Griffmonsters Great Walks: Search results for St Osyth

Monday, 21 February 2022

The Essex Coast - St Osyth to Wivenhoe

Author: Griffmonster | Monday, 21 February 2022 | 1 comment |

St Osyth to Wivenhoe

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

All weekend the weather forecasters were issuing weather warnings of torrential rain for the Tuesday that we were due to walk this section. As it happened, the rain came down in the night and the walk up the Colne Estuary turned out to be a sunny day and a well worth walk. Even though this was the longest section that entailed some road walking and a couple of errors in navigating it was probably the most rewarding of the weeks walks.

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.

St Osyth to Wivenhoe - Essential Information

Walk Statistics (calculated from GPX):

Start location: St Osyth
End location: Wivenhoe
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, 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: 07/09/2010
Walk Time: 10:00:00 to 17:00:00
Walkers: Griff, Kat
Weather Conditions: Warm blue skies, patchy clouds

Walk Notes

Route: From the north side of St Osyth creek a footpath leads out along the Creek then up to the main road. A little road walking is needed before a footpath can be taken back down to the creek and into Brightlingsea. Walk directly through the town to the seafront, from here a track following the former Brightlingsea railway line leads up to Alresford Creek. Although there is a ford across the creek marked on the OS map, it certainly isn't passable with many references in books and on the web attesting to there being 4-5ft of mud that you will inevitable sink into. So an excursion via Brightlingsea Hall is needed for the final stage along the old railway into Wivenhoe.

Pub: Kings Head, Brightlingsea: a nice enough looking building but unfortunately a Greene King house. It wasn't until after completing this section that I reread the chapter in Peter Catons Essex Walks where he mentioned the Railway Tavern being a microbrewery. We walked past this after visiting the Kings Head.. If only I had paid more attention to that chapter. If only. Never mind, next time.

Pub: Rose and Crown, Wivenhoe: a lovely old quayside pub that had Ridleys Boondoggler on their selection of ales, a very fine pint of ale and a very fine name as well.

Walk Feature: Batemans Tower, Brightlingsea: this is a Victorian folly built in 1883 by John Bateman for his daughter to recuperate from consumption. During The Second World War the original roof of the folly was removed so that the tower could be used as an observation post by the Royal Observer Corps. In 2005, a restoration project funded by The Heritage Lottery Fund took place to restore the tower to its original condition, including the fitting of a replica of the original roof, refurbishing the interior of the tower and also painting the outside. As we walked past the tower looked distinctly on the wonk!

Walk Feature: Wivenhoe and Brightlingsea railway: the path follows the old trackbed to Wivenhoe. Unfortunately the old swing bridge across Alresford Creek has long gone which facilitates the need to walk around the creek.

Walk Feature: Thorrington Tide Mill: a picturesque timber framed mill built in 1831.

Notes: Care should be taken as you walk down the footpath from St Osyth as it is easy to just carry on alongside the creek until the path becomes increasingly marshy - the correct route is through a hedge and up to the nature reserve. Here we were informed by some chap who had parked on the track to make sure that we kept to the footpath which is fenced off from the track as the landowner doesn't like people walking across his land. This appears to be a common problem in Essex which was mentioned in passing on numerous occasions. Another mistake was to take the roughly paved track off the main road adjacent to where the track came out, as there was no pavement along the main road - this track leads to nowhere and there is a fence that separates it from the road meaning that we had to retrace our steps. Altogether though the walk was a real treat with a variation of terrain. A most adventurous day by all means, seeing follies and creeks and industrial heritage and then arriving in the modernised waterfront at Wivenhoe which is in keeping with the area.

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! As mentioned at the head of this particular blog, the night was pretty stormy but the camp site appears to sit in a sheltered hollow which certainly kept us out of the worse of the wind and although we had some rather deep puddles in the main tent the sleeping compartments remained relatively dry.

Transport: First Group bus service 4 from Thorpe-le-Soken to Clacton, First Group bus service 17 to St Osyth. Return train from Wivenhoe to Thorpe-le-Soken. I know you may think I am exaggerating or seeing things or that it was merely a figment of my twisted and confused mind but we bought a ticket on Wivenhoe station from A TICKET OFFICE with a TICKET OFFICE ATTENDANT. I am sure many people will think I have lost my mind on seeing such but it is true I tell you!

Summary of Document Changes

Last Updated: 2022-02-21

2010-09-17 : Initial publication

2022-02-21 : Convert to summary format

Images

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Coast Walk , Distance:Hike , Essex , Essex Coast Walk , Features:Mills , Features:Notable Buildings , Features:Railway Heritage , OSmap:184 , summary

The Essex Coast - Walton-on-the-Naze to St Osyth

Author: Griffmonster | | 2 comments |

Walton-on-the-Naze to St Osyth

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

A promenade walk that runs most of the way from Walton through to Jaywick that makes an easy and pleasant afternoons stroll. This was undertaken on the Saturday afternoon with crowds of day visitors making the most of the sea, sun and sand before Autumn ushered in .

NOTE

Walton-on-the-Naze to St Osyth - Essential Information

Walk Statistics (calculated from GPX):

Start location: Walton-on-the-Naze
End location: St Osyth
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, Beach

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: 04/09/2010
Walk Time: 12:45:00 to 17:45:00
Walkers: Griff, Kat
Weather Conditions: Hazy blue skies, fairly warm

Walk Notes

Route: Follow the seafront