onto Great Waltham. However fate played a different hand. The usually exemplary instructions were a little ambiguous and I ended up walking a mile along the river Chelmer rather than the river Can. I discovered that Chelmsford has some very pleasant waterfront areas. Amazingly I don’t think I ever been to town centre before. Chelmsford is currently applying for official city status as the Queen will create several new cities as part of the Jubilee celebrations. It does have a cathedral which I suppose is a bit of a head start.

The canoeists were out in force along the River Can and there were plenty of dog walkers, cyclists and locals out and about in Bell Meadows and Central Park. A little further west is Admirals Park and Tower Gardens where I stopped for a mid-morning rest. The Saffron Trail follows the western edge of Chelmsford north on a series of footpaths and bridleways that form part of the Centenary Ring, a 21 mile circular walk, devised to celebrate a hundred years as a borough. Nothing very exciting happened on the way to Great Waltham. I stopped at the Walnut Tree for lunch but they weren’t serving food so I ate my emergency salmon sandwich surreptitiously while enjoying the warmth and a pint of lime and soda. This time I managed to arrive in Great Waltham five minutes before the bus and headed home.

Battlesbridge to Chelmsford 14¾ miles
Route details

Chelmsford to Great Waltham 7 miles
Route details

Click here to see more photos

The Capital Ring

2011-12-11T02:49:00.000-08:00

Back in the autumn of 2009 when I was a woman of independent means I spent ten days walking around London via the Capital Ring.

The Capital Ring is one seven strategic walking routes promoted by the Mayor of London and the local authorities. The routes are well signed, with leaflets freely available from Walk London and accessible via public transport. Ideal for unemployed Londoners! The Ring is 78 miles long and encircles London within a 4-10 mile radius from Charing Cross.

So if you want to take a trip around London's highways and byways, green lanes, bridleways, footpaths, towpaths, rivers banks, docklands, parks, country parks, recreation grounds, golf courses, cemetaries and sewers, commons, estates ducal and regal, click here.

The Saffron Trail - Part 2

2011-12-11T01:09:00.000-08:00

Hockley to Battlesbridge

The next section of the Saffron Trail meanders through Hockley Woods, up over a small hill with excellent views of the Crouch estuary and turns north on farm tracks towards the riverside. The route then heads west along the sea wall towards Battlesbridge. Sadly the last half mile is along a busy pavement-less road. I have walked most of the route on a previous trip to the area on my way around the Essex coast. The weather was much more wintry than of late, but with the occasional burst of sunshine accompanied by a chilly wind. In 1838 a medicinal spring was discovered in Hockley and the pump room was built in 1842. It might not be impressive as pump rooms goes but this building must have made quite an impression when new. Sadly Hockley did not become the Bath of the East.

Navigating your way through woods is not easy when the paths are covered with leaves so you need to pay close attention to the instructions in Hockley Woods, which were spot on. There are some fine views across the Crouch estuary from the top of a little hill and I enjoyed picking out landmarks from previous walks. You reach the sea wall at the recreation ground in Hullbridge. I watched a curiously mismatched game of football where a team of very small boys took on a team of very large boys. The next couple of miles along the sea wall were rather chilly. The river was rather quiet with only a few yachts to rival the swans (Hullbridge has a lot of swans).
The end point is Battlesbridge, the antiques mecca of Essex. I climbed to the top of the old mill (not for the faint-hearted) to enjoy some splendid views in the cafe, despite the howling wind. After enjoying a tuna sandwich I strolled off to the nearby station in good time for the train home.

8.5 miles 4 hours
Route details

Click here to see more photos

The Saffron Trail - Part 1

2011-11-20T09:49:00.000-08:00

Southend on Sea to Hockley

The Saffron Trail, a route devised by Essex Ramblers, runs across the county for 72 miles from Pier Hill in Southend to St Mary's Church in Saffron Walden. I've chosen this route for my winter walking as it's closer to home than the Essex Way. I got off to a glorious start this Saturday, with sunshine from dawn to dusk. It was so warm I nearly had a Rossi's ice cream for breakfast. Setting off from Pier Hill, the Trail heads westwards along the cliff top to Westcliff (wonder how they thought up that name), then along the promenade to Old Leigh. I'd walked this way in 2010 on my way around the coast. From Leigh, the Trail heads back up the cliffs via the Belton Hills nature reserve. There are fine views up and down the Thames Estuary. Having climbed up the hill, the route went back down again and into Hadleigh Castle Country park. The castle was a favorite home of Edward III and subject of a painting by Constable. Alongside the country park is Hadleigh Farm, the site of the Olympic mountain bike course. Most people will not associate Essex with mountains, but having walked up the hill I found it quite steep. I'm looking forward seeing the event next year. I had lunch (tuna sandwich) alongside the replica iron age roundhouse and enjoyed a sunny rest stop before tackling the second half of the walk.

The route between Hadleigh and Hockley consisted of several areas of open space, Hadleigh Great Wood, Edwards Hall Park and Hockley Woods, linked by the street walking through the suburbs of Southend. On the whole it was quite pleasant walking particularly the last few miles. The Saffron Trail is not a waymarked route so you rely on the accuracy of the description to avoid getting lost. Mostly the instructions were clear and concise, however at Edwards Hall Park, they went a bit awry. I was invited to head west towards a communication mast, when in it should have been east! Also, a mast might not be visible in poor weather. On the way to Hockley there were some very fine views across the Crouch valley with wonderful Canewden church clearly visible. At the end of the walk I enjoyed an ice cream before heading off the station to miss the train home.

14 miles 6.5 hours
Route details

Click here to see more photos

Fog, mist or low cloud....

2011-11-13T03:48:00.000-08:00

White Notley to Coggeshall 6½ miles

The weather was decidedly gloomy for the next leg of the walk and increasingly misty the deeper into Essex I travelled. It was cool but not really cold when I got off the train at White Notley. Note to self: when travelling to this station be at the back of the train. I was in the front carriage and I swear it took me five minutes to walk the length of the platform to the exit. The end of the train wasn’t even visible due to the mist. This leg to Coggeshall included the usual footpaths and bridleways as well as two short stretches alongside busy roads. The John Ray Walk shares this part of the Essex Way, established to commemorate the life of a natural historian and Essex man of the seventeenth century.

By Fambridge Hall, I spotted a couple of pigs enjoying their mudbath, however one of them ruined my shot by getting up. Twenty minutes after leaving the station I found myself back there again, just in time to see the train on its way to Liverpool Street! The mist/fog/ low cloud prevented any views at all on the way to Cressing, where I stopped for some refreshment at the church. I passed the time of day with the man who had come to repair the roof. (Please sign this petition re metal theft). Near Cressing but not on the EW route are Cressing Temple Barns. The Wheat Barn,brick-built, and the Barley Barn, weather-boarded, were built by the Knights Templar in the thirteenth century. Attractions include a walled garden and a tea shop.

Next rest stop was Bradwell Church, another typical low church with a small broach spire. This one also had some medieval wall painting but was firmly locked. The route between Cressing and Bradwell was shrouded in mist and I managed to lose the Way again, just briefly by not paying close attention to waymarks. I don’t think this section is the most scenic though, passing an active gravel pit and a tip. From Bradwell , the Way follows the Blackwater valley for a couple of miles but the river was masked by trees.

Arriving at the Grange Barn in Coggeshall, I decided to call it day and catch the bus back to Braintree. Coggeshall is a village full of in interesting architecture, best saved for a brighter day. The number 70 was nearly ten minutes late and I arrived at the bus station with one minute to catch the train. I missed the train by four minutes and was marooned in Braintree for an hour. Time for a late lunch (ham sandwich, banana and orange juice from Sainsbury) before heading home. Coggeshall marks the halfway point along the Essex Way and I intend to resume the walk next spring when the days are longer.

Some Essex Way facts
Progress along the route 41 miles. Total miles walked 53.5 miles.

Click here to see more photos.

I Don't Care What The Weatherman Says....

2011-11-13T01:47:00.000-08:00

Great Waltham to White Notley 11 miles

Despite a dire weather forecast I set off at dawn to return to Great Waltham for the longest leg yet, to White Notley. Fortunately my magic umbrella managed to repel the predicted heavy rain. I got off the bus in GW to be greeted with blue skies and weak sunshine, another perfect day for walking. The village has some interesting architecture including this lovely old Tudor house.

The first part of the walk was through the grounds of Langleys, a grade 1 listed pile of the Queen Anne period. There was a pet cemetery at the end of the drive and an ornamental bridge over a water feature. Once out of the grounds, the Essex Way heads north and then east through several hamlets and villages on a variety of footpaths, bridleways and quiet lanes, with thankfully, only one muddy field to cross.

The first rest stop was at the church in Little Leighs, where I had to take refuge in the porch from the light rain. I spotted a pheasant showing off in the churchyard. I mislaid the Essex Way for a bit while crossing over the A131, not helped by the fact that new road wasn’t marked on my old map. However whilest off route, I did spot this strange sculpture from the bridge, variously described as orange ladybirds or giant beetles. It could be a bit off-putting if you catch sight of them while driving towards Braintree.

Following the valley of the River Ter, I had to deal with ten stiles in a mile and half stretch through various fields and pastures inhabited by horses, individually and in herds. After all that climbing, I was ready for another sit down at Great Leighs church. This church has a lovely Norman round tower on which some Victorian ‘improver’ has stuck a wooden spire. It looks like a witch's hat. Round tower churches are found only in East Anglia and this is one of only six in Essex. Round tower churches have their own society!

I passed the only pub on route a little before opening time but was deterred from waiting by a stern muddy boot warning. So instead I had a rather meagre snack (fruit, dried fruit and a Tracker bar) at the bus stop at Flack’s Green, Terling. Terling has one of the few smock windmills in Essex but I managed to miss it. The ford through the mighty river Ter was quite pretty. The weather started to change in the afternoon, clouds thickened up and it grew cooler and darker.

Last rest stop of the day was Fairstead church, which contains Roman brickwork and a little broach spire so typical of Essex churches. It also has some very old wall paintings, but I didn’t venture inside as my boots were rather muddy. The last couple of miles were completed at a goodly lick to ensure I didn’t miss the hourly train at White Notley. The effort was wasted as the train was delayed (by a car striking a bridge). Despite dire warning and leaden skies, I managed to get six hours of walking without getting wet. That magic umbrella really does work.

Some Essex Way facts

Progress along the route 34.6miles. Total miles walked 47.5 miles.
14 stiles on this leg

Click here to see more photos.

Doe A Deer, A Female Deer.....

2011-10-30T13:42:00.000-07:00

Pepper's Green to Great Waltham 8½ miles

The fourth leg of the Essex Way took me in arc north west of Chelmsford from Pepper's Green to Great Waltham. The weather was once again fine and sunny but the scenery much more autumnal than last week. I had to persuade a rather sceptical bus driver that the 59 to Harlow really did stop where I said it did. As you can see there's not a lot there. Of Salt's Green on the opposite side of the A1060 there was no sign. Most of the day was spent on bridleways, byways and grassy footpaths with just one muddy field to cross.

Spotting this deer was the highlight of the day. Deer must have very good hearing as Bambi took off when I pressed the focus button. I think it's a fallow deer but I'm not sure. It was a good day for wildlife as I also spotted a fox later in the day. The day's route took in three villages, Good Easter, Pleshey and Great Waltham. They have an unusual firework night in Good Easter, you bring your own fireworks. I hope no one invites Mario Balotelli. However it's a village without a pub, so I pressed on to Pleshey.

On the way to Pleshey I passed the twenty mile mark, which is a quarter of the way along. Pleshey was once a very important place in Essex. The motte and bailey castle was home to various Earls of Essex before passing to Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester. He got bumped of by Richard II and the castle fell into decay. Next time you watch Shakespeare's Richard II listen out for the name check in Act 1, Scene II. The whole village is still enclosed by the earthworks and ditches. What is left of the castle is privately owned but there is a lovely little park by the moat for everyone to enjoy.

Lunch was taken at the Leather Bottle, (tuna bagette and orange juice and lemonade, £6.49). Pleshey has two pubs and a big Victorian church with a rather cute turret. There are plenty of footpaths so it's not a bad place to visit. It's only a couple of miles to the bus stop in Great Waltham following the course of Walthambury brook. The bus was on time, I saw it whizz along the main road when I still had about 300 metres to go. Sadly the next one was late but there was a seat in the bus stop. I've now gone a quarter of the distance in cloudless conditions. Brilliant!.

Some Essex Way facts

Progress along the route 24 miles. Total miles walked 33.5 miles.

Click here to see more photos.

A Wander from Ongar

2011-10-23T02:08:00.000-07:00

Ongar to Pepper's Green 8 miles

Taking advantage of the fantastic October weather, I travelled a further eight miles along the Essex way from Ongar to the hamlet of Pepper's Green via Willingale, split into two circular walks. The route was again very green with only a few roads to cross. For two miles north of Ongar, the Essex Way followed the River Roding, which flows into the Thames at Barking Creek. There was also a long section on byways and green lanes which was rather remote; I met one careful motor cyclist, two riders and three other people in just over ninety minutes walking.

Most people remember Ongar as former end of the Central Line and it does have a museum at the old station. Something I found out through my handy Essex Way guide was the connection with the Titanic. The local Catholic priest was on his way to the United States to conduct his brother's wedding and sadly was lost after volunteering to stay on board. There is a memorial window in the tiny church just of the High Street. There are one or two interesting old buildings , a pretty church and remains of a motte and bailey castle.

The five miles to Willingale were very pleasant walking along the riverbank or across open fields. It should have been peaceful but for the noise of clay pigeon shooting in a nearby wood. The most memorable building for me was this wonderful thatched caravan. Willingale is unusual as two parish churches share the same churchyard. St Christopher's Willingale Doe, to the north, is the larger, St Andrew's Willingale Spain is the elder. St Andrews was used as a chapel for US air crew during World War 2, when there was a large airfield nearby.

I returned to Ongar via a long straight bridleway which ran across the old airfield. Apparently it was built using rubble from bombed out buildings of the East End and there are still piles of hard core lying around. The perimeter roads were also still intact and I spotted several cyclists using them. Unbelievably, this was a proposed site for London's third airport.

After Willingale is the hamlet of Shellow Bowells, my favorite Essex place name. It sound positively Dickensian. Then for three miles, it was a pleasant plod to the hamlet of Pepper's Green.

Some Essex Way Facts.
Progress along the route 15¾ miles. Total distance walked 25¼ miles.

Click here to see more photos.

The only WAY is Essex!

2011-10-16T12:54:00.000-07:00

After tramping around the coast and borders of Essex, I thought it was time to tackle the Essex Way, the premier long distance route in my beloved home county. It runs from Epping Station to Harwich in the far north east 82 miles away. I've already walked the beginning part about three times previously as long ago as 2006, accompanied by the faithful hound, Noddy, and the last part on my coastal walk in 2010. Armed with official guide, (kindly provided by Jason of the Public Rights of Way team, and from which I will plagiarise shamelessly for the blog), I set off on the first leg in a blaze of autumnal sunshine following the poppy signs.

Epping to Ongar 7½ miles

The first part of the walk involves walking downhill for about half a mile and then uphill for the next two on what is the highest part of the whole route, to Gernon Bushes, a part of Epping Forest. Once across the M11, the route follows a bridleway through the remains of Ongar Park wood and then along a ridge with fine views to the south of places very close to home, Havering Ridge and further afield to Canary Wharf. It was here on a previous walk I spotted a herd of deer. Next stop is the village of Toot Hill and the Green Man Pub where I had lunch (tuna sandwich and orange juice and lemonade, if anyone is interested).

Between Toot Hill and Greensted the views are less open, following footpaths through paddocks and past large houses, one with an annoying alarm ringing. I was dreading one section which goes through four or five paddocks in quick succession. But the stiles had been replaced by springy metal gates and the horses were absent. Just before Greensted Church, the path actually runs through the yard in front of a converted barn, but I opted to walk around.

St Andrews Church is the highlight of the day. Possibly the oldest wooden church in the world, it has a Crusader's grave by the front porch and a Leper's squint in the rear wall, from where the afflicted could observe the service and a pretty white tower and broach spire very common in south Essex. It's just a mile through the grounds of Greensted Hall and fields to the finishing point in Ongar where I'd left Archie, for a bun and a cup of tea.

My impressions of the first leg; it's a very green walk only crossing five roads (or six, if you include the M11), well signposted throughout (apparently our county flower is the poppy) and only four stiles and one very uninterested horse. However in the bright sunshine I managed to miss a sign and had to suffer the indignity of being given directions by other walkers! The paths around Epping are well used and I met a whole peleton of mountain bikers on a green lane near Stewards Green. I experienced a certain amount of walk rage after nearly getting creamed on a fairly narrow bit. No bells, very few thank-yous and an inability to share. You've been warned!

A great first day.

Click here to see more photos.

EB5 Lee Valley

2011-03-22T10:41:00.000-07:00

From Sewardstone the walk turns north and for next 40 miles or so the border is delineated by water, firstly the Lee Navigation and then the Stort Navigation. The river Lea is the traditional western border of Essex, separating us from Middlesex. The lower reaches have been lost to Greater London but that still leaves 20 miles of riverside walking to Dobbs Weir, where to Lea heads off into Hertfordshire. The Lea Valley Walk covers all 58 miles of the River Lea from Leagrave near Luton to Limehouse Basin on the Thames. The naturally flowing bit is called the Lea, the canalised bit is known as the Lee. The Lee Valley Regional Park stretches from 26 miles from Ware in Hertfordshire to the Thames. It provides watery leisure space for Londoners, nature reserves for wildlife and the home for white water canoing for the 2012 Olympics.

Waltham Abbey, as the name suggests, once had an Abbey, famous for being the last resting place of King Harold, possibly. His grave was behind the high alter, but as much of the abbey church and buildings disappeared in the Reformation, now he's marooned in the Abbey Gardens. The gardens are now a public park and there are plenty of information boards around to explain what remains of the monastery buildings. Waltham Abbey has some nice old half timbered buildings, a tiny museum with a fabulous piece of wood panelling on loan from the V & A and a rather old-fashioned tea shop where I had lunch.

The Lee Valley Park has a couple of campsites and I took advantage of the one on the Essex side of the river at Sewardstone. I rather think took advantage of me, charging £17.50 a night in the depths of November. I wasn't very impressed with the facilities; only one toilet block open; one cubicle out of action; showers that had no clothes pegs or stools. The best thing you can say about the site is that it was convenient for the walks I wanted to do. I expect they'll make a mint during the Olympics. I won't be going back.

