The Essex Coast - Wivenhoe to Salcott ~ Griffmonsters Great Walks

Tuesday, 22 February 2022

The Essex Coast - Wivenhoe to Salcott

Author: Griffmonster | Tuesday, 22 February 2022 | No comments |

Wivenhoe to Salcott

The fifth stage of a weeks walking along the Essex Coast between Manningtree and Maldon.

This stage of the walk touched the outskirts of Colchester at Hythe where the first bridge across the river Colne is found. Then it was a case of following the river back down to Rowhedge. This part involved a lot of road walking as there is a military range along the banks of the Colne and the next time we would see the coast would not be until Tollesbury.

NOTE

This is a walk summary intended to provide the user with just the essential information in order to navigate the walk route. Fully detailed information notes, refreshment stops and walk features are not included in this. A full write up will be included in the near future.

Wivenhoe to Salcott - Essential Information

Walk Statistics (calculated from GPX):

Start location: Wivenhoe
End location: Salcott
Distance: miles ( km)
Total Gain: ft ( metre)
Total Descent: ft ( metre)
Min Height: ft ( metre)
Max Height: ft ( metre)
Walk Time:
Walk Grade: Easy
Terrain: Footpath, Country Lane, Road

Maps:

The following maps and services can assist in navigating this route. There are links to printed maps and links to downloadable GPX route data for importing into navigational software and apps.

Ordnance Survey Explorer Map: OS Explorer 184 - Colchester
GPX Route File

Route Verification Details

Date of Walk: 08/09/2010
Walk Time: 09:30:00 to 13:30:00
Walkers: Griff, Kat
Weather Conditions: Overcast but warm

Walk Notes

Route: There is a riverside path on both sides of the Colne from Wivenhoe to Hythe, then back to Rowhedge. From here, footpaths lead down to the Roman River and into Fingringhoe. There are no footpaths across country, so from here it is a hike along the relatively busy country B-road which leads all the way through to Salcott.

Pub: The Plough, Peldon: nice enough village pub. Both the kitchen staff and the landlady took an interest in where we were walking and thankfully advised us not to continue to Salcott as our expected bus back to Colchester did not exist. They only had Greene King IPA on tap at the time as they were awaiting their weekly delivery

Walk Feature: Fingringhoe Tide Mill: beautiful old building on the banks of the Roman River. Sadly it ceased operations in the early 1990s and has been refashioned as private houses

Notes: Before we set out on this walk the caretaker at Grange Farm campsite told us a story about some chap he used to know in the past. This particular chap lived in Wivenhoe, yet he worked across the river in Rowhedge. To cut a long story short, he swam to work. I can't say that I have ever known anyone who swam to work. Although this was an alternative method to crossing the river, we elected to walk the 5 miles to Rowhedge via the bridge at Hythe!

It was good to see that Fingringhoe village still has a post office. This was a buzz of activity when we paid a visit. A true social hub, just like it should be. We purchased pasties and Mars bars for nourishment, bottles of drink on special offer and an anniversary card that was duly written with borrowed pen and passed the sealed envelope to the post mistress to include in the mail. An excellent little shop and glad to see it is still open and thriving. If you pass through the village do pay a visit.

As the title of this blog states, we had originally intended to walk through to Salcott from where the last bus to Colchester left Salcott corner at 16:30. This time was according to a bus timetable that I had printed off the internet the week before the walk. The bus prior to that was at 13:00 and there was no way we could make that time from Peldon. However the landlady at the Peldon Plough informed us that the 16:30 bus did not exist. A little disheartened we decided our best option would be to take the 67 service from Peldon back to Colchester and forsake the additional 3-4 miles of B-road walking. This was to prove a very wise move as when we arrived at Colchester we sought out the relevant timetables at the bus station and sure enough that bus was not listed.

Accommodation: Grange Farm Camp Site, Thorpe-le-Soken - an excellent and recommended site with basic facilities and friendly staff. It is close to the railway station and has a resident owl.

Transport: Train from thorpe-le-soken to Wivenhoe. Return bus from Peldon to Colchester, Train back to Thorpe-le-Soken. It was cheaper to buy a Colchester return train fare than it was to get a single to Wivenhoe, then a single back from Colchester