Essex Man Does Walking

Sometimes some of the sections of a trail are fairly monotonous but necessary. This is one of those. Don’t get me wrong it is a lovely walk, the views across the estuary are nice on a good day and there are plenty of places to stop. However, it is flat and fairly straight all the way from beginning to the end.

The walk is nearly 9 miles, with a total ascent of 40ft so basically flat. I started the walk about 10:15 and finished at 12:45, so 2.5 hours at my walking speed. Both ends of the trails can be accessed by rail.

It was a lovely day and I walked the mile from my house to the start at Leigh on Sea train station. You can get some lovely views across the estuary and Two Tree Island, with Canvey just in the distance.

If you arrive by rail, exit the station and walk across the crossing, heading over the tracks. There is some stairs down here which lead you onto a road past the marina and the ‘fairly’ famous cockle sheds of Old Leigh.

The road will take you to the entrance to Old Leigh and you can walk down the cobbled road or turn right and head down the actual coastal path which winds through the alleys and joins back with the road just before the end of the high street.

From here it is a straight walk beside the rail track down past Chalkwell station into the area known as Chalkwell Bay. The path widens here with a cycle track and the road nearby. It is always fairly busy here on a sunny day, plenty of families with their kids, runners and dog walkers. As you continue on the route you will notice the ‘Crowstone’. This marks the end of London’s jurisdiction over the Thames.

Continuing on the walk you pass the Cliffs Pavilion up the hill to the left and the Casino on your right. In a classic seaside way the road is lined with palm trees and as you keep going you will start to see the worlds longest pleasure pier, being 1.33 miles in length. It is a good walk along the pier on a nice day and you can get the train back!

The pier marks the start of the Southend ‘Golden Mile’ of arcades, pubs and Adventure Island. The high street is also easily accessed here if you need any supplies or just want to look around. The neglected Kursaal marks the end of this stretch and the path continues past the Sea Life centre and onwards to the more salubrious area of Thorpe Bay before getting to Shoebury.

This is a good place to have a breather with Uncle Tom’s cabin nearby for refreshments and enables you to look across the estuary. It is here you might see the remains of the SS Richard Montgomery. This was an American cargo ship wrecked in August 1944 carrying 1400 tonnes of explosives. Nobody knows quite what to do with it so it is just left there.

Going on past Uncle Tom’s cabin you find you cannot go any further by the beach. It is closed off by the Ministry of Defence due to the possibility of unexploded ordnance from the original ranges at the old Shoebury Garrison. Instead you have to head to the left and then through gates towards the Coastguard tower before re-joining the path.

The old Garrison and ranges are now a conservation area and a very expensive new build estate which you wander past. Evidence of the old MoD buildings are still apparent as you walk on the coastal path. The path wanders away from the coast and around some houses before heading back to East beach. The walk continues along the beach before you can go no further as you have now reached the new MoD site. The coastal path continues around this but this is where I finished and headed back to the station to get the train back to Leigh.

The next walk around the creeks looks interesting so I shall get on and plan those.