Walk 8 This was a short circular walk from the campsite to link up with the previous walk. The weather was sunny but hazy obscuring the view from the top of Gilwell Hill across the Lee Valley and King George's Resevoir. The Scouts have an big campsite with an amazing obstacle course, somehow I managed to resist sliding down the big tubes. It would have been embarassing if I got stuck. From Sewardstone I took a footpath on the very edge of Essex back to the campsite. A muddy 2.5 miles

Walk 9 In complete constrast to the previous walk, the weather was dull, dark, dank and dismal. The route to Waltham Abbey hugged the Essex border by the Lee and crossed the Greenwich Meridian at some point. Surprisingly rural, I got to Waltham Abbey having only crossed one road. It was all a bit boggy until reaching Gunpowder Park, which is laid out with all-weather paths to encourage cyclists. This is a relatively new park, having previously been a Royal Ordnance munitions testing site, which has left some odd humps behind. The highlight for me was, obviously, Cob Hill, which I'm sure has a very nice view when it's not raining. I arrived at Waltham Abbey in time for lunch. A slightly damp 5.5 miles

Walk 10 Suitable replete, I set off for a circular walk around the Lee Valley Country Park leaving the Abbey gardens via a handy underpass. The country park has been created from old gravel pits, so is very popular with bird watchers. I'm not sure that November is the best time for a visit though. I headed towards Fishers Green via Cornmill meadows and returned along the canal towpath which fortunately, is on the Essex bank at this point. A few hardy souls were aboard moored boats but no one was taking their cruiser for a spin. I arrived back at Waltham Abbey in the gathering gloom to catch the hourly bus back to camp. Too late I realised I was at the wrong stop and made vague effort at running. To my amazement the bus driver took pity on me and picked me up. I was most effusive in my thanks. A watery 6.5 miles

Walk 11 Three months later and it's back to Fishers Green. This time I employed the services of a local guide a nature expert, Frankie. I should have listened to her as we headed off towards Nazeing as we had to retrace our steps as a promised footpath failed to materialise. We followed cycle route no 1 over Clayton Hill, in and around Nazeing and eventually rejoined the Lee towpath just south of Dobbs Weir. There was a good view from the hill over the Lee valley, if you avoid looking at Harlow. Very enjoyable 6 miles

Completed distance 80 miles

CLICK ON PICTURE TO OPEN ALBUM

EB5 Lee Valley

The Far East

2011-03-20T13:43:00.000-07:00

This month's camping trip took me to Lowestoft in Suffolk. Why, you ask? To complete the compass rose of Britain by visiting the most easterly point, Lowestoft Ness. From the campsite at Kessingland I could see the bright lights of Lowestoft and Gulliver, Britains's tallest wind tower. I was lucky enough to secure the last beach side pitch, (the campsite has only been open an hour and half!). As it was rather cold, I retired early but set the alarm so I could see the dawn rise from bedroom window. I woke up to find the van encased in ice so I had to watch the very chilly dawn from outside instead. It was a pretty sunrise and I would be one of the first people in Britain to see it.

It about six miles from the campsite to Lowestoft and I was able to walk all the way along the coast. It was an absolutely glorious day, fully twelve hours of unbroken sunshine, the winds were light but chilly. Ness Point is hidden away behind the port, off Gas Works Roads towards the north of the town. It's a rather forlorn spot, marked by Euroscope, a direction finder giving distances to the capitals of Europe. The Hague is 110 miles away and London 106 miles. It also marked the other cardinal points of Britain; south, Lizard Point, 352 miles; north, Dunnet Head, 472 miles; west, Ardnamurchan Point, 451 miles.

I was able to watch the moon rise from my sitting room, and what a fantastic site it was too. Huge and pink, it seemed to fill the sky and moonlight on the water was brilliant. Apparently it was a super moon.

CLICK ON THE PICTURE BELOW TO OPEN THE ALBUM

EB4 Epping Forest

2011-03-12T14:30:00.000-08:00

Epping Forest has been the playground of Londoners since 1878 when the Corporation of London became Conservators of Epping Forest and the general public were granted legal access for the first time. The Corporation acted to prevent greedy landowners from enclosing what remained of the Forest, (it's hard to visualise the City as champions of the comman man). Epping had been one of the many Royal Forests and covered much of Essex. The Forest was made up of a mixture of woodland and grazing, the trees provided cover for the deer and the locals grazed their cows and made off with firewood, pretty much as they do today. Epping is full of large, pollarded oaks, many centuries old. Pollarding prevented deer from eating the new growth. Sadly I didn't pass one on my walks but they are very impressive.

What remains of Epping forms a crescent shape extending from the Lower Forest just south of Harlow to Wanstead Flats, less than 6 miles from the heart of London. The main part of the Forest lies between Chingford and Epping with Loughton at the centre. Centenary Walk extends from 12 miles from Manor House to Epping, linking all the various parcels of land. It's a very enjoyable walk but comes with two particular hazards; firstly, the waymarking is poor and secondly, you have to cross some very busy roads. The highest point is Ambresbury Banks near Epping but Pole Hill, the highest point in Waltham Forest, has the best view, overlooking Central London, the Olympic Stadium, Millenium Dome and the aerials of Crystal Palace.

The undoubted jewel in the crown is the Queen Elizabeth's Hunting Lodge, just south of the Essex border at Chingford. Actually built for Henry VIII, it provided a grandstand for monarch and guests to watch and/or participate in the hunt by loosing of their arrows at the deer, a latterday shooting party. It's free to visit and open most weekends. The other popular place is High Beach, so called from the sandy nature of the soil. It's the location of the Visitor Centre, several pubs, an ice cream van and hordes of picnickers on sunny days. Sadly, the Epping Forest Festival, a celebration of all things foresty, has been discontinued due to budget cuts. Shame!!

Walk 6 took me around the border with Redbridge, from Cabin Hill in Hainault Forest to the mighty river Ching on Whitehall Plain. It started and ended in trees but otherwise, you couldn't see the forest for the houses. This is the point where the Green Belt disappears and London and Essex merge. I'm pretty sure that the entrance to Grange Hill Station is in Essex but the platforms are in Redbridge. There was a very fine view from Grange Hill east towards the QEII bridge, Tilbury power station and Havering Ridge, giving me a chance to see how far I've come.

Then followed a long road section through Chigwell to Luxborough Lane to cross the M11. Just pass the Spurs training ground was a small bit of greenery along the Roding valley before more pavement pounding to Buckhurst Hill. I stopped for a snack at a local bakers but wouldn't recommend it. The last part of the route went through Lord's Bushes, past pretty St John's pond and ended on Whitehall Plain. The bridge over the Ching marks the point were Essex, Redbridge and Waltham Forest meet. I can only assume the Ching was a much mightier river if it required a ford because you wouldn't need to be Jade Johnson to jump over it now. The weather was mild and sunny, the trees wore their autumn colours, a pleasant 10 miles.

Walk 7 was a short hop taking me through Epping Forest to the River Lea or Lee, the traditional western boundary of Essex. Starting just over the border at the Queen Elizabeth Hunting Lodge, I followed the River Ching to Connaught water and then through the Bury Wood to Sewardstonebury. There isn't much waymarking in the Forest and it's quite easy to get lost so I had to use Brimble's Guide to Epping Forest, with large scale maps, to navigate. Once across Bury Road, I followed Woodman's Ride to Yardley Hill and down the other side to Sewardstone. It was another crisp, sunny autumnal day. However this is not the place to come if you want a quiet walk. You'll meet mountains bikers, horse riders, gangs of joggers, packs of dog walkers, rabbles of ramblers, screaming kids and blokes flying model aeroplanes, to name just a few. A pleasant, if crowded, 3 miles.

60 miles completed

CLICK ON THE PICTURE BELOW TO OPEN ALBUM

London Loopy

2011-03-01T13:16:00.000-08:00

Coulsdon South Station to Banstead Downs

A short and boring section through the London Borough of Sutton, the main highlight was Oaks Park.

A Stalking Horse

To find out more (about the walk and my encounter with the horse) click here.

First Camping Trip of 2011

2011-02-20T12:13:00.000-08:00

After a break over the winter Archie and I hit the road for our first jaunt of 2011. We took a spin around the M25 to the Caravan Club site at Denham, about 10 minutes from junction 17. The site is really a glorified car park with very big spaces and clean toilets. I expected a bit of aircraft noise, being not too far from Heathrow. I hadn't bargained for helicopters landing next door at Denham Airfield in the middle of the night!

Denham is in South Buckinghamshire, the birthplace of the Paralympics, but right next door to Hertfordshire, the County of Opportunity, to do what? There are plenty of posh houses about, Cilla Black lives in Denham Green, but surprise, surprise, I didn't meet her. Denham village was once the home of Sir John Mills who lived in this very nice house.

There was plenty of footpaths about and I purchased a local guide which I promptly lost without ever reading. I managed a couple of circular walks from the site to the Grand Union Canal on Friday and Sunday but Saturday was a washout. Once the rain stopped I strolled around the adjacent nature reserve. I drove off and left the stool behind, the sixth stool I either lost or driven over!

EBW3 Epping Forest East

2010-10-26T11:55:00.000-07:00

The eastern part of Epping Forest District isn't very near Epping and there's not a lot of forest either. Just lots of small villages and one small town, Ongar, and plenty of fields. However hidden away is one of gems of Essex, St Andrews Church at Greensted. It is the only remaining log church in England, built in the reign of King Canute and nearly a thousand years old. The typically Essex tower is a much later edition but the whole church is magical, one of my favorites. My walk didn't take me past this church but the Essex Way goes right past the front door.

On the route was Stapleford Airfield which has an interesting history. Amy Johnson flew from here in the thirties; the original airline got in to financial difficulties and the new owner moved operations to Heston and the rest is history; during the war the RAF took over and the airfield was used to fly SOE agents into Europe; in 1945 a hanger was hit by a V2 rocket killing seventeen people, many of whom are buried in North Weald cemetary. In 1987 I flew from this airfield on a thirty minute flight and got to take the controls for a few minutes, scary but fun.

Walk 5 took me from Stapleford Abbots via Lambourne to Cabin Hill in Hainault Forest, where the Essex border meets the borders of Havering and Redbridge. It was a very chilly morning which blossomed into a fantastic autumn day with warm sunshine and cloudless skies. It was a very pleasant walk entirely along footpaths and bridleways, only crossing two roads on the way. The first part was gently uphill to a ridge with great views west towards London. I spotted the aerials at Crystal Palace with the bins.

The first rest stop was at St Mary's church about a mile north of Stapleford Abbotts. I was quite surprised to meet to meet the old lady who had waited at the bus stop with me. Her name was Jean and she was the church sexton (unpaid verger) and invited me in for a cup of tea. After crossing some very wet grassy fields I climbed rather nervously over a stile into a field of cows, who were even more nervous and stampeded into the distance. The footpath went along the southern boundary of the airfield but there was no actual fence, the end of the runway was about fifty metres away and the landing planes flew right over my head.

The next rest stop was at Lambourne Church, whitewashed with typical Essex broach spire, but unfortunately this church was locked. This was a shame as it has some interesting memorials; one is to a bomb disposal officer called in to deal with two unexploded bombs left by the Germans in 1940. After dealing with first one, the officer went for tea at the Hall but was killed defusing the second bomb.

From Lambourne, I followed the Three Forests Way to Hainault Forest, the only bit of forest on the walk so far. Hainault, like Epping, is a shadow of its former self, it once stretched to Leytonstone. It was rescued from developers in 1906 (thank you). The country park is in Redbridge, the golf course is in Havering and the forest is in Essex. There are some fine views of central London, the Telecom Tower and London Eye clearly visible, and St Paul's Cathedral, allegedly. A really enjoyable 6 miles.

CLICK ON THE PICTURE BELOW TO SEE MORE PICTURES

EBW2-Brentwood

2010-10-09T12:08:00.000-07:00

Brentwood, the next stop on the Great Tour of Essex (as I like to think of it) is the district to the north of Thurrock, bordering the London Borough of Havering. I used to work at Brentwood Library about twenty five years ago and I was once stopped in the street by a reader who thought she seen me on the TV, (she had). This should happen to everyone at least once in their lifetime. Brentwood and neighbouring Shenfield are dormitory towns for London-bound commuters but there are several pretty villages like Blackmore in the north of the district. Brentwood lies on a ridge of low hills that extend eastwards from Hampstead Heath on the northern edge of the Thames valley. Whilest not being exactly high, Brentwood can get quite cold in winter when the wind blows from the east and once, I got my car stuck in the entrance to the library during a snow storm.

Brentwood has two particularly fine country parks, Weald Park to the north and Thorndon to the south. Both were former country estates. Weald Park was occupied by the Army during WW2 and was subsequently demolished after the war. It has a deer park, a lake and some lovely parkland scenery. It was to have been the site of the mountain biking competition in the 2012 Olympics but the hills were not up to scratch so the competition has been moved to mountainous heights of Hadleigh Country Park (which featured in the Great Coast Walk) just outside Southend!

Thorndon Hall was the home of Lord Petre until 1919, when presumably due to straitened circumstances, he was forced to move back to his other house, Ingatestone Hall, about five miles up the road. Thorndon is larger than Weald, hillier and woodier, with some really fine views over the Thames Estuary and London. The country house survived as a golf clubhouse and now appears to luxurious appartments for the wealthy (no shortage of them around Brentwood). A large number of footpaths link up the two parts of the park and the surrounding access land so you can have a very enjoyable walk barely a few miles from the town centre.

Brentwood isn't the most touristy part of Essex, its main attractions, in additons to the fine parks, are Ingatestone Hall and the not-so-Secret Nuclear Bunker at Kelvedon Hatch. A visit to the bunker is both educational and fun, but watch out for actors pretending to be dead bodies on trollies. Being underground, there's not much to see except for this very large aerial which I sure somewhat gave the game away. Two other places of interest are Great Warley Church and Warley Place on the western outskirts of Brentwood. The church was designed in the Arts and Craft style and reckoned to be the finest example in Britain, hence its Grade 1 listing. Warley Place was the home of Miss Wilmott, a famous Edwardian gardener, and now a interesting ruin and nature reserve.

Once again I split the distance into two walks; the first walk went from West Horndon to Brentwood via Thorndon Country Park, Great Warley Church and Warley Place; the second went from Brentwood via Weald Country Park, under the M25 to Stapleford Abbotts over the border in Epping Forest District. The weather for both walks was mild, overcast with occasional sunny interval. The terrain was undulating and I reached the dizzying heights (for Essex) of 360ft/120m. The first walk was by far the most enjoyable.

Walk 3 consisted mainly of footpaths and bridleways linked by quiet country lanes, the exception being the A127 (Southend Arterial Road) that had to be crossed by 'pedestrian crossing', i.e. sprint across. Once across, I trekked up Jury Hill but low cloud and poor visibility ruined the usually suberb view. I was really lucky when another of the Church's army of volunteers turned up to clean Great Warley church while I was having a rest outside. Build and decorated in the Arts and Craft style in 1906, it is a very rare building indeed. Having revisited the Thatchers Arms for the first time since 1978, I braved the cows (who were in fact, very shy) and took a stroll around Warley Place. The best time to visit is the spring when the snowdrops and daffodils come out. I finished off with a stroll alongside the M25 which marks the Essex border for most of Brentwood, passing the home of one of Brentwood's millionaires, Barry Hearn of snooker fame. A thoroughly enjoyable 11 miles.

Walk 4 was an altogether different affair. It started out with a long climb up Wigley Bush Lane (delightful name) to South Weald Country Park but it went downhill from there, figuratively and literally. The first footpath to St Vincents Hamlet had disappeared forcing me to walk about two miles by road to the next footpath. Things improved for a bit until I had to walk for half a mile over a ploughed field to get to a tunnel beneath the M25. This tunnel proved exceedingly difficult to access so I had to fight my way through brambles, climb over a couple of fences, and lower myself down into a culvert than ran beneath the motorway. Then as the culvert got deeper and muddier I had to climb out! Things didn't improve much on the other side as I got soaked walking through long grass. Two more footpaths proved to be inaccessible so I gave up and took the road route back. More of an assault course than a walk. 9 miles

Click on the picture to open the album

EBW1-Thurrock

2010-09-29T14:14:00.000-07:00

Thurrock, where this walk starts, is best known for the Lakeside Shopping Centre, the QEII Bridge and Tilbury Docks. It had a brief moment of fame as the 'funeral' in the film 4 Weddings etc, otherwise it's mainly an extention of urban, industrial London. Not a very attractive place for either walking or visiting, you might think. Well think again! Tilbury Fort (pictured) was the place where Queen Elizabeth I made her famous speech stirring up the troops before the Spanish Armada in 1558. There are several attractive villages just a few minutes from Lakeside like Horndon-on-the-Hill and Orsett and according to Thurrock Council , there are over 100 miles of footpaths and bridleways and they have a very nice map to prove it.

To start with, there is about 20 miles of fine riverside walking along the Thames Estuary. Belhus Woods was once a deer park landscaped by Capability Brown. The country house has long since been demolished and the Long Pond was cut in half by the M25 in 1979. The country park is owned by Thurrock, run by Essex CC but most of the park is actually in Havering. Belhus is just one of several wooded areas in the west of the Borough that are part of the Thames Chase forest project.

The Mar Dyke, a tiny tributary of the Thames, flows through Thurrock, joining the big river at Purfleet. The Mardyke way is bridleway which runs for about seven miles through farmland, with excellent views of Langdon Hill to the east. At 377ft it the highest point of Thurrock, but most of the good views are from the bit that's in Basildon. So I had plenty of footpaths and countryside to work with in devising a walk from Essex border by the Thames to West Horndon in neighbouring Brentwood.

I split the distance into two walks; walk 1 from Rainham Station to Ockendon Station and walk 2 from Ockendon Station to West Horndon Station. I was blessed with some very good weather on both days. The first view of Essex was brilliant, the Queen Elizabeth II bridge bathed in sunshine with a fleet of little yachts racing up the Thames. The highlight of walk 1 was a guided tour around St Michael's Church in Aveley.There was a beautiful Flemish style painting and very old brass of Sir Ralph of Knevyynton, hidden away under a carpet and a piece of cardboard.

Walk 1 took me along the Thames from Rainham, with a brief stop for refreshments at Rainham RSPB. I aimed to link Purfleet and Aveley using footpath 145, which once was a nice country stroll but is now bisected by two railway lines, the old A13 and the new A13. Having failed to find a safe crossing over a six lane highway, I had to make my way to Aveley by road, discovering on the way that Aveley is on top of hill. From Aveley, I crossed Belhus park, getting slightly lost on the golf course, around the country park (another refreshment stop) and over the M25 to a little bit more woodland. Hidden away in Oak Wood is an icehouse and the overgrown remains of the Long Pond. Knocking down country houses and turning the estates into country parks for the masses is something of a recurring theme in Essex. Walk 1 finished at Ockendon Station and covered 13 miles.

Walk 2 should have started at Ockendon station but unfortunately I got on the wrong train and ended up at West Horndon instead. The highlight of this walk was probably me falling down the steps and landing on my backside. The route to Ockendon was almost all footpaths or bridleways. Some of it involved walking across ploughed fields, rather unpleasant after all the recent rain. One footpath seemed to end in a horse paddock forcing me to trespass through a farmyard. I actually met another walker along the Mardyke way. I had to inform him that the Harrow pub where he planned to stop for lunch had recently burned down. At the Ockendon end the footpath went along a driveway which once had avenue of limetrees. Only the stumps remained but you can see what it looked like in 2005 by clicking here.. 8 miles

So there you have it, first section completed, 21 miles walked. Take a look at the photos and you'll probably be surprised how green and pleasant Thurrock is.

Click on the picture to open the album.

Walking around Essex

2010-09-26T08:26:00.000-07:00

Where to next?

Having got a taste for long distance walking but unwilling to put too much effort into it, I decided to walk around the land borders of Essex, from Purfleet to Manningtree, like before, but in a clockwise direction. The aim will be to do linear walks using footpaths, byways and towpaths wherever possible, travelling on public transport. I'm going to try to keep within a mile off the border, on the Essex side of course.

Essex has quite a few long distance footpaths that I hope to use; London Loop, Three Forests Way, Lee Valley Walk, Stort Valley Way, Harcamlow Way, Stour Valley Path, St Edmunds Way, and the Essex Way.

Essex has land borders with Greater London, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Essex and the walk will go through eight districts, Thurrock, Brentwood, Epping Forest, Harlow, Uttlesford, Braintree, Colchester and Tendring. The border is about 150 miles and for ease of planning, I've split up the route into 18 sections. I hope to reach the sluice on the Stour sometime next summer.

Sections
1. Thurrock (bordering Havering, Greater London) 12.7 mls
2. Brentwood (bordering Havering, Greater London) 8.75 mls
3. Epping Forest A (bordering Havering, Greater London) 2.9 mls
4. Epping Forest B (bordering Redbridge, Greater London) 7.75 mls
5. Epping Forest C (bordering Waltham Forest Gtr London) 2.7 mls
6. Epping Forest D (bordering Enfield, Greater London) 2.45 mls
7. Epping Forest E (bordering Broxbourne, Hertfordshire) 7 mls
8. Epping Forest F1 (bordering East Herts, Hertfordshire) 2.4 mls
9. Harlow (bordering East Herts, Hertfordshire) 4.6 mls
10. Epping Forest F2 (bordering East Herts, Hertfordshire) 3 mls
11. Uttlesford A (bordering East Herts, Hertfordshire) 19.6 mls
12. Uttlesford B (bordering North Herts, Hertfordshire) 1.65mls
13. Uttlesford C (bordering South Cambs, Cambridgeshire) 24 mls
14. Braintree A (bordering South Cambs, Cambridgeshire) 2.76 mls
15. Braintree B (bordering St Edmundsbury, Suffolk) 16.9 mls
16. Braintree C (bordering Babergh, Suffolk) 16.5 mls
17. Colchester (bordering Babergh, Suffolk) 14.3 mls
18. Tendring (bordering Babergh Suffolk) 1.92 mls

Walked the Essex Coast!

2010-09-26T06:41:00.000-07:00

Well I did it!

455 miles, 52 days (26 in Archie), averaging 8.9 miles a day.
Six estuaries (Thames, Roach, Crouch, Blackwater, Colne and Stour), four islands (Canvey, Wallasea, Mersea and Two Tree) and one Sea (North).

I started on gloomy, mild January day at Purfleet and finished on gloomy, mild September day in Manningtree and I couldn't have done it without the help and support of Archie, C2C trains, the Essex bus timetable and my feet. I celebrated by having a superb tea at the Quay tea rooms in Mistley.

I passed through nine of the fourteen district of Essex, (Basildon, Castle Point, Chelmsford, Colchester, Maldon, Rochford, Southend-on-Sea, Tendring, Thurrock), points going to Basildon with coastline on the Thames and Crouch estuaries. Amazingly most of the 350 miles of coastline is easily accessible by footpath, the exceptions being Foulness, (owned by the MOD), a large area south of Colchester between the Blackwater and the Colne (also owned by the MOD) and the western edge of Hamford Water (chemical and explosive factory). Several parts of the Thames Estuary coastline used for landfill will be transformed into nature reserves in the near future. Particularly exciting is the news that the Essex Wildlife Trust has purchased Mucking flats.

With all that walking I had plenty of time to think. Here are some of my thoughts; there are 1.7 million people in Essex and there is a boat and static caravan for each of us; Essex is a very beautiful county; Jaywick is one of the ugliest places I ever visited; birdwatching is interesting if you take a friend with to you to identify the birds. knots put on a great flying display; National Express East Anglian timetables are not be trusted and you can go off sea wall after a while.

However this trip was not without it problems. I've lost a GPS, broke a camera, blew up the hob cover in the van and wore out a pair of boots.

The best bit about this walk was the solitude and the peacefulness of the coast, mostly the only sounds were the wind, bird calls and water lapping on the shore. Meeting the couple who were walking around Britain warns me that coast walking can become addictive and if I had a spare year and half I would definitely continue.

Was it worth? Absolutely!

Photo albums
Thames Estuary
Roach and South Crouch
North Crouch
The Dengie
Blackwater Estuary
Mersea Island
Colne Estuary
Sunshine Coach and The Stour

The Sunshine Coast

2010-09-26T05:59:00.000-07:00

The last part of the walk was along the Sunshine coast of Essex, from Sandy Point (which was stony) north to Stone Point (which was sandy). The high point of the walk was the Naze Tower and its views, particularly of the Suffolk coast, acting like a siren, tempting me to continue. The very last part of the walk was along the Stour estuary, past some very grand buildings on the other shore, ending at a sluice and the Suffolk border.

Click on the picture to open the album.

Strolling along the Colne

2010-09-22T13:44:00.000-07:00

The Colne is one of the shorter estuaries and certainly the narrowest, which gives good views of the opposite bank. Most of the western bank is inaccessable to anyone not in the military, so this walk started in Fingrinhoe, then north through Rowhedge to Hythe in Colchester where the tidal range ends. The walk along the eastern bank from Hythe to Brightlingsea is one of the best in Essex, taking you past the University of Essex campus, the delightful village of Wivenhoe and along a disused railway line to Alresford Creek. Wivenhoe was once an active port when very large ships towered over the nearby houses.

At the end of the Colne is Brightlingsea, a historic Cinque port, infamous in the 1990's for the live export of animals, prompting protests by local people and over-zealous policing/police brutality. Today, it has a huge marina and some posh development on the quayside. It is a rather quaint holiday destination, with colourful beach huts and an outdoor swimming pool. I had a very nice tea there with my friends.

Not really on the coast is St Osyth, a little town full of listed buildings. The cream of the crop is the Priory Gatehouse. The Priory itself is owned by developers and is up for sale, much to the dismay of the local residents. It's well worth a visit and has a couple of fine tea shops.

Click on the picture to open the album.

A bit more coast

2010-09-13T09:30:00.000-07:00

Here are some views of a sunny Sunday and a less sunny Monday yomping around the coast. Not far to go now

Just click on the picture to open the album

London Loopy

2010-09-05T15:43:00.000-07:00

Hamsey Green to Coulsdon Station

Section five of the London Loop takes you on a rollercoaster route over four Commons in Croydon with exceptional views of the North Downs. The finest bit of the Loop so far.

Why is the horse wearing a coast on a warm sunny day?

To find out more (about the walk not the horse) click here.

Visting the Ancestral Homeland

2010-08-11T15:51:00.000-07:00

Just back from visitng the North East with my favorite niece and nephew. We did a whistle stop of some the iconic places and a few that featured a lot in my childhood and youth. The weather was very typical of holidays of yore, get to the seaside and down comes the rain! Otherwise it wasn't too bad.

CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO VIEW THE PHOTOS!

Blackwater Estuary

2010-08-01T14:49:00.000-07:00

Views from my very enjoyable, week-long, seventy mile hike around the Blackwater Estuary, which at times, looked and felt like the Med.

CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO OPEN THE ALBUM

Mersea Island

2010-07-18T14:36:00.000-07:00

Circumnavigate sunny Mersea Island!

CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO OPEN THE ALBUM

The Dengie

2010-07-05T04:12:00.000-07:00

Some pictures from my epic day out crossing the Empty Quarter of Essex.

JUST CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO OPEN THE ALBUM!

Exmoor

2010-05-17T13:56:00.000-07:00

Photos from a recent trip to Exmoor

WTEC - South bank of the River Crouch

2010-05-09T13:07:00.000-07:00

The Crouch estuary is so long and thin I’ve renamed it the Peter Crouch. The river rises on Little Burstead golf course near Billericay, flows in a culvert through Wickford, and is navigable for seventeen and a half miles east from Battlesbridge, the lowest bridging point. It flows into the North Sea between Foulness Point to the south and Holliwell Point to the north. For a river that is just a piddling little stream near Billericay, the Crouch is quite majestic and is nearly half a mile wide at its mouth. The river is very popular with all kinds of pleasure craft as well as cargo boats and ferries to and from the Baltic. The Crouch estuary is an important wintering area for seabirds like Brent Geese, who seem to be very fond of Essex. A colony of grey seal lives in the mouth of the estuary.

Most of the river bank is accessible along the sea wall, built by Dutch engineers in the seventeenth century, who drained the marshes and changed the nature of the landscape. The first three miles of the southern bank is on Foulness and ipso facto, inaccessible. I got to within a mile of the coast when I visited Foulness Heritage Centre, near enough to see tantalising glimpses of large sails floating by. The Crouch is joined by its main tributary, the Roach, between Foulness and Wallasea Islands. The next three miles west on Wallasea Island is covered in a previous blog.

I walked the ten or so miles between Wallasea and Battlesbridge in three separate trips over couple of weeks. In the main the weather was pretty good, with lots of sunshine, the occasional shower and a chilly easterly breeze. Sometime between the middle of April and the beginning of May, the rape seed had blossomed bringing a splash of colour to the last part of the walk. The footpath along the sea wall varies quite a lot; at first it was grassy, then it became a concrete path with an odd angle, which made it quite difficult to walk along; then a broad concrete strip and then it disappeared altogether into the river. The path through Brandy Hole and Hullbridge was gravelly and quite popular with the locals; west of Hullbridge it was back to grass and quite deserted.

Lion Creek lies between Wallasea and the mainland and is so twisty it took nearly forty five minutes to get to the start of the sea wall proper just across the creek from the campsite. Lion Creek has silted up and is now a nature reserve. Between Lion Creek and South Fambridge, about five miles, there was just birdsong for company and the occasional passing yacht. At low tide there were wading birds like oyster catchers feeding and I spotted a kestrel hovering. The beautiful little church of St Nicholas, Canewdon, dominates the skyline on top of a little hill. It was clearly visible on my walks further south and must have been a landmark for smugglers in the past. I had a very nice lunch at the Chequers pub in the village.

About a mile west of South Fambridge, the footpath came to a rather abrupt halt. The map indicated that it crossed a small stream, continued along the sea wall on a small island and crossed another stream and headed into Hullbridge. It may be possible to achieve this at low tide but I seriously doubt it.
I tried picking the path up from the Hullbridge side, following the footpath along the sea wall until it too disappeared. At one point I even had to walk the plank. Following the footpath east from Hullbridge, it petered out on a little strip of land surrounded by water.

The river near Hullbridge was full of yachts at their moorings and a huge group of swans who seemed to live on the northern bank. At one time there must have been a ferry between Hullbridge and South Woodham. There were some very fine houses with moorings and a several permanent holiday camps, popular with retired folk. There was even a street called the Esplanade, which clearly had delusions of grandeur. I could have used a tea room at this point having walked about ten miles on the day

West of Hullbridge, the estuary becomes very bendy. I got a view of the inaccessible northern bank with yet another large static caravan park. Nobody was very keen on walking this part especially as it was raining at the time. The footpath ends about a mile from Battlesbridge, easily identified by a very large mill that is now an antiques centre. I had to trudge back to my campsite in the gathering gloom along a very busy road as the return footpath seemed to have vanished into some farmers show jumping ring.

To see more pictures of the Crouch Estuary click here.
To see pictures of the Thames Estuary click here.

WTEC - Wallasea Island

2010-05-02T15:53:00.000-07:00

Wallasea Island, fourth largest island in Essex, is bounded to the north by the River Crouch; the River Roach to the east and south; to west and north west are Pagelsham Pool and Pagelsham Creek, which flow into the Roach and finally by Lion Creek, an inlet of the Crouch. I’m not sure it’s really an island as a small land bridge separates Lion Creek from Pagelsham Creek. It is however, pancake flat and very, very empty

Human settlement consists of one campsite, one pub, one marina, one timber yard, one wharf and one farm. Large boats from Scandinavia and Russia regularly deliver loads of shed, occasional ferries leave for the Baltic states and in the summer, you can take trips across the Crouch to Burnham. Otherwise the main attraction is the birdlife, wide open vistas and the tranquillity. The sea wall runs all around the island and gives great views along the Crouch, out to the North Sea and across to the mysterious isles of Foulness and Potton

Wallasea Island is currently undergoing a transformation. Five years ago the northern sea wall was breached to recreate a new wetland for wildlife and to try to halt the loss of such habitats. A new sea wall has been built along the northern shore overlooking the new lagoons, mudflats and artificial islands. Most of the interesting birds seemed to have left but I did spot a pair of little egrets. The RSPB have a plan to turn the rest of the island in a vast wetland area of marsh, mudflats and lagoons. Apparently the spoil from the Crossrail scheme in London will be brought by ship to Wallasea to raise land levels. All this is planned to happen over the next ten years to recreate the wetland landscape.

I walked around the island on a bright, sunny afternoon accompanied by a bitingly cold easterly wind. I made the most of Wallasea’s attractions, camped at the campsite, ate at the pub, watched the timber being unloaded and stared at the beautiful people on their boats. To me, the most attractive thing about the island was the vast emptiness of the place. The new sea wall runs eastwards for about two and half miles to Wallasea Ness, where the Roach and Crouch meet. There are information boards explaining the wetlands development taking place on the northern shore. On the opposite shore is the attractive town of Burnham-on-Crouch, a popular port for yachting types.

About halfway along the northern shore is a large pylon, which turned out to be a webcam covering the shore line to monitor to the development of the saltmash and mudflats. It made me feel a bit nervous when I had to answer a call of nature as there are no trees or bushes on Wallasea. From the end of the sea wall I got a glimpse of the Dengie peninsula on the northern shore and turning south along the Roach, I spotted the church on Foulness. The actual footpath ends about halfway along the eastern shore but unwillingly to turn back and in the absence of a ‘no entry’ sign, I decided to continue around the island.

It was quite tough to walk along the top of the sea wall on the southern shore, due to the thick grass so I walked along the base out of the wind, popping up every so often to admire the view and to spot places I’d seen on previous walks. I thought I was going to regret my trespass when, on reaching the end of the sea wall, I was met by a very locked gate and tall, spikey fence. Luckier than I deserved, I spotted a small gap in the defences and was able to squeeze through and five minutes later was back in Archie imbibing a reviving cuppa.

To see more pictures of Wallasea Island click here.
To see pictures of the Thames Estuary click here.

WTEC - The north bank of the Roach

2010-04-25T14:45:00.000-07:00

The north bank of the Roach stretches from Stambridge Mills near Rochford north eastwards to Wallasea Ness where the river flows into the Crouch, a distance of about eight miles. The Roach is joined by its major tributary, Pagelsham Creek, just north of Potton Island. It is possible to walk uninterrupted along the sea wall to Pagelsham and continue north west by Pagelsham Creek to Wallasea Island. I made this walk over a couple of days with varying degrees of sunlight but the same chilly easterly breeze.

It’s very peaceful by the river, with just birdsong and waves lapping on the shore for company. The north bank was more popular with walkers than the south bank but I encountered only a few. Next to Stambridge Mills is Broomhills, the former home of Captain John Harnott, founder of the Thames River Police. A mile or so further along is the large inlet of Bartonhall creek, now almost silted up. The sea wall is a bit wild and overgrown in places. The next inlet, Stannett’s creek has been damned and is now a freshwater lagoon that was humming with birds, large and small.

The only village close to the Roach is Pagelsham, divided in Churchend (near the Church) and East End (in the east). There are lots of old interesting houses dotted about; Churchend has several white weatherboarded cottages and pub, the Punch bowl; Jubilee cottages really stand out with their bright colours and the church was very pretty with a very welcome seat. To reach Pagelsham East end you have to follow the footpath through the boatyard back to the village about a quarter of a mile away.

Here I stopped for lunch at the other pub, the Plough and Sail, owned by a member of the Oliver family, the pub mafia of Essex. The pub is well known for its food and was almost full by 12.30pm so I was lucky to get a seat. Not so lucky as it turned out as I broke a tooth on a piece of French bread but luckier than my neighbour who found a hair in his bubble and squeak. If you still fancy giving the place a try, either arrive early or book.

The last few miles past Pagelsham Pool and along Pagelsham creek are a bit of Essex wilderness. Looking mostly east, are very big skies filled with the river and the empty islands of Wallasea, Potton and Foulness, and those mysterious military buildings dotted on the horizon. There were a few craft moored in the river, either romantic looking sail boats or interesting wrecks. Turning north towards Wallasea, the occasional sail drifted through the landscape on the river Crouch and the yacht club at Burnham gleamed in the sunshine.

My base for this walk (and several others) was the Riverside Holiday Village on Wallasea Island, a large static caravan site with a few pitches for tourers. I don’t usually choose to stay on these sorts of sites but this one was clean and quiet, with all the usual facilities and some unusual ones like mobile library stops, wall-to-wall ducks and nesting swans.

To see more picture of the Roach Estuary click here
To see pictures of the Thames Estuary click here

Click here for directions and map for a nice long walk to Pagelsham and the Roach Valley.

WTEC - The south bank of the Roach

2010-04-19T12:36:00.000-07:00

The next estuary north of the Thames is the Roach. The river rises in Hockley woods, flows through Rochford, becomes tidal at Stambridge Mills and flows into the Crouch between Wallasea Island and Foulness, a distance of about ten miles. The first few miles of the southern bank from the mouth of the river at Naze Point to Potton Island are inaccessible, being owned by the MOD. It is possible to walk from Barling Ness on mainland Essex to the lowest bridging point near Rochford. The first couple of miles west are along the sea wall and then over fields and through an industrial estate to the disused flour mill on the north bank where the tidal range ends.

I covered the distance from Barling Ness to Rochford over two days of the finest weather of the year to date, wall to wall sunshine tempered by a chilly easterly breeze on the coast. My base was the campsite at Shopland Hall Equestrian Centre, a place populated entirely by women with ponytails, tight trousers and knee length boots. The camping field was adjacent to old churchyard. Shopland Church was severely damaged by enemy action during WW2 and was subsequently demolished but the churchyard is rededicated annually. It was a pleasant camping field, very quiet at night but I was disappointed to find the café closed at teatime.

Barling Ness was about five miles from the campsite along some very busy country lanes. I picked up the sea wall at Little Wakering and followed it as meandered alongside several creeks towards Potton Island. Despite the lovely weather I only passed one family of walkers during the five hours I was out. I had lunch sitting on the headland overlooking the confluence of the Roach and a creek called the The Violet. To the east is the mysterious military Potton Island and to the north is the boatyard at Pagelsham on the north bank. In contrast, the north bank of the river was very popular with walkers.

The sea wall runs for a couple of miles past yet another landfill site and farmland. The Roach estuary is quite wide compared to the length of the river. I took my binoculars for a spot of twitching but all I saw were seagulls. The slight elevation of the sea wall makes for good all round viewing. Several miles to the north is the church at Canewdon which sits atop a little hill making a great landmark; to the west are the abandoned flower mills and a very singular white factory chimney which mark out Rochford. Walking west it was impossible to avoid seeing the tower blocks of Southend. The cottages and church are in Pagelsham on the north side of the river.

At the end of the sea wall the footpath went inland past a couple of very nice farmhouses. At Sutton Hall someone had a very large train set. I eventually came to Prittlewell creek, negotiated a field with some very inquisitive ponies, wandered through an industrial estate before picking up the Roach Valley Way, a 28 mile circular path, to Stambridge Mills on the north bank of the river. The flour mills have now been abandoned and will probably get developed into expensive riverside properties. There are motley fleet of house boats in various states of disrepair at the end of the navigable section of the river.

Rochford is an old market town with a regular Tuesday market in the Town Square. Rochford Hall was the home of Ann Boleyn’s sister and the town was probably once a flourishing port. Next to Rochford Hall, which is now a golf club, is the fine church of St Andrews with a very impressive brick tower. A puritanical sect known as the Peculiar People originated in Rochford during the nineteenth century. All these facts and many more are provided by Rochford District Council in their two excellent guides of the area, a fact that Slough Council could take note off.

Rochford District Heritage Guide
Rochford District Visitors Guide

To see more picture of the Roach Estuary click here

Haven Point to Barling Ness

2010-04-08T09:57:00.000-07:00

Turning my back on the Thames, I headed north west toward Barling Ness on the river Roach to pick up the coastline. Mainland Essex is separated from the islands to the north east by a series of creeks, some large, some small. Along with Foulness the MOD also occupy Potton Island and Rushley Island, linked to mainland by bridges and causeways.

The sea wall takes a serpentine route along Havengore Creek and Potton creek that I seemed to walk in every direction. At one point you can see Southend and at another Burnham on Crouch. The land is very, very flat so the elevation from the sea wall makes for excellent views all round. There wasn't a great deal to see except for clouds and mysterious military buildings on Potton Island.

Potton Creek was large enough to be navigable and hidden halfway between the Roach and the Thames was a boatyard with a wide variety of craft; houseboats large and small, crusiers and sailboats, and some boats have obviously come to die.

Thames Estuary in pictures

2010-04-08T09:16:00.001-07:00

Walking the Essex Coast - Shoeburyness to Foulness Point

2010-04-06T13:33:00.000-07:00

It’s about nine miles from the MOD site at Pig’s Bay to the mouth of the Thames Estuary at Foulness Point. However this is a walk only for the exceptionally determined. The coastline between Pig’s Bay and Haven Point is accessible when the MOD aren’t firing on their ranges. The island of Foulness is a much harder proposition.

Foulness is the fourth largest island in England, (behind Wight, Sheppey and Hayling), so it would be quite a challenging walk even if you could just turn up and go but you can’t. The island has been owned by the military since the first World War and access is severely restricted. Until 1926 the only way on or off was via the Broomway, a footpath across Maplin Sands, so called because of the broom handles that mark the way. The Broomway follows the east coast of Foulness for about six miles and should only be attempted by fit people who have good local knowledge and a tide table. Turning up unannounced on Foulness may also get you arrested, so pack a toothbrush.

Foulness has about 200 residents who don’t mind the odd loud bang but their community is in decline. They live in two small hamlets in the north of the island and on scattered farms. The pub and the church have recently closed and several houses have fallen into disrepair. The old school is now a Heritage Centre and can be visited on the first Sunday of the month (between April and October). There are warnings everywhere about not wandering off unaccompanied or taking photos. It would be possible to do a circular walk on existing footpaths that would take in the northern coast on the Crouch estuary and the eastern coastline of the Thames, but there is no public access to Foulness Point at the river's mouth. Probably the best way to see Foulness it to take an organised visit or boat trip.

I left home for my final walk along the Thames under leaden skies, but the weather improved the further east you went. I arrived at Shoeburyness in lovely sunshine and had a pleasant walk along a deserted East Beach. I then took a three mile detour to rejoin the sea wall at Morrins Point after walking across the New Ranges which were open to the public. Warning signs were everywhere forbidding photography which I ignored. It was about a mile and half to Haven Point, the last part of mainland Essex on the Thames Estuary. The sea wall was deserted apart from some hardy dog walkers. It was mostly sunny but quite breezy.

The estuary is now very wide, with the Kent coast about eight miles away. Maplin Sands are about a mile wide so ships and boats sail along the other coast. I looked out for my old friend, Hamburg Sid, but the boats were too far way. The sands are also famous for birdlife but there was no sign of the Brent Geese, which spend the winter here. It is possible to drive down to Wakering Stairs when the ranges are open to the public. This is where the Broomway starts. I walked about a hundred metres but wasn’t tempted to go further.

At Haven Point, I got my first look at Foulness Island, which is very, very flat and dotted about with mysterious military installations. It is separated from mainland Essex by Havengore Creek and there are plenty of other creeks, inlets and islands making it another Smuggler’s Haven in the past. As I turned my back on the Thames for the last time, I realised that I'd walked alongside the river all the way from Hampton Court. I must do the rest of it!

Now it’s off to pick up the coastline on the River Roach at Baling Ness a few miles to the north.

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

One is small, the other is very far away

2010-04-01T12:41:00.000-07:00

This is the third time I've spotted the Hamburg Sud container ship on my saturday walks. It was well beyond Southend Pier and disappearing into the gloom.

Walking the Essex Coast - Leigh to Shoeburyness

2010-03-30T02:15:00.000-07:00

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.

Pointless topping - Slough

2010-03-24T10:55:00.000-07:00

If ever there was an example of pointless topping, it was my trip to Slough. The high(est) point of Slough is a spot height in the middle of a busy road along the northern border, with no obvious hill or slope. General consensus of opinion among fellow toppers is that the dog poo bin is the symbolic top, (something Slough shares with Southend) as trying to find the actual top would probably get you killed. Almost all of the walk to and from the top took place in Buckinghamshire along some narrow but rather busy lanes and some litter strewn bridleways and footpaths. I left Archie at Burnham Beeches which is a very pleasant open space a couple of miles north of Slough. The last time I visited you could drive through it but it now appears to be a car-free zone.

Traditionally Slough was part of Buckinghamshire until 1974 when it was dumped on poor old Berkshire. In 1998 it became a unitary authority when poor old Berkshire was dismantled, which is how it qualifies for a top. Slough is so devoid of any tourist attractions that it was impossible to find any on its own Council website. Its greatest claim to fame seems to be the association with Ricky Gervais and the Office. I find it hard to believe that it only 42nd on the list of least favorite towns in the Idler Book of Crap Towns. Extensive research for this blog reveals that Slough means swamp. Says it all!

Walking the Essex Coast - Two Tree Island

2010-03-17T15:26:00.000-07:00

Two Tree Island, like Canvey was reclaimed from the sea. It lies between Leigh and Canvey, separated by Leigh Creek to the north and Hadleigh Ray to the south. It is a mile and half long and half a mile wide and was used mainly by sheep until the twentieth century, when, like so many other bits of the Essex coast line, it was turned into a rubbish dump. After the tip closed in the seventies, the island became a nature reserve.

The western half is in Castle Point district and forms part of Hadleigh Castle Country Park. East of the road is in Southend and is part of the Leigh National Nature Reserve. The one road leads to southern edge where there is a public slipway and the only car park on the island that doesn’t have a height barrier. You can park right on the edge of the salt marsh and watch the boats heading up and down the Thames. Can you spot Archie?

The western half is mainly open grassland with a good metalled path all around. It has fine views towards Canvey and Hadleigh Castle. It is very popular with birdwatchers with two hides at the western end; one overlooks Hadleigh Ray and is a good place to spot wading birds at low tide and the other is by a pool popular with the avocets that breed on the island. The hides were very popular and a good way to make yourself unpopular is to let door slam. It is possible to cross to the mainland at low tide by scrambling across the creek. This part of the island is home to a model flying club so you have to watch out for small, low flying aircraft that make as much noise as the real thing.

At the western end it is possible to see two of the ‘county top’ of Essex. Westley Heights, the highest point of Thurrock, is large whaleback shaped hill about eight miles away. It’s a sizeable hill by Essex standards, rising out of the marshes and topped (as any good top usually is) by a large aerial mast. The highest point of Southend is just a mile to the north at the top of Belton Hills. They are about a hundred foot shorter but still make a steep climb (for Essex). The view from the top is very impressive stretching from the mouth of the Thames to the top of Canary Wharf on a clear day.

The eastern half is more covered with lots of scrub and bushes. There were some inland bird hides by a pond and a feeding area with a useful identification chart. I think I spotted a Great Tit. There is a very pleasant walk along the old sea wall by the salt marsh and mud flats. The whole area is very popular with wildfowl and waders, particularly Brent geese who feed on the eelgrass. The basketwork is made of hemlock and helps stabilise the marsh.

Two Tree Island is a very pleasant spot for spotting, birds, boats or aircraft or for just taking a stroll by the sea side.

To see more pictures of Two Tree Island and the rest of the Thames estuary coastline click here.

Walking the Essex Coast - Canvey Island

2010-03-12T13:04:00.000-08:00

Apparently we have the Dutch to thank for Canvey Island. They turned up in the seventeenth century, built dykes and reclaimed the land from the sea, although most of it lies beneath sea level. They liked the place so much that they settled there and left behind two pretty circular cottages, one of which is a museum. The Dutch influence is still strong in Canvey and can be seen in road names like Harlaam Road or Heeswijk Avenue. Most people know of Canvey Island because of the disastrous floods in 1953 that claimed 58 lives. Since that time sea defences have been strengthened and Canvey is circled by sixteen miles of sea wall, all of which is accessible to the public. Famous Canvey natives include Olympic decathlete Dean Macey and some bloke from Dr Feelgood.

Canvey Island has everything that the Thames estuary coastline has to offer good and bad; salt marsh and river marsh, farmland, industry and industrial wasteland, boatyards, beaches, birdlife and long stretches of riverside walking. It wasn’t that difficult to escape the madding crowd on an island barely five miles wide and three miles deep, and home to nearly 40,000 people. Until the Victorian era Canvey was home mainly to sheep. It suddenly became fashionable as a sea side resort, and given the size of the two caravan parks, it still is popular today. However, flooding is still a problem!

Not up to the challenge of walking around the sea wall in one go, this walk was done over two greyish days, with the old shower and sunny interval. The main difference was the wind which was absent of day one making it feel quite mild. I started from Benfleet, which has a sizeable car park (no height barrier and free at weekends). Benfleet Church has finely carved wooden porch and there is an old looking pub in the High Street called the Hoy and Helmet. This is something to do with ships not our famous cycling Olympian. It’s a short walk from Benfleet to the bridge onto Canvey and the sea wall and I started on the western side walking around the island in an anti-clockwise direction.

The western side of Canvey is the least built up part and there are fine views across the marshes to Bowers Marsh and of the surrounding hill top villages of South Benfleet and Pitsea. However the first few miles alongside East Haven Creek are within earshot of the A130, so not that peaceful. The sea wall here is a grassy mound and has been churned up by hooved animals. It was a testament to the drying wind that it wasn’t a morass but merely bumpy. The RSPB will be opening a new reserve on West Canvey this year but sadly the car park had a height restriction so I won’t be visiting.

After a few miles East Haven Creek joins Vange Creek at the moveable flood barriers to form the much substantial Holehaven Creek. There was a fine view east to Tilbury Power station, Fobbing Church and marshes and the oil refineries at Coryton on the other bank. At this point the sea wall becomes much more substantial too, with concrete walls and a firm metalled track. This part was popular with horse riders and cyclists as well as other walkers and there was actually some activity on the river. Some piece of machinery in the oil refinery makes the noise of a very large drum making the very regular booming noise that I heard when walking in East Tilbury.

After crossing under a disused pipeline at Canvey Wick, it was possible to get onto the water’s edge as you approach the Thames. On the western bank is Shellhaven Point and Holehaven Point is on the eastern bank. I stopped for refreshment at the Lobster Smack pub, mentioned in Great Expectations, hidden behind the sea wall. Next door are old Coastguard cottages, some horrible new development, and acres of oil storages units. The southern coast of Canvey stretches for about four miles alongside the Thames estuary which is over a mile wide at this point. The Kent coastline is dominated by the power station on the Isle of Grain.

Travelling west to east, you pass the oil storage depots, Thorney Bay Caravan Park (looks a bit like a WW2 POW camp), Thorney Bay, an inlet with a sandy beach and then the sea front promenade of Canvey which looks as if it has seen better days. The coast line is shingly with the odd bit of sand. The Labworth Café built in the 1930’s was designed by Ove Arup who went on to build the Sydney Opera House. It is possible to walk on either side of the sea wall as a couple of the floodgates have been opened to allow access.

Just past the Yacht Club on the eastern end of Canvey and you can walk out onto the salt marsh and follow a ‘footpath’ to Canvey Point, the most easterly point. I remember taking Noddy here a few years ago and he trod in something that turned his paws black and was extremely difficult to remove. Not knowing the tide tables, I turned back at the warning barrier. There is a fine view east to Southend Pier and the river looks huge as it meets the North Sea. It was also the first point on my journey that smelt like the seaside, a distinctly salty tang in the air.

The eastern end of Canvey is where the boating types hang out with boats of every description packed along Smallgains Creek. Next to the boatyards is Canvey Heights Country Park, reclaimed from the old town tip. A small but perfectly formed little hill gives you a splendid 360° panorama over Canvey, the Thames Estuary and Southend. This was where I stopped for lunch to admire said view, before turning west along the northern edge of the island. Next to the Heights is another big mobile home park, slightly more upmarket than Thorney Bay. This part of Canvey was the area worst affected by the floods of 1953.

Despite the closeness of the houses I thought this was a particularly pleasant stretch of walking, with marshes then a narrow stretch of water separating Canvey from Benfleet Marshes and good views of Hadleigh Castle. I spotted a curlew wading in the mudflats and barely passed a soul. The northern sea wall runs alongside the local golf course so I suppose it could be a bit dangerous if someone shanks a ball.

I enjoyed this walk very much; it was very peaceful, the scenery was always changing and there was plenty of variety and a few surprises, and with the exception of a couple of stiles, it wasn’t too hard.

To see more pictures of the beautiful Essex coast click here.

Walking the Essex Coast - Benfleet to Leigh

2010-03-09T13:50:00.000-08:00

From Benfleet, you can follow the coastline uninterrupted for ten miles to Shoebury Ness. I walked the first four miles to Leigh over a weekend which explains the difference in the photos. On Saturday I walked the eastern part of the route with my mate Frankie. We did a circular walk from Hadleigh Castle Country Park on a cold day with some intermittant sunshine. I walked the whole distance on the following day in glorious late afternoon sunshine finishing in the glow of dusk. Another difference was the number of people present. HCCP was awash with walkers, twitchers, dog walkers, cyclists and joggers on Saturday, including one runner who impressively hurdled a stile! Late on Sunday afternoon I only saw a few hardy souls braving the very chilly wind.

The footpath to Leigh runs along the sea wall. Benfleet Creek separates Canvey Island from mainland Essex. It was extremely raw in the east wind with little shelter. At Benfleet there was a sizable marina with quite a few houseboats of various sizes. This was first large collection of boats I'd seen since Grays and Tilbury. Once past the moorings, you enter the country park and it's three miles to the next road. Benfleet Creek starts to widen and it's possible to see the big boats on the Thames proper to south of Canvey.

Hadleigh Castle Country Park is one of the largest in Essex and is spread out over Benfleet Downs and Benfleet Marshes and is split in two by the C2C railway. There are several waymarked walks as this map shows. The Downs are surprisingly steep for Essex but they do afford great views along the Thames Estuary. We could see as far as Tilbury power station eastwards, but on a clear day it is possible to see Canary Wharf. The views from Hadleigh Castle, just outside the park are equally good towards Southend and its famous pier and south to Kent and the Isle of Grain.

Hadleigh Castle is, according to my mate Pevsner, the most important later medieval castle in the county. I'm not sure that says a great deal as Essex is not a county overloaded with castles. It was a ruin by the sixteenth century and later used by the revenue men to spy on all that smuggling down on the marshes. Not a lot remains today apart from a bit of curtain wall and the remnants of four circular towers. The largest (south east) tower was painted by Constable in 1829.

Frankie and I set off for our circular walk from the car park (£2 all day, no height barrier and toilets) and headed downhill, over the railway line and the marshes to join the sea wall at the half way point between Benfleet and Leigh. Despite the drying wind, everywhere was very muddy or waterlogged, with large areas of standing water guarenteed whenever you needed to cross at a stile. The sea wall was much better underfoot and we made good time into Leigh. Across the creek are Canvey and Two Tree Island, which are next on the itinerary.

The eastern part of Two Tree Island is part of HCCP and it is possible to cross the narrow creek at low tide to visit the bird hides. The whole area is very good for birdwatching, and according to Frankie, we saw great spotted woodpecker, green woodpecker, redshank, curlew, black-tailed godwit, avocet and lapwing. The avocets and the brent geese provided some good aerial displays and was able to snap the curlew in Leigh marshes a bit further along. (It's to the right and slighty above the gull).

We were treated to a slightly different aerial display by three model aeroplanes fans reliving the Battle of Britain. At first I wasn't sure if they were small planes or just very far away as the noise was quite realistic. It did pall after a bit as this is a very peaceful part of the coastline. C2C trains are now very quiet and barely noticable. Just before reaching Leigh, Frankie and I had a pit stop at the golf driving range cafe for a well earned cuppa.

Refreshed, we set off over Leigh marshes for the last half mile to Leigh Station. From here I got the first sighting of Southend Pier about five miles away. Once past Leigh Station we turned back westward towards Hadleigh Castle, where we heaved ourselves over an extraordinarily high stile when there was a perfectly good gate we could have used. The weather improved in the afternoon with plenty of sunshine, when we stopped for yet more refreshment.

The last part of the walk was all uphill back to the car park and pretty tiring too. Two hundred feet climbs are rare in Essex. We were relaxing in the van enjoying yet another well-earned cuppa when the glass hob cover on the cooker exploded. Apparently you aren't supposed to put it down with the gas still on! Don't try this at home as it took me two hours to clean up the glass!

To see more pictures of the beautiful Essex coast click here.

Walking the Essex Coast - Pitsea to Benfleet

2010-03-08T11:22:00.000-08:00

The walk from Pitsea to Benfleet was the last link in the route back to the Essex coast. It was a gloriously sunny afternoon with clear blue skies and a bitingly cold wind direct from Siberia, an excellent day for walking. The old tower of Pitsea church is now a mast for the Orange telephone network. Orange have tidied up the churchyard and added a seat so you can enjoy the splendid view from the Mount. To the west were the oil refineries at Coryton, Fobbing Church and flooded marshes of Vange. To east, Bowers marshes, Canvey Island and the water tower on the ridge at South Benfleet.

The footpath to Benfleet follows the railway line east. Once past the housing estate, the footpath crosses a couple fields sandwiched between the A13 and the railway. The ground underfoot ran the gamut from hard to soft to waterlogged, so it's obviously going to take some time for the ground to dry out. It didn't seem to bother the ponies living in the field, who fortunately didn't seemto be interested in me.

After a mile and a half you come to the delightful little church of St Margaret's, Bowers Gifford. Completely isolated, it is dwarfed by the electricity pylon behind. According to Pevsner it has an unusual single buttress on the tower and a broach spire, which is quite common in south Essex. It was closed but the churchyard was in good repair and the seat at the sunny west end was most welcome.

A little while after the church, the footpath crosses the railway line onto Bowers Marsh, another large area of emptiness just a few miles from Basildon. There are a couple of farms, lots of ditches and another hugh landfill site. In 2011, this will become RSPB Bowers, a wetland nature reserve, with hides, walks, lagoons and reed beds, and hopefully a car park without a height restriction. The footpath to Benfleet station was clearly marked on the map and with a helpful finger post pointing in the wrong direction. It was a lot harder to spot on the ground and may well have disappeared under water in places. It was no surprise that I had the whole place to myself, it felt more like the Steppes of Russia than Essex.

A combination of map reading, GPS and a pretty obvious target (A130 main road to Canvey) got me back on track. The road marks the boundary between Basildon and Castle Point and is also the point where you pick up the coast proper along the northern bank of East Holehaven Creek. Houseboats were tied up along the banks and one of the occupants gave me a cheery wave. I followed the rather indistinct path to Benfleet station.

At South Benfleet the river cliffs come very close to coast. The railway is on one side of the road and the river is on the other. I sat on bench opposite the station and took in the view. Across the creek, Canvey Island was basking in the golden glow of the late afternoon sunshine and the oil refineries seemed much nearer than before such is the curve of the coastline.

It all looked very, very flat.

To see more pictures of the beautiful Essex coast, click here.

Wat Tyler Country Park, Basildon

2010-03-03T11:54:00.000-08:00

Wat Tyler, as many of you may know, was the leader of the Peasants Revolt in 1381. What you may not know is the Peasants Revolt started here in Essex, which means we invented poll tax riots. The country park is on a spit of land between Timbermans Creek and Pitseahall Fleet, about 3 miles from the centre of Basildon.

The park has been created on the site of a former explosive factory were nitro-glycerine was manufactured. The site is littered with large blast barriers formed from earth. There was a naval depot here in WW2. The new visitors centre has a very nice exhibition that produces some very loud bangs. The whole park is getting refurbished at the moment so there are lots of tractors everywhere.

The country park is a bit of mish-mash of things; there are several old vernacular buildings in a rather sorry state of repair dotted about the site; there is a minature railways which chugs around the site on high days and holidays; the National Motorboat Museum which nows appears to be closed indefinitely; Vange Wharf and boatyards with lots of the little motor boats; a RSPB visitor centre and bird hides dotted along the creeks. Unfortunately the day I visited it was half-term and it was full of revolting children.

London Loopy

2010-03-03T09:26:00.000-08:00

West Wickham Common to Hamsey Green

Section four of the London Loop wandered from Bromley, through Croydon to the very borders of Surrey. It was a woody, muddy, hilly walk with a fantastic view. It was very nearly my last walk...

To find out more click here

Walking the Essex Coast - Vange Marshes

2010-02-27T10:49:00.000-08:00

The intention today was to walk across Vange marshes to Fobbing to link up with last week's walk. However the only way that was going to happen was by boat due to extensive flooding. It was a pleasant enough day, dry, mild with occasional bursts of sunshine. It was very hard going though; lots of standing water, one very boggy bit on a farm, a horrible hike through some trackless wastes and a rather high stile that I had difficulty getting over. Out of earshot of the A13 it was very peaceful. At this point of the walk I moved on from Thurrock into Basildon and the change was immediately obvious. In Thurrock, all footpaths were very clearly marked, even the ones in the back of beyond, this was not so in Basildon.

Vange Marsh is a small RSPB site, one of several in this part of the world made up of reed beds and lagoons, both salt and freshwater. There were plenty of birds and a couple of twitchers but I've no idea what the birds were. I followed the footpath towards Fobbing, past an industrial estate home to the fleet of WRVS van, across a boggy farmer's field to a wonky looking bridge. At this point, the footpath disappeared to be replaced with a barely discernible track through an bramble strewn field. It had been churned up by cows and then left fallow making it very bumpy indeed. I put my trust in the GPS and hacked on through.

I emerged onto the wide open spaces on Vange marshes. I spotted this rather spooky looking house, Marsh Farm, but I've no idea if anyone lives there. This part of the marsh is used for grazing but the cows were all indoors today. The views were terrific. I could see Fobbing church on its little hill, the flood barrier at Fobbing Horse and the oil refineries. Unfortunately I could also see lots and lots of standing water, some of it was rather deep.

It was impossible to continue along the footpath towards Fobbing and Fobbing Marshes. I was able to scramble up onto the sea wall and got a glimpse of the boat yard at Wat Tyler Country park. Vange creek seemed to have turned into Vange Lake. I enjoyed my picnic sitting on some old telegraph poles in the pleasant sunshine before returning from whence I came.

To see more pictures of the wonderful Essex coast click here.

Walking the Essex Coast - Fobbing Horse

2010-02-21T12:35:00.000-08:00

There is no more access to the coastline until you get to Canvey Island. Oil refineries stretch for several miles eastwards to the next inlet at Holehaven creek. It is possible to reach this creek by footpaths from the village of Fobbing. Fobbing is a quiet village on a small but very perciptible hill, overlooking the marshes, but views of the Thames are blocked by the oil refineries at Coryton and spoiled by the mass of electricity pylons. Fobbing has a violent and bloody past. It was one of the villages that started the Peasants' Revolt in 1381. Amazingly it was once famous for smuggling as Fobbing used to have a harbour and access to the Thames. The church has a very distinctive tower that must have been a landmark for sailors in times gone by.

In complete contrast to the previous day, the weather was extremely raw. There has been a heavy frost overnight which made it slippery under foot, it was windy, cold with rain threatening. Unsurprisingly I met no one of this walk. I set off downhill along Wharf road, onto the marshes and atop the flood defences. It was possible to see all the way to the QE2 bridge, about 10 miles.

The frost had hardened up the ground but it was exceptionally heavy going. This area is one of the few remaining areas along the Thames where grazing still takes place. Pre-industrialisation the whole Thames estuary was a prime beef raising area. The cows had churned the whole route into a Grimpen-like mire which made the walk seem much further than it was. One of the cows had escaped and was clearly in possession of the sea wall, so I made a detour to avoid it. Clearly one that stood out from the herd.

The target was the flood barrier at Fobbing Horse on Holehaven Creek. On the other side of the creek is Canvey Island but I couldn't see it as the sea wall was too high. I didn't relish a return trip across the bog so I followed a footpath along a farm track, past the lone cow's mates, Fobbing ponies and Ouzedam farm, completely overshadowed by the many oil storage units and huge flare which is clearly visible for miles. I returned to Fobbing along cycle track and muddy path and finally up the steep little hill to the church, where I sat and admired the view in watery sunshine.

To see more pictures of the wonderful Essex coast click here.

Walking the Essex coast - Mucking Creek to Shellhaven

2010-02-20T09:49:00.000-08:00

I had intended to do a completely different walk but was shafted by the Clintona bus company as the 11 to Basildon failed to arrive in Purfleet. I didn't want to waste a beautiful sunny day so I came up with a plan B and hopped on a train to Stanford-le-Hope. I had to do this walk naked (without a map) but all those hours of planning really paid off as I was able to remember the route.

Mucking is a fairly short walk from the station. There isn't much there apart from the church, now a private house. Apparently it was a really important Saxon transit camp and possibly the name is a mistranslation. Now most of Mucking is a huge landfill site.

There is no access to the coastline west of Mucking Creek , so I followed a footpath from the village through the Stanford Warren nature reserve, home to one of the largest reed beds in Essex. It was crossed by several little streams including the Hassenbrook, which flows in the Thames at Mucking Creek. The whole area has been used for gravel extraction in the past, the lakes are now used by angling clubs.

Once past the last lake, the area opens out in wonderful wild Essex again with two miles of riverside walking past marshes, mudflats, salt marsh and sea wall ending at a locked gate to the Shellhaven oil refinery. Thurrock Council have acquired some of the land and there are some signs of development. Stanford Marshes would make a great country park.

The Thames is quite wide at this point but the tide was low exposing the mudflats. There were a flotilla of little boats at anchor in the mouth of Mucking creek and flocks of wading birds feeding on the flats. After about a mile or so you come the Earls Hope Salt marsh, which is flooded at high tide. It looked quite sandy and attractive but alas lacked anywhere that I could sit.

At this point the footpath continued along the sea wall, but without any indication which side. I chose the side with the river side view which ended at a floodgate. The footpath on the other side of the sea wall ran alongside a railway line leading to the oil refinery and through a weird access gate, over another field and finally over some steps back to the river side. I stopped for lunch by the riverside. The sun, rather unkindly, went behind a huge cloud at that point. It was very peaceful, watching the boats go by. Wild Essex at its best.

Click here to see more photos of wonderful Essex coast

London Loopy

2010-02-14T07:51:00.000-08:00

Jubilee Country Park to West Wickham Common

Last September I meandered across the London Borough of Bromley on a fine sunny day. It was very green and rural with lots of interesting things to see and some brilliant street names.

To read full details of my exploits click here

Tower Bridge to Mile End

2010-02-14T04:16:00.000-08:00

Three times a year Walk London arrange a weekend of guided walks along various parts of the seven Strategic Routes in the Capital. Winter Wanders took place on the last weekend on January and I opted for a guided walk from Tower Bridge to Mile End, led by the chairman of the River Thames Society. You will see from the photos it was a brilliant sunny day, what you can't see if the wind chill factor, it was very, very cold.

We followed the northern bank of the Thames, via St Katherine's Dock, Wapping to Limehouse Basin, where we paused for a break. Then along the Regent's Canal to Mile End.

Interesting things I learned; berths in St Katherine's Dock were shaped to fit the sterns of ships; there is a church somewhere in East London with a very large red Madonna on top; the canal isn't very deep and there are ramps build along it so that horses could get out if they fell in.

Tower Bridge

St John's Wapping

View to Canary Wharf

Prospect of Whitby

Large Red Madonna

Limehouse Basin

Regent's Canal

Walking the Essex Coast - Tilbury to Mucking creek

2010-02-14T01:57:00.000-08:00

Sometimes you know it's going to be a good day. The signs are there; the sky is bluer than you expected, the train replacement bus arrives at the bus stop at the same time you do. Alas signs can be false. At the next stop the bus picked a woman who decided to share all her toilet problems with me. I got off at Upminister expecting to be whisked away to Tilbury by a comfortable C2C train but got yet another replacement bus instead to Chafford Hundred, from then a shuttle train to Grays and finally the train to Tilbury, that I could easily have caught from Rainham, a short bus ride from home. Thus I set out from Tilbury a little later than planned and as the connecting bus to Tilbury Ferry was nowhere to be seen, I had to walk the mile and half to the Thames riverside.

The coastal footpath runs for an unbroken six miles beside the Thames from the passenger ferry at Tilbury to a large travelling crane at Mucking (one of the great Essex place names). First stop was Tilbury Fort, arguably the premier heritage site in Essex. It was where Elizabeth I rallied the troops against the Armada and was for centuries the key fort in the defence of London and the Thames. These fortifications date from the 17th century with later Victorian improvements. The Officers Mess now houses a museum and staff accomodation. The fort looks most spectacular from the air where you can really appreciated its star shape. Apparently the worst action occured in 1776 when a cricket match between Essex and Kent left two people dead.

The next point of 'interest' was Tilbury Power Station, as a large coaling vessel was discharging its cargo, so there were lots in interesting machinery on the move and a pleasant smell of coal. There was a rather less pleasant smell of river but fortunately this was a temporary companion and riverside walking improved as I left the Power Station behind. However, the cold wind was a constant companion and I was glad of the extra layers I took with me.

From Tilbury the Thames runs due east for about three miles to Coalhouse Point before making a 90 degree turn north to Mucking creek. This would not be a good walk at high tide as most of the footpath is at the base of the sea wall. It was very pleasant to hear the waves lapping the shore but it wasn't very picturesque. East Tilbury marshes have been used as landfill and have a very derelict air. Apart from a few fisherman along the foreshore, I only met a couple of joggers, a lad on a bike and a man with a shotgun, which may explain why there didn't seem to be much birdlife. The only seat was a shrine to a young boy killed at Tilbury docks a few years ago, which was in keeping with the rather mournful air.

Coalhouse Point is marked by an old radar station, a large oil drum on stilts. Just around the bend is Coalhouse Fort, a fine example of a Victorian casemate fort currently undergoing restoration. It was built with state of the art Victorian defences that replaced Tilbury but these were never used in anger. The fort wasn't open but the Information Office was, with a kind invitation to "Come in and get warm" so I did. At this point there was a break in the clouds and I ate my picnic under blue skies and glorious sunshine which lasted about as long as the picnic.

Next to the fort is St Catherine's church, East Tilbury. Dutch warships had destroyed the church tower some time in the 1680's. In 1917, garrison troops from Coalhouse Fort started to build a new tower but never finished it. A short muddy path, took me back to the riverside for the last part of the walk. This was much the most pleasant part of the walk, watching the odd cargo sheet float silently past, and birds flying over the salt marsh. Along the sea wall, there were curious inclines which were labelled Duck Ramps. Apparently Essex ducks must be able to read.

The footpath ends at Mucking Marshes, formerly used for gravel extraction and now a mjor landfill site, jealously guarded by Cory Environmental. London's rubbish arrives by river in large yellow containers and is landed using the huge travelling crane. I gave up about 500 metres from the end when the path petered out altogether. I followed a footpath from the riverside to East Tilbury, which was developed by Thomas Bata, a Czech shoe magnate, in the 1930's, with a modern factory and housing and social facilities for the workers, the houses appear to be modelled on shoe boxes.

The lovely comfortable C2C train arrived on time but sadly I had to leave it at Grays for the long tortuous ride home on various replacement buses which took nearly as long as my walk.

Essex church walk

2010-02-08T09:56:00.000-08:00

I recently visited two small Essex villages with unusual churches. Willingale has two churches that share a churchyard; St Andrews Willingale Spain is the older, smaller church with a wooden belfrey to the south; St Christopher Willingale Doe lies to the north with a tower, battlements and buttresses. The Essex Way runs through the churchyard.

The land around Willingale is very flat and was the site of the wartime airfield known as RAF Chipping Ongar, home to the 387th Bomb Group, USAAF. Unbelievably, in 1979, Willingale was shortlisted a potential site for London third airport.

About a mile away is the village of Shellow Bowells, surely the best name in Essex. I set off along the Essex Way in pleasant watery sunshine but it turned misty and murky long before I got back. The church in Shellow is a rarity in Essex as it is Georgian, built in 1754. It now appears to be a house or office. I returned to Willingale via Shellow Hall where I received a over-enthusiastic greeting from the farmer's spaniel.

I spotted a most unusual, turbined powered scarecrow which certainly frightened me, good use of green technology!

Walking the Essex coast - Grays to Tilbury

2010-02-05T10:54:00.000-08:00

Today had a spring like feel about it with high clouds and watery sunlight, I decided to get out and about, so packed up a picnic and hopped on a train to Grays. Unfortunately it isn't possible to walk around the coast to Tilbury as the footpath stops at the docks. It was very pleasant walking in the sunshine along Grays beach and through the riverside park.

After that it was a four miles slog through Grays and past Tilbury docks to rejoin the river at the Passenger ferry to Gravesend. The sun disappeared behind a huge cloud, thunder rumbled and it started to rain as the sun came out. Next to main cargo docks is the Cruise Terminal but services do not start until March when you take the Marco Polo to the Land of the Northern Lights, (Norway?). All the weird weather produced a very good rainbow over Tilbury power station.

The passenger ferry was a hidden delight because it turned out to have a floating car park equpped with a couple of benches where I ate picnic in lovely, bright and warm sunlight. The ferry seemed to have dropped anchor over in Gravesend and abandonned the timetable entirely. The views are very impressive; Gravesend directly opposite Tilbury is a historic town and port; to the east Hadleigh castle was clearly visible.

The river was very quiet with a few yachts and this freight ferry on its way to Purfleet. It is hard to imagine that Tilbury is still a major port with so few ships around. The pilot boat kept coming out to have a look around and then disappearing back to Gravesend. As it took me longer than expected to walk to Tilbury so I'll have visit Gravesend another day. I caught a little shuttle bus, which was free to ferry users, back to train station and home.

Walking the Essex Coast - Grays to Rainham

2010-02-03T11:22:00.000-08:00

The plan for this year is walk around the coast of Essex, or as much of the 3oo miles that is accessible. By Essex, I mean the ceremonial county of Essex which includes Thurrock and Southend which aren't part of administrative Essex. For this reason my walk starts on the Aveley marshes. If I wanted to walk around the coastline of the traditional county of Essex I would have to start at the mouth of the river Lee about ten miles upstream. However we are still waiting for the Thames Path Northern Extension to join up Island Gardens with Rainham Marshes. This means that despite living less than a mile from the mighty river Thames I can't walk by it in my old home town.

I picked a cold grey day in January to make a start walking from Grays to Rainham, a distance of eleven miles. Most of the route is industrial taking you past oil depots, factories and freight ferry terminals. Not very pretty but very accessible.

The highlight of the day was the visit to St Clements Church, always isolated from its parishioners hidden among the marshes, is now cut off by the railway and surrounded by factories. The church is where Gareth's funeral took place in Four Weddings etc. It is now in the care of Proctor and Gamble and I was very lucky to bump into the security guard who let me have a look around. Apparently it has connections with the Knights Templar, so I'm surprised Dan Brown hasn't been around looking for buried treasure.

On the way to the QE2 bridge there is an enormous graffitti wall and I met a couple of official artists at work, otherwise I didn't see a soul for about four miles. Less official graffitti artists have been at work on the bridge itself as one of the piers is accessible at low tide. The next town after Grays is Purfleet, site of a large gunpowder magazine, now a Heritage centre. Purfleet is separated from RSPB Rainham by a strange water feature that necessitates a half mile detour inland, although it looks as if a bridge is being built.

I had a rest at the RSPB cafe where I was hoping to enjoy a nice bacon sandwich but got a sausage one instead. The route from Purfleet to Rainham is a familiar one as it forms part of the London Loop and the last part along Havering River path was one our family's favorite Sunday afternoon walks, when falling into the Thames meant almost certain death, according to my mother. Aveley Marshes were formerly Army shooting ranges and now form part of the RSPB nature reserve. The foreshore is also accessible at this point and the views are quite extensive on a clear day.

On leaving Essex, the first thing you pass in Havering is a landfill site filled up with London rubbish brought by barge. On the day I was walking it was giving off the distinct smell of camphor like a Vics vapour rub. The landfile site is being landscaped and may one day become a country park. The only other thing of note on this stretch is the old wartime barges that were used as flood defences before the Thames Path comes to an abrupt halt just past the Tilda Rice factory. Alas here we wait for the path that should take us all the way to Olympic village.

It's about a mile back to Rainham from the Thames through a very unlovely industrial estate and over a enormous footbridge that crosses the Eurostar line to the 103 bus that carried me home.

What a Scilly name!

2009-05-22T14:12:00.000-07:00

View to Penninnis Head

A Scilly day out with some pictures

2009-05-20T12:35:00.000-07:00

The Scilly Isles are a group of islands about 28 miles south west of Lands End. Only five of the islands are occupied and the resident population is about 2000. The Scillies have their own island council quite independent of Cornwall, which makes them the smallest unitary authority in the UK. They have been inhabited since the Stone Age with several burial sites around the islands. The largest island, St Marys, is where most of the tourists arrive, either by boat or helicopter from Penzance. I chose to fly on a small plane from Lands End airport, which was clearly visible from my campsite.

The climate on the Scillies is quite mild, which is very good for the flower business and the famous tourist attraction, Tresco Abbey Gardens. There were some interesting dark pines on one of islands set against the white sandy beach that made you think of the tropics. The weather for my visit was mild, with sunny intervals and the odd shower. I wouldn't like to be there in an Atlantic storm. What attracts tourists I suppose is the peace and quiet, although I thought there was quite a lot of traffic and the noise of planes taking off could be heard all of the island. There were lots of art and crafts places on St Marys (the only island I visited), boat trips to the other smaller islands, so of which are virtually traffic free. Of interest to me were the tea shops and the remains of the old Garrison.

I couldn't resist the pull of such a remote top and the adventure of travelling in a very small plane. Telegraph Hill (167ft /51m) is the highest point of all the islands and luckily for me it was about a mile from St Mary's airport. I'd venture to say that most of St Mary's was about a mile from the airport. It wasn't hard to find, the clue was in the name. Like all self respecting tops it was adorned by a couple of aerial mast, and for good measure, an odd round tower and a telephone box. After bagging the top, I spent the rest of the day wandering along the coastal footpath and taking regular refreshment.

Click on the slide show for more pictures.

Highlights from the big trip

2009-05-18T13:37:00.001-07:00

The highpoint of the trip, both literally and figuratively, was getting to the top of Dartmoor, all 2037ft / 621m of it on what was an exceptionally good weather day. High Willhays is in the centre of this ridge, with Yes Tor, slightly lower but a bit more impressive on the left hand side.

The whole fortnight was all about high points as I got to the top of 15 out of the 16 hills I set out to bag. The only failure was Carnmenellis in Cornwall, a very unlovely hill with no public access at the top. Kit Hill, also in Cornwall, wins the prize for the best all round views, with Bodmin Moor, Dartmoor and Hensbarrow Beacon and Plymouth all clearly visible. I was extremely lucky with the weather as I didn't get wet once, whilest totting up over 95 miles and over 45 hours of walking. I averaged a cream tea every other day.

Flying over to the Scillies was also pretty exciting, but not a high spot as the plane cruised at only 1000ft. Flying in tiny aircraft is actually quite good fun, but take ear plugs as they are very noisy. It will probably be the one and only time I actually get to fly over a top.

I think the island shown is Bryher, but I'm not too sure.

Beside yomping over the countryside, eating cream teas, I got to visit quite a few National Trust gardens (usually in pursuit of lunch or tea), walked a little bit of the South West Coastal path on each coast (Channel and Atlantic) and did a few other touristy things. (Subjects for later blogs)

Anyone seen Bill or Ben?

Bagging the Big One

2009-05-12T13:11:00.000-07:00

My first UK Mountain

Today was the high point of my trip as I bagged not one mountain but two. High Willhays (2038ft) and Yes Tor (2030ft) qualify as mountains by being over 2000ft. I decided to take advantage of the benign weather as the forecast for the rest of the week isn't good. There was plenty of blue sky and high white cloud with excellent visibility.

Dartmoor is a fairly trackless place and most of the sign posts say helpful things like "To the Moors" which I think most of us could work out. I needed all my map reading skills and the GPS to find High Willhays as it's hidden from view most of the way.

I followed the valley of the West Okement river towards Black Tor, a pretty impressive collection of flat rocks until I came to Blackator Copse (full of ancient oaks) when I had to start going up a very steep gradient. I was looking forward to enjoying the view in splendid isolation but I arrived at the same time as a load of ramblers.

From here I got my first view of High Willhays, a rounded bump about a mile a way. It was very deceptive as the gradient didn't look too strenuous but it didn't stop going up for that mile. Walking on Dartmoor is not particularly pleasant as there are no well defined tracks, and it can be very boggy/rocky. You also have to avoid cows and unexploded ordinance (only the former in my case).

On top of High Willhays it was very, very windy and cold, so I couldn't flourish the map to pinpoint all the other hills and I didn't hang about admiring the view. You could see a very long way in all directions. I went on to Yes Tor, which was a bit more impressive and then had to work out how to get off the hill. After a slight hiccup I was able to re-orientate myself and work out the lie of the land and headed off to the Meldon resevoir and cycleway back to Archie.

This walk lasted over five hours and went on for eight and half miles and was pretty challenging. You need to able to read maps and understand the geography. Dartmoor is an unforgiving place and I was very lucky to find it on such a quiet day, weather wise. You need to have a bit faith in yourself too.

For a fat, fifty-year old who's been living on a diet on cream teas, I didn't do too bad.

Bagging Brown Willy

2009-05-10T12:43:00.000-07:00

Brown Willy Tor is the highest point in Cornwall, at 1378ft it is number 16 on the traditional county list. What it lacks in height, Brown Willy makes up for in remoteness. You can either walk 3½ miles from Jamaica Inn on the A30 or 2 miles from Rough Tor car park. I opted for the shorter route, which meant I had to walk over the second highest hill in Cornwall to get there.

It was a great afternoon for walking, plenty of sunshine and a gentle wind except on the tops where it did blow a bit. The path to Rough Tor was a very easy climb over lawn-like turf well mowed by the resident sheep and horses. Rough Tor is quite distinctive in shape, with high flat stones balanced on top of each other. There is a Logan Rock which you can move. Not being a Marilyn, I didn’t feel the need to explore it but scrambled down the other side towards Brown Willy about a mile and half away, only visible once you breasted Rough Tor.

Someone had thoughtfully put out some blue flags for a cross country race which led all the way to the top. It was a bit of a plod but not as steep as Lewesdon Hill last week. On the way I passed a ruined farmhouse surrounded by trees bent backwards by the wind, testament to how harsh the climate can be.

Brown Willy was marked by a trig pillar and a cairn, no topographs or aerials, with 360° views over Bodmin Moor. It was satisfyingly remote without being a totally knackering walk. I sat by the cairn enjoying the peace, watching kestrels hovering above. I met only three people on route from Rough Tor; one man who nearly caught with my pants down and two young men, obviously attracted by my powerful aura of knowledge, proceeded to quiz me on all thing geographical.

Topping good top!

A Scilly day out

2009-05-07T12:59:00.000-07:00

When I lifted my curtain this morning I was very pleased to see the control tower of nearby Land’s End airport as today is the day of my trip to the Scillies. Yesterday, the airport and most of the campsite were swamped in grey murky mist and so the weather looked kind for my trip. I set away so promptly that I was upgraded to an earlier flight. At the checkin desk, they not only weight your luggage but you as well. I was lucky not to be charged for excess baggage after the numerous cream teas I’ve eaten.

The plane was a Cessna that carried eight people and the pilot in a space rather smaller than the interior of my van. Everyone got a window seat but the best ones are right behind the pilot. It’s a short, noisy but uneventful trip to St Mary’s, the largest island in the Scillies. Land appeared after about ten minutes, green fields and white sandy beaches dotted about in the Atlantic.

Once disembarked from the plane, I headed across the island to the highest point, Telegraph Hill (167ft), about a mile away and clearly visible from the airport. Despite its tiny size, Telegraph Hill has all the attributes of a proper top, it’s a hill and it’s got the obligatory aerial (or two) as well as a weird round building and a telephone box as markers.

Having rapidly dispensed with the business part of the trip, I was free to enjoy the rest of the island in the mild vaguely sunny weather. From Telegraph Hill, I picked up the coastal footpath across the golf course to St Mary’s. There were fine views across to the other islands. The path emerged by Juliet’s Garden Restaurant so I popped in for some tea and cake (seemed rude not to.) Once the food arrived I was joined by some birdlife with a serious addiction to cake and no fear. It was like a scene from the Birds!

I wandered through Hugh Town and did a circuit of the Garrison Walls with splendid views in all directions, taking in all the other islands. Visibility was good and I could see the Bishop’s Rock Lighthouse, with its distinctive helicopter pad about six miles south west of St Mary’s.
Hugh Town looked a little jaded as everyone was recovering from World Gig Boat Racing Championships, which is THE major social event in the Scillies.

Sadly, the weather turned in the afternoon and a soft rain was gonna fall so I retired to yet another tea shop until it improved. I had clear blue skies for the flight home in a slightly larger plane that had a crew of two. The plane did a sweep across the islands which I’m sure was for the amusement of the passengers, so for the first ( and possible last) time I got to fly over a top.

So what do people come all this way for (if not to climb to the highest point.) Most seem to come so they can leave again to visit the other islands, the most popular being Tresco with its famous Abbey gardens. All kinds of boat trips were on offer, sightseeing, wildlife spotting and evening supper trips. St Mary’s has a coastal path, with easy walking and great views. There are even a couple of nature reserves. The only museum was shut though. There were numerous potteries and studios and shops for those who enjoying spending money on holiday. I think you have to enjoy peace and quiet, a more relaxed pace of life and tea shops to get the best out of a holiday here.

The Scillies are pretty remote, there’s only one boat and it takes over three hours from Penzance. However on the quayside a spotted a man using his dongle and everyone had a mobile phone, so not too remote then.

Postcard from Cornwall

2009-05-05T02:33:00.000-07:00

I'm now in Cornwall on my way to Sennen Cove near Lands End.

The weather has lost a bit of its lustre since Sunday but the rain has held off and the weather forecast is for improvement. Let's hope so, because on Thursday I'm flying to the Scillies Isles in a very small plane.

I've bagged a few more tops on the way. I was able to walk up to the trig point at Torbay because someone had left the access gate and there were no keep out signs. There was a good view of the coast and it was quite a nice hill so I thought I'd drive around to get a better view. I went down so of the smallest, unkempt and frankly dangerous roads in Britain, managed to stall on a steep hill in a moment of indecision and roll into a hedge. As the only way out was in reverse, poor Archie went through a hedge backwards.

I went onto to Tesco's at Roborough and walked up to the roundabout which marked the highest point of Plymouth. I actually walked on top of the roundabout, quite what the locals made of this behaviour I don't know. Topping can be very silly at times.

This morning's hill was Carnmenellis (near Redruth). It was always going to be tricky as there is no public access. It was a distinctly unlovely hill covered in gorse and bracken, and shrouded in mist. It was fairly boggy too. The only to the top was trespass through fields, over dry stones walls and through gorse bushes. It has also been quarried and mined and the thought of falling down something, in a place where I had no right to be was stupid, so surprisingly for me, I acted on this sound bit of advice and returned to the van.

Hoping for better luck this afternoon at Watch Croft on the Atlantic coast near St Ives.

Postcard from Dorset

2009-05-02T13:20:00.000-07:00

The weather has been very kind for the Wiltshire/Dorset part of the trip with lots of bright sunshine. I've managed to do three out of the four hills on the Plan. I had to abort the attempt on Hardown Hill as cows appeared to have the right of way on the path I intended to use. I'm going to bag it tomorrow morning before setting off to Cornwall via Torbay (locked up aerial compound) and Plymouth (roundabout near Tescos). Hardly challenging stuff which is just as well as I'm rather knackered after a 10.6 miles 6hour plus walk today.

Today's walk took me up to Lewesden Hill, County Top of Dorset and onto Pilsdon Pen which used to be the County Top until someone decided in 2002 that Lewesden was higher. This was my 25th Traditional County Top. Very nice it was too, a bit of slog up through woods carpeted with bluebell, grassy clearing at the top but no real views because of the trees. I saw more of the hill than I intend as I lost the path down and ended up doing a long, tiring circle in the wrong direction. Definitely not in the place I expected to be!

Pilsdon Pen is an old hillfort so is open with really good views including the sea and Golden Cap. It was also covered in sheep who were a lot friendlier than the attack sheep of Rutland.

Sorry there are no pictures - the dongle is a bit slow.

Off to Cornwall tomorrow on the coast not too far from Falmouth.

The Lickey Hills

2009-04-21T13:39:00.000-07:00

Lickey - Likey - Loved 'em

I visited the Lickey Hills on a brief topping trip to north Worcestershire. I was already rather keen on the place after discovering there was free parking and no height barriers. I had a good snigger driving through Lickey End on the way. The Lickey Hills have been a holiday destination for generations of Brummies since 1888. The locals were out in force despite the rather grey weather. Most of the country park lies within Worcestershire, but a small bit juts into Birmingham and rather fittingly forms the county top.

Rednal Hill, Birmingham, 820ft

The country park includes several hills, you get to Rednal Hill by first walking up Bilbery Hill which is covered in bilberys in summer. There were several view points looking east towards the city, but Birmingham was wrapped in grey blanket so views were rather limited. The path then took a very steep descent down the Hundred Steps and climbed rather less steeply up Rednal Hill. The top was a clump of trees just below the summit with misty views of Beacon Hill across the valley. The route took me across the (first ever) municipal golf course where walkers seemed to outnumber golfers. I mislaid the footpath and had to walk up a very steep bank to the top. Beacon Hill (985ft) had a castle like viewing platform and interesting topograph with an extensive view over Birmingham and beyond.

All in all, an excellent top.

Alternative East Sussex - Brighton & Hove

2009-04-16T13:43:00.000-07:00

Full of eastern promise

Brighton and Hove seceded from East Sussex in 1997 to form a unitary authority and was granted city status in 2000. Brighton is one of the largest towns in the south east and spreads out all over the South Downs from its historic heart around the Royal Pavillion. The Pavillion was built by the Prince Regent in the early nineteenth century so he could enjoy the charms of his mistress/wife Mrs Fitzherbert. The Royal Pavillion is an amazing building inspired by Indian and Chinese architecture. The Music Room is my favorite which I was fortunate enough to see before it was destroyed by fire in 1975, the ceiling was amazing. During the first world war, it was used as a hospital for Indian troops. The Chattri memorial to the troops is high on the Downs to the north of Brighton.

Brighton is very popular with visitors as it has a lot of offer besides some amazing architecture. The West Pier, opened in 1866, is the oldest and is one of the stars of the film, Oh What A Lovely War. The Palace Pier is the one still operating and also frequently features in films and TV. An electric railway runs along the beach. The streets of the original village now form the Lanes full of little boutique shops. Brighton racecourse is on top of the Downs with great views over the town and the sea. The course is u-shaped and cuts across a main road which has to be shut on race days.

I visited Brighton last month when the weather was fantastic, loads of sun and gentle breezes. I camped on the Caravan club site at Sheepcote Valley, which was set in a fold in the Downs and at night you could hear the sheep on the hills above. Brighton has twin peaks, East Hill and Bullock Hill. Sadly neither is a brilliant top, one is halfway up a hill, the other is inaccessible. Hollingbury Castle or the Racecourse would have much much better tops.

East Hill 640ft

East Hill is the southern slope of West Hill to the north of Brighton. The actual summit is in West Sussex. I started this walk from a car park on Devil's Dyke, a beauty spot just off the A23. It was fairly undulating as I racked up over 500ft of ascent in less than 3 miles. I followed the South Downs Way up to the top of West Hill, where I was overtaken by cyclists going a hill that left me breathless. The boundary line crosses the footpath on the descent but with no markers, this was one for the GPS. Not much of a top but a pleasant walk.

Bullock Hill 640ft

Bullock Hill is on the eastern side of Brighton not far from the Racecourse. I wasn't able to park at the nearest car park (height barriers very popular in Brighton) but was able to park quite close by. Bullock Hill is a gentle mound but in true top form boasts an aerial mast. It was completed surrounded by a very secure fence protecting a new crop. The nearest I got to the trig point was about 200 metres from a nearby footpath. It's a bit of shame as there was probably a good view of the coast from up there. I could see chalky cliffs that might have been the Seven Sisters. Another very pleasant walk.

Interesting road sign at the Racecourse

Brighton Racecourse

East Sussex - a lot of ups and Downs

2009-04-11T11:06:00.000-07:00

East, west - east is best!

Top Facts

East Sussex is one of my favorite counties, not least because it is only an hour and half away. Two ranges of hills cross the county, the glorious South Downs running along the coast and the Sussex Weald along the Surrey border, with the Vale of Sussex in between. For contrast there is a marshland area that surrounds the historic little town of Rye.

The South Downs are about to become England’s newest national park. The northern slope rises steeply out the valley making any walk up the scarp slope quite a challenge. There are great views from the top of the downs as they are mostly grassland and usually you get to see the coast as well as inland. The Weald is generally more forested, the highest point in East Sussex is Gills Leap (669ft) in Ashdown Forest. Ashdown Forest is one of the largest open spaces in the south east, a mixture of pines and heaths and famous for being the home of Winnie the Pooh.

East Sussex has a huge variety of interesting places to visit; top billing must go Battle Abbey, the scene of the most famous date in English history. Other historic sites include Pevensey Castle, with huge Roman walls, and Lewes Castle guarding a gap in the Downs. Rye and Winchlesea are two of the historic Cinque Ports, but both are now a long way from the sea. Interesting properties owned by the National Trust include the very first property acquired, Alfiston Clergy House and Batemans, the home of Rudyard Kipling, which even has a dog crèche.

The East Sussex coastlines runs from Rye in the east to Hove in the west taking in some of the most spectacular coastline in Britain, the Seven Sisters and Beachy Head. The beaches are largely shingle but they all face south so are very attractive when the sun shines.

East Sussex also has an excellent county top, Ditchling Beacon 814ft, which ticks most of the right boxes; easily accessible with 360° views and handy car park, (no height barriers). It’s on the South Downs Way starts/finishes at Eastbourne and includes three of the counties five Marilyns, Ditchling, Wilmington Hill and Firle Hill.

The largest town in East Sussex is Brighton, a city since 2000 and unitary authority. As it has two tops of its own, it will be the subject of the next blog.

Riders on the Downs

The Long Man of Wilmington

Sunset over Ditchling Beacon

Looking from Firle Beacon to Wilmington Hill

Noddy and I on Wilmington Hill

East Sussex Marilyns

2009-04-04T14:50:00.000-07:00

I've made two topping trips to East Sussex: one in November 2006 with Noddy when we topped four out of the five Marilyns and last month in the glorious spring weather when I visited all of tops again.

Ditchling Beacon 814ft (County Top)

Ditchling is a favorite of mine and one of the first I bagged. It's easily accessible from the NT car park and there is a panaramic view including the coast, the South Downs, the Sussex Weald and on a clear day the North Downs. From Ditchling you can see all the other Marilyns in East Sussex. The road up to the Beacon is quite a climb, 2nd gear for Archie and often features in major professional cycling race, event the Tour de France has climbed it. The scarp side is very impressive. Noddy and I did a lovely circular walk via Lower Standean through the folds in downs, finishing on the South Downs Way. Highly recommended.

Crowborough 794ft

The whole town of Crowborough is built on the hill so locating the actual top is a bit difficult. The trig point is hidden in a reservoir complex that some baggers, more intrepid than I, have penetrated, or it could be behind this gate in Warren Road. My first visit was a brief photo stop with the engine running outside the Water Board complex. Feeling I hadn't really done Crowborough justice, I made a second attempt to walk there through the woods on the outskirts of town. I gave up after walking in a circle and drove there instead. Just outside Crowborough is the Ashdown Forest, a large sandy heath and plantation with lots of open access. It is best known for being the home of Pooh Bear and where poohsticks was first played.

Firle Beacon (712ft)

Firle Beacon is just to the west of the delightful village of Alfriston, which lies in a gap in the South Downs. It possesses several tempting teashops, a lovely village green and the first National Trust property, the beautiful Clergy House. There are some fine walks along the Cuckmere Valley and if you felt energetic, you could walk to the Seven Sisters cliffs about four miles away. The nearest car park is on top of the downs near the village of Firle up another steep, 2nd gear climb. The view takes in the port of Newhaven and the ferries and nearby Cliffe Hill. It was very popular for all sorts of activities; cycling, horse riding, kite flying and a beginners class for paragliding.

Wilmington Hill (702ft)

Wilmington Hill is to the east of Alfriston along the South Downs Way. I walked with Noddy on the most glorious winter day. We had left home well before dawn and had breakfast in a remote car park just below the hill, (the main one in the village had a height barrier!). There were great panaramic views of the South Downs, which are chalky hills and mainly grazed by sheep, so they are great for walking but can be very breezy.
On my recent trip I walked from the Alfriston to Wilmington to see the Long Man carved into the chalk which isn't really visible from the top of the hill.

Cliffe Hill (538ft)

Cliffe Hill is the lowest Marilyn in England rising up in a great mass just to the east of Lewes, the county town of East Sussex. The shortest way there is from Lewes but I didn't fancy the climb from sea level. The added difficulty is that the top is actually on a golf course requiring some trespassing. I set out from Glynde to the east of the hill and on my way was overtaken by some ramblers I'd see earlier on Firle Beacon. It was a pretty steep climb up the slopes of Mount Caborn (a hillfort) but once again the views were suberb. There were paragliders circling overhead, views of Glynde Place and the folds and valleys hidden from road, with wonderful names like Bible Bottom. The route to top favoured by other toppers involved walking through a farmer's field and over a stile into the golf course. The field was occupied by some very large cows so I reluctantly gave up and returned as daylight was beginning to fade. I'll be having a rematch with Cliffe Hill later in the year.

Two New Tops

2009-04-01T13:12:00.000-07:00

Hooray! Local government reorganisation today has created two new tops (a bit of bugger to anyone who had completed the list).

44 councils (district and county) will be replaced by nine new unitary councils in seven areas. Five areas will have one unitary council (Cornwall, Wiltshire, Shropshire, Northumberland and Durham) while two areas will be split into two unitary administrative units each (Cheshire will become Cheshire West and Chester and Cheshire East, and Bedfordshire will become Bedford Borough and Central Bedfordshire).

So we welcome The Slipe, at 351ft a mere nipple on the landscape, the top of Bedford Borough. Central Bedfordshire inherits the old county top of Dunstable Downs, an altogether more impressive 797ft. Shining Tor (1834ft and Marilyn) is now the top of Cheshire East and Raw Head (745ft & Marilyn) is top of Cheshire West and Chester.

Topping Milton Keynes

2009-03-31T13:08:00.000-07:00

Milton Keynes is place with lots of attractions, Xscape, the Bowl, the shopping centre and the iconic Concrete Cows. It also possesses a top, which turned out to be small but perfectly formed. It was actually a hill, topped with a trig point and the obligatory aerial and completely accessible to the public. The only thing it lacked was a view but as that would have been of Milton Keynes…….

I set off from Apsley Woods (free parking and no heights barrier!) courtesy of the Duke of Bedford. The top of Bow Brickhill (551ft) was about half a mile up a gentle incline through a plantation of conifers. The footpath back went past All Saints church, isolated from the village at the top of hill. Bow Brickhill village had some very pretty cottages on its very steep main street. The return trip to Archie was a bridleway through Woburn Golf Club, the scene of many professional tournaments. You need to keep your wits about you as balls could come at you from any direction. One ball did land very close to me and I had to resist an strong urge to pick it up and walk off with it.

There are lots of interesting place to visit in and around MK. Bletchley Park, home of the WW2 code breakers is just a few miles away. Stowe House is about ten miles away in Buckinghamshire and Silverstone Race track is just over the border in Northamptonshire.

Woburn Golf Club

Bow Brickhill

All Saints Church

East Sussex tops in pictures

2009-03-24T14:15:00.000-07:00

East Sussex has five Marilyns including the county top, Ditchling Beacon, and the twin peaks of Brighton. I bagged 4 of the five Marilyns with Noddy on a glorious November day a few years ago and the Brighton tops last weekend.

A day out in Hertfordshire

2009-03-16T13:19:00.000-07:00

Where hurricanes hardly ever happen....

At the weekend I went walking with my friends, Frances and Trevor, in Ashwell, a pretty little village in north-east Hertfordshire. We had a light lunch in the Rose and Crown (very good) and set off to circumnavigate the village on footpaths, bridleways, byways and lanes. Sunday was a very fine spring day, with virtually no wind and lots of sunshine. There was plenty of birdsong and someone spotted a skylark. We had Ashwell church with it odd little spire in view most of the time. We followed the Icknield Way up Ash Hill, where we had a superb panorama of at least three counties; the transmitter at Sandy to the north, west to the Greensand ridge across Bedfordshire and the Sharpenhoe Clappers and east to the not so pretty cement factory in Cambridgeshire. We had a well-deserved cuppa in the Three Tuns, Ashwell’s other hostelry. After 5½ miles we were too knackered to explore the village but you can see what it looks like with some pictures I took on a previous visit with Noddy. There is a town trail available, taking in the village green by the church, an old watermill, the town lock up and the village pond with stepping stones, which is the source of the River Rhee, a tributory of the Cam and some very interesting old buildings on the main street.

Ashwell Museum

River Rhee

Town Lock Up

The Thames Path - 3

2009-03-11T14:52:00.000-07:00

Kew Bridge to Putney Bridge

I had intended to return home from Kew but the day was sunny and pleasant so I decided to plod on to Chiswick Bridge. Downstream from Kew Bridge on the northern bank is Strand on the Green, a fine row of Georgian houses. There are several interesting pubs I'm looking forward to visiting on the return leg. The Path is temporarily diverted here through the pretty streets of Kew and rejoins the Thames near the National Archives. Approaching Chiswick Bridge I noticed there appeared to be a large number of boats, a whole flotilla in fact. What was taking place was the Head of the River Race (for women). This takes place over the University Boat Race course, but in the reserve direction and with a lot more crews, 300 in all. The race is a time trial and the crews were lining up in their race order for the start at Chiswick Bridge. Obviously I couldn't stop now so I plodded on towards Barnes Bridge.

Strand on the Green

Thames Boat House

Getting ready for the race

University of Birmingham's C team in a bit of a pickle

I decided to take a rest at the White Hart and was settling into a riverside seat when the first boats came past. A big cheer went up as a Cambridge eight went by. Sadly I missed all the Durham crews in the race but I spotted one boat paddling back. I decided to continue to Putney Bridge so I could watch the racing. The towpath on the Surrey bend was crowded with race watchers and locals enjoying the fine spring weather, add loony men on cycles yelling encouragement to their troops, (keep going! how useful is that?) it was only a matter of time before someone got creamed by a bike. That someone was me! The bloke said sorry, took one look at my face, jumped on his bike and rode off before I had a chance to remonstrate. I arrived at Putney as the last boats were finishing. The race was won by an Elite composite crew in 18:28.27 about half a minute ahead of the next boat. I'm pleased to say the Durham A boat finished in the top 10 ahead of both Oxford and Cambridge.

Battling it out

Fulham FC

The finish line at Putney Bridge

The men's Head of the River race takes place on the 21st March 2009

If you are thinking of walking the Thames Path in London, Transport for London produces four excellent leaflets;
London’s Rural Thames – Hampton Court to Chelsea
Heart of London’s River Thames – Albert Bridge to Tower Bridge
Seafaring London by the River Thames – Tower Bridge to the Thames Barrier
London’s Working River – Thames Barrier to Crayford Ness.

The Thames Path - 2

2009-03-11T14:01:00.000-07:00

Richmond to Kew Bridge

Six weeks on I picked up the Thames Path where I left it in Richmond. It was a warmer day, quiet pleasant in the early spring sunshine and no breeze to speak of. I crossed Richmond Green and through the gatehouse of Richmond Palace, the last remaining bit of the Tudor Palace. It was a favorite home of Elizabeth I who died there in 1603.

The section from Richmond to Kew Bridge is just over 3 miles and is very interesting historically. Old Deer Park, once an Elizabethan hunting ground, is now a huge park and home to former Royal Observatory. On the opposite bank is Syon Park, London home to the Dukes of Northumberland. In Syon Park is the only surviving natural river bank of the Thames in London. A couple of battles were fought there as well. The Grand Union Canal enters the Thames at Brentford across the water from Kew Gardens. By Kew Bridge is the Steam Museum with its Italiante campanile. Inside Kew Gardens is Kew Palace, recently restored, once a favorite home of George III and his 15 children.

All the people in the front of this boat appear to be Sherlock Holmes!

Syon House

Crocuses in Kew Gardens

Kew Palace

Kew Bridge Steam Museum

London Loopy

2009-03-05T11:53:00.000-08:00

Old Bexley Village to Jubilee Country Park

The latest leg of the London Loop took me from Bexley station through the heights of Sidcup to Petts Wood in Bromley. It was pleasantly rural throughout with a only a couple of short road stretches.

Five Arches Bridge, Foots Cray Meadow

To read full details of my exploits click here.

Alternative Surrey 3 - Kingston-upon-Thames

2009-02-26T00:00:00.000-08:00

Telegraph Hill (Kingston-upon-Thames) 295ft / 90m

I don’t know if any one else thinks it odd to find reservoirs on the top of hills but there seems to be a recurring theme here (Nottinghamshire, Harrow etc). Telegraph Hill is securely locked away by Thames Water with a very large fence guarding the covered reservoir and telecom masts, de rigeuer for any self-respecting top these days. Telegraph Hill also had a prison-like watch tower. Makes you wonder what they are hiding!

I knew from the hill bagging website that Telegraph Hill was pretty impregnable but it didn’t stop me from having a go. My plan was to assault in the rear by walking through Prince’s Covert, part of the Crown Estate. But first I had to apply for a permit to enter the estate, once the property of Prince Leopold, husband of Princess Charlotte, only daughter of the Prince Regent. Stumping up £5 (refundable) I received my key (no. 1732) and a handy map showing a 3½ mile guided route, I set off to Leatherhead and my campsite.

My pitch was under water after the recent snow but the hardstanding was firm underneath. After one of the coldest nights of the year, Archie was marooned on a little ice floe. I didn’t rush off, waiting for the promised sunshine. I let myself in with key wishing I brought some WD40 to make the lock close more easily. Then I then spent the afternoon with the place pretty much to myself as I saw less than ten people. It was very peaceful with just the odd jet plane disturbing the silence. It’s remarkable how you get away from the madding crowded in a densely populated place like Surrey. It wasn’t very picturesque as it was largely heath and plantation and would be easy to get lost in without following the signs or the map.

Needless to say I couldn’t get access to Telegraph Hill. I got within 500ft but between the reservoir fence and me was a trap shooting range and a barbed wire fence. All that just to protect some water!

Alternative Surrey 2 - Richmond & Merton

2009-02-24T12:23:00.000-08:00

I left Archie behind for this walk which would take me from Wimbledon Station, over Wimbledon Common, through Richmond Park and finally along the River Thames to Richmond Station, about 9 miles in total.

Lauriston Place & Wimbledon Common, (Merton) 180ft / 55m

Lucky old Merton has twin peaks, the first was unobtainable in the back garden of the very large house with the Dutch gable end. The second one was an unmarked spot height in the middle of a scrubby bit of Wimbledon Common, known only to the Wombles. Very unsatisfactory topping, no views and not much of a hill. However I did spot this interesting road sign.

Richmond Park (Richmond) 184ft / 56m

Once I had despatched the Merton tops, I set off towards Richmond following the Capital Ring across Wimbledon Common. As the morning wore on the sun came out but it was pretty cold. Wimbledon Common was alive with activity; dog walkers, strollers, hikers, joggers and runners, cyclists, horse riders and golfers. Not a place for quiet contemplation.

After crossing the A3, I entered Richmond Park via Robin Hood Gate. Richmond Park is London's largest park and seemed even busier than Wimbledon. However away from the gate the crowds thinned out a bit. I spotted some deer posing in the sunshine below the wonderfully named Spankers Hill Wood. I followed the Capital Ring past White Lodge, home of the Royal Ballet School, over the lake and up the hill into the woods. The trig point which marks the highest point is just to the north of Pembroke Lodge (posh café) and just to the east of King Henry’s Mound. As the Mound is definitely higher than the trig point, I assume it doesn’t count as a top as it’s man made. It makes a more impressive top though, with its keyhole view back to St Pauls 10 miles away. St Pauls is framed by an avenue of trees and the view is protected by law. There was a equally impressive view to the west as Richmond Hill fell away to the river. It was too murky to spot Windsor Castle on the horizon, but there were plenty of other points of interest visible.

I wandered down the hill through Pembroke Lodge gardens, through Petersham meadows, along the Thames Path to Richmond Bridge. I collapsed into a seat on the train at Richmond nearly five hours after leaving Wimbledon Station and let the District Line carry me home.

Alternative Surrey 1 - Croydon & Sutton

2009-02-22T12:22:00.000-08:00

Clock House (Sutton) 482ft / 147m

After ticking off Botley Hill in all its manifestations, I went on to camp at Alderstead Heath, intending to walk to the top of Sutton the next day. That day dawned sunny and bright, so I set off in good heart to walk the three and half miles to Clock House. What I hadn’t realised was just how hilly this part of Surrey is as there were two hills in between. The walk to Coulsdon followed the route of the London Loop over Farthing Downs, with some excellent view back towards London and Hampstead Heath on the horizon. However for much of the time it was possible to forget surburbia and just enjoy the beautiful open countryside. Farthing Downs would have made an excellent top for Croydon, were they about eighty feet higher.

It was uphill all the way from Coulsdon until reaching Prospect Plantation where the land levelled off. The actual top was the Clock House recreation ground and luckily the football pitch was deserted as I wandered around like a prospector trying to find the highest point. I was able to enjoy the sunshine and have a picnic in the kids playground, also deserted, before returning by the same route. The walk was ten miles long, took over five hours to complete and climbed over 1200ft. Bloody knackering!

Sanderstead Plantation (Croydon) 574ft / 175m

In contrast with the Sutton walk, the Croydon walk was all over in about twenty minutes. In parked in Church Way and walked to the top of Sanderstead Plantation. The path was steep but mercifully short. There were a few views towards London but otherwise it was all trees and scrub. It was very popular with locals and I think I spotted a fellow topper, a man armed with gps and maps.

I wonder if this is what happens if I put Archie on steroids!

The Surrey Marilyns

2009-02-20T00:00:00.000-08:00

Botley Hill, Parts One, Two and Three

Surrey has one other Marilyn besides Leith Hill, the county top. Botley Hill (876ft / 255m) is more a plateau than a hill with some very steep sides but quite level on top. So level in fact that is quite hard to work out where the highest point is and last October, the ‘top’ was relocated to its present position, near a water tower and ubiquitous radio mast. This is a bit of a bummer for everyone who has visited the former location, a trig point near the Woldingham Road, me included, who will now have to troop out to Surrey the bag the new top.

I had visited Botley Hill One on a mild, grey day in December 2006 on my way to bag the top of Kent. It was only about a sort distance from where I left the van. Easy and convenient! In January 2009 I returned to the same car park near Titsey Place hoping to combine Botley Hill Two (the relocated top) with Botley Hill Three (the former county top of Greater London). On a day with better weather and more time this would make quite a good walk. However, on the chosen day it was hard to tell if the North Downs were cloaked in high mist or low cloud. With visibility was down to 100 metres there was a real chance of getting lost. It was so bad I had to wear my high visibility jacket.

Botley Hill Three (837ft / 255m) is a point in someone’s back garden which was part of Greater London between 1965 and 1993 before Surrey reclaimed this area with a boundary change. It took me just over 30 mins to walk to Waylands House, peer over their wall and take the obligatory photo. It was so misty I probably could have wandered around their garden unapprehended but I had to make do with getting within 150 feet. Topping can be very silly at times!

I decided to relocate Archie to another car park within half a mile of Botley Hill Two. However I missed the turn off and had to drive all the way round the hill via the village of Woldingham. It looked and felt more like the Peak District than Surrey. I imagine there was quite a nice view from the car park as it was atop the scarp side but visibility here was down to a few yards. It was still possible to hear the M25 less than a mile away though. Botley Hill Two is just off the Vanguard Way and the actual top was barred by very large fence and some severe warnings protecting the water tower and telecom masts. No views here either, even in good weather.

Surrey - with the tower on top

2009-02-17T00:01:00.000-08:00

Highest point in Southern England?

Top Facts

Surrey is quite a hilly place by southern standards, with the North Downs running across the whole of northern part of the county. At 965ft Leith Hill is not quite the highest part of southern England (that honour goes to Walbury Hill by 9ft) but it doesn’t stop the National Trust from advertising it at such. The hill is crowned by a 18th century Gothic tower which affords panoramic views as far as the English Channel. Apparently on a clear day you can see 13 counties. But on this particular day I could see only one.

I had to abandon the planned walk due to the dreaded height barrier (alive and well in Surrey) so Noddy and I walked from the Windy Gap car park up the staircase to the tower. This was a climb of over 200ft in a quarter of mile and left one of us rather breathless. The gatekeepers kindly kept an eye on Noddy while I climbed up the tower, but despite being a warm dry day (a bit of rarity in 2007), it was far too hazy to see more than a few miles.

Surrey has lots of very big, very posh houses some of which you can visit, like Polesdon Lacy near Leatherhead. Only the gardens were open in winter as the house became the latest location for Midsomers Murders. I didn’t see any of the cast at work but I nearly reversed over Tom Barnaby’s wife as I was extricating myself from the car park. There were some excellent views back towards London. National Trust members are spoilt for choice in Surrey with a fine selection of houses, gardens and open spaces to choose from.

Box Hill is probably the most well known open in Surrey, popular with walkers, cyclists and motor cyclists. As it wasn't a Marilyn, I didn't feel obliged to walk up it but made Archie do all the hard work. It has some of the best hairpin bends in the south of England. Despite being a bit of honey-pot, it covers such a large area that it's quite easy to get away from it all. Just watch out for the mountain bikers swooping past. On a clear day, you get great views of the South Downs from the viewpoint. I opted for the waymarked short route through the woods, then a steep climb down some steps into a valley and then a long plod up the valley back to the car park. For those of you who like a challenge, the walk up the steep side is about half a mile and climbs nearly 500ft. It is a very impressive hill, well worth a visit.

Surrey tops in pictures

2009-02-15T11:59:00.000-08:00

There are two Marilyns in Surrey. Leith Hill, the County top, is often billed as the highest point in Southern England (it isn’t.) Botley Hill is a large plateau with very steep sides on the borders of Greater London. Five London boroughs were created from northern Surrey; Croydon, Kingston, Merton, Richmond and Sutton. I bagged the county top with Noddy in 2007 and the remaining tops on three trips in early 2009.

The Thames Path - 1

2009-02-08T11:06:00.000-08:00

Hampton Court to Richmond

After dabbling with bits of the Thames Path, I decided that this year that I'd walk the part within Greater London from Hampton Court in the west to Crayford Ness in the east, a distance of about 50 miles. The Thames Path is easy walking, nice and flat, no maps required - just follow the river (and the many signposts) and easily accessible by public transport. The journey to Hampton Court should have been quite straightforward, District line to West Ham, Jubilee line to Waterloo and from there to Hampton Court. However on last Saturday, it turned into some kind of Test as there was no District line, no Jubilee line, no Circle line and no Drain (Waterloo and City line)! It took nearly two hours by replacement bus, C2C, walking to St Pauls where I caught the 176 bus to Waterloo. Luckily I had a very good book, Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson which kept me chuckling away throughout the journey.

The Thames Path is only available on the northern bank between Hampton Court and Kingston Bridge and runs alongside Hampton Court Palace and Home Park. The opposite bank is home to rowing clubs and big houses. The towpath is very popular with cyclists and runners and the river was very busy with people messing about, usually eights or fours, being followed by a little launch with a big man and a megaphone. Not exactly a place for quiet contemplation. I opted to walk the last mile through Home Park which is huge and almost deserted, the ground being far too firm for horses. Here it was possible to imagine yourself in the countryside for a little while and enjoy the view back along the Long Water to the Palace.

At Kingston the Path crosses over the bridge back to the southern bank, passing a handy John Lewis store on the way. In Tudor times, Kingston Bridge was next crossing point upstream from London Bridge and must have been a welcome sight for the oarsman on their way to Hampton Court. The Path passes through some municipal gardens and along Lower Ham Road before becoming rural again at the Ham Lands nature reserve. The next crossing point is Teddington Lock, the upper reach of the tidal Thames and scene of the famous fish slapping dance from Monty Python. At this point the Path follows both banks on the Thames but I stayed on southern side.

Beyond Teddington Lock, there is a brief glimpse of Strawberry Hill House, a leading example of Gothic revival architecture. A bit further along is Ham House, where I stopped off for some welcome light refreshment. Only the gardens were open. Almost opposite was Marble Hill House, home of the mistress of George II. After Ham House the Path emerges from the woods and you get some fine views of Richmond Hill and monolithic Star and Garter Home. This part of the towpath was quite popular, even on a raw cold day, with riverside meadows and eateries, and small children tottering towards the unguarded edge, but I think the ice cream man was rather hopeful.

I left the Path at Richmond and headed back to the railway station across Richmond Green, surrounded by more Georgian architecture. I had a vague memory of getting drunk in a nearby pub during a hot summer in the late 1970’s. It took me nearly five hours to cover the nine miles from Hampton Court, (it felt further). I then had the joy of working out how to get home (District line to Westminster, Jubilee line to West Ham, C2C to Barking, replacement bus to home in just under 2 hours). It was a fairly uneventful journey until we reached Earls Court when every New Zealander in London got in my carriage on their way to celebrate Waitangi Day. (The Mayor’s no drinking policy on the Tube was working well!).

If you are thinking of walking the Thames Path in London, Transport for London produces four excellent leaflets;
London’s Rural Thames – Hampton Court to Chelsea
Heart of London’s River Thames – Albert Bridge to Tower Bridge
Seafaring London by the River Thames – Tower Bridge to the Thames Barrier
London’s Working River – Thames Barrier to Crayford Ness.

Alternative Kent Tops - Part Two

2009-02-04T13:41:00.000-08:00

The London Boroughs

Westerham Heights (Bromley and Greater London) 804ft

In 1965 , the boroughs of Bexley and Bromley were formed out of the northern part of Kent. Bromley is the largest London Borough in area and is surprising rural and rather hilly. Westerham Heights became the highest point in Greater London after a boundary change in 1993 and thus is actually a county top. (Greater London is a ceremonial county with a Lord Lieutenant etc..). I set off before dawn and timed my journey to arrive at the top of the hill in time for sunrise and I missed it by about a minute. The top was an unmarked spot in a field. This is one county top you could do by bus as the 246 to Westerham goes right by.

I drove on to High Elms Country Park (free car park and no height barrier- thank you Bromley) for breakfast before having a brisk morning walk through the woods and gardens. This part of Bromley is very rural and I drove down some very narrow lanes past Downe House, the home of Charles Darwin which has recently been restored by English Heritage.

Langdon Shaw, Sidcup (Bexley) 272ft

It was a fairly short drive from Orpington to Sidcup, for the very unremarkable top of Bexley. According to my GPS the top is the garden near the white van. I did a circuit of Langdon Shaw and there was actually quite a good view south towards Shooters Hill, but there's much else you can really say about this one. (It can be a very silly hobby at times).

Last stop before returning home for lunch, was Hall Place, which was closed for refurbishment. I wandered around the gardens for a bit, but sadly the A2 runs alongside so it was a bit noisy.

Alternative Kent Tops - Medway

2009-02-03T13:05:00.000-08:00

Holly Hill, 558ft

Medway is that little bit of Kent at the mouth of the river Medway, including the historic towns of Chatham and Rochester. The highest point is Holly Hill, on the North Downs. It's an unmarked spot in a field and isn't even at the top of the hill, which is across the border in Kent.

As Holly Hill is about 30 miles from home, I decided to go topping on a Sunday morning and be home in time for lunch. It should have been a short jaunt from the car park but guess what! another height barrier! So it was going to be a much longer jaunt through the woods from a layby. I set off well before dawn to get through the Dartford tunnel before 6am to avoid the tolls. However that meant I had to spend a hour in total darkness in a layby miles from anywhere. I spent most of the time thinking how to explain what I was doing if apprehended by the forces of law and order as I had in my possession, 3 maps, 2 GPS receivers, mobile phone, camera and binoculars, the complete stalking kit. It was actually quite pleasant setting off in the murky dawn, listening to the dawn chorus, plodding uphill through the woods. Armed with my new GPS I wandered around a large field attempting to find the highest point. Luckily this trespass was obscured from anyone by the misty weather.

I spent some time afterwards having a look around Rochester, which has a castle, cathedral and a strong association with Dickens.

The Kentish Marilyns

2009-02-01T12:07:00.000-08:00

Kent has two Marilyns, Detling Hill on the North Downs near Maidstone and Cheriton Hill, the most easterly Marilyn, just outside Folkstone. Once again I visited these in the dead of winter a few years ago accompanied by Noddy.

Detling Hill, 656ft

Anyone travelling to Maidstone on the A249 can bag this hill by visiting White Horse Wood Country Park unless you happen to own an overheight vehicle! (What is it with Kent and height barriers?) Noddy and I took the scenic route along the North Downs Way from the car park at Cobham Manor. It was a very pleasant walk via the village of Thurnham and the ruins of the local castle. There were panaramic views of the Weald of Kent from a newly built viewpoint but that wasn't the top of the hill, which probably lay within the grounds of a bus collector.

Cheriton Hill, 617ft

Cheriton Hill will be familiar to anyone who has travelled on Le Shuttle to France. It's the large hill with very sheer side that looms over Eurotunnel. Wisely I decided to walk up the less steep side from my campsite in Densole. The top itself could have been anywhere on a plateau, but you did get some good views of Folkestone and the sea. I was actually quite lucky with weather too. The return journey took me through Hawkinge, a famous WW2 fighter station.

Kent - worst top yet

2009-01-31T14:27:00.000-08:00

Gloom in the garden of England

Top Facts

All my topping trips to Kent have taken place in the winter, hence the gloomy photos. Kent has one of the worst tops possible with the actual location in the back of someone's garden and no views at all. This was as close as I could get without committing trespass.
Betsom's Hill is on the North Downs across the road from Westerham Heights, (the highest point in Greater London). I wandered up there along the North Downs way with some impressive views (which sadly included the M25.) Next time you stop at Clacketts Lane Services, lift up your eyes to the hills and you'll be looking at the highest point of Kent and Bromley.

Kent tops in pictures

2009-01-27T13:18:00.000-08:00

If ever you needed proof that topping is a very silly hobby, look no further than Kent. One traditional top, two marilyns and three unitary authority tops and not a decent view (or very good photo) to show for it.

Isle of Ely - first top of 2009

2009-01-24T12:50:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year, Dear Readers

You could be forgiven for thinking that lack of blogging in the last few months means I've been hibernating over the winter, but you'd be wrong. I've been topping in Nottinghamshire, Kent and Surrey and spent the last few days of 2008 camping in Thetford Forest.

You may remember that the week after Christmas was rather cold, with temperatures just above freezing, and if you are thinking I'm mad to go camping, there were some really hard people in tents! It was rather chilly, but it's amazing how warm you can keep with two duvets, a sleeping bag and hot water bottle, not to mention the electric fire.

Thetford Forest is huge, it's the largest lowland forest in Britain, big enough to hide an Army training ground which was where the outdoor scenes in Dad's Army were shot. However, low winter light and trees are not conducive to photography so I didn't take any pictures. I did however do quite a bit of walking, as it was the only way to keep warm, including a 10 mile circuit involving the Peddars Way and the Great Eastern Pingo trail. (A pingo is a small lake left over from the ice age not a Norfolk penguin.)

On the way home I visited the Isle of Ely and bagged the first top of the year. Ely was an independent county until 1965 when it was swallowed up by Cambridgeshire. The cathedral is an absolute treasure and is stuck on the top of quite a hill (for East Anglia). However it was not the high spot of the country (altitudinally speaking), that honour goes the recreation ground in Haddenham. People there must wonder why every so often, walkers armed with maps, compasses and GPS gravitate the mound by the football pitch. Luckily for me it was deserted as I wandered around looking for the exact spot. Sadly there was no view back to Ely Cathedral

Sun, Sand and Sea in Sheppey

2008-11-10T14:33:00.000-08:00

Well two out of three ain't bad.....

If Kent is the ‘Garden of England’ then the Isle of Sheppey is the bit behind the shed where you dump the rubbish. My first ever holiday was at Leysdown and this was my first visit since. My mother was so deeply traumatised by the event that she has never been back and shudders when I mention caravanning as a holiday option. Sheppey still has plenty of unattractive caravan parks but I was surprised to find that large parts were nature reserves, Swale (English Nature) and Elmley (RSPB). Leysdown is also very important historically as the first powered flight took place at Muswell Manor in 1909.

I had arranged to meet my friend Frankie in the Coastal Country Park for an eight mile hike around the Isle of Harty, the most easterly part of Sheppey. Using the miracle of modern technology, I had the kettle boiled and the bacon crisped as she pulled up. We revised our plans as we munched as the weather was cold, wet and windy. It was very pleasant watching the oyster catchers and redshanks from the comfort of the van. I prevailed upon Frankie to drive us a mile up the bumpy coast road, past the Nudist beach, strangely empty, to Shellness. Shellness hamlet is a collection of coastguard cottages that now appear to be bijou holiday homes.

Our destination was the Swale National Nature Reserve, a mass of saltmarsh grazed by cattle and home to a variety of water fowl, foreign and domestic. I would have enjoyed the wide views and big skies, but my vision was blurred by the raindrops on my glasses. We took refuge in one of the hides and Frankie introduced me to the fine art of birdwatching. She identified about twenty different species, from small brown jobs like greenfinches to much larger birds like greylag geese, curlew and heron. I enjoyed the peacefulness of the hide and appreciated the great variety of birdlife that can exist in one place, but I’ll never have the patience required for this hobby. It all got quite exciting when Frankie thought a beautiful bird with black wing tips might be a Montague's harrier, a rare visitor to these shores. Phone calls were exchanged between experts and texts dispatched before the bird was identified as a male Marsh Harrier, later confirmed by the bird book.

We returned to the car and thence to the van and went in convoy to the Harty Ferry Inn for a well deserved lunch and a stroll to the local church. With the caravans hidden from view, you could really enjoy the views of the Swale Estuary and salt marshes, imagining yourself back in the days of smuggling and convict hulks, such is the isolated nature of the place. Or just lose yourself in nature for a couple of hours in the company a good mate.

Fingringhoe Wick

2008-11-04T14:13:00.000-08:00

I had arranged to meet up with friends Frances and Trevor for lunch, afternoon walk and tea. I live in south west Essex, my friends live in north west Essex, so naturally we agreed to meet up at Tipree, which is on the other side of the county. Our rendezvous was the Tiptree Jam Factory which I'm sure is a tourist attraction unique to Essex; you can buy jam, eat jam and look around the little museum. Despite some rather dire weather warnings, it was a very pleasant mild autumn day with plenty of blue sky and the occasional ray of sun.

Our ultimate objective was Fingringhoe Wick, a nature reserve on the Colne Estuary not far from Colchester. This reserve, owned by the Essex Wildlife Trust was created from old gravel pits and has a variety of habitats; ponds, heathland, woodland and best of all the saltmashes. The views over the Colne Estuary from the tower on the Visitor Centre were terrific.

We meandered around the reserve, pretending to be bird watchers. Not difficult really as there were loads of them practising formation flying over the river. I guess the trick is to be able to identify them. Frances spotted a kingfisher and we think that the flying formations were geese, possibly Brent. There were hides dotted about all over the reserve and many, many seats, a testament to how many people really loved the place.

We were enjoying a post-walk cuppa in Archie (my van) when we were approached by a man carrying an axe. He turned out to be the very friendly and informative warden making sure we had enjoyed our visit. We had found yet another quiet, beautiful, relaxing place in Essex. Who knows, the lesser spotted librarian might become yet another frequent winter visitor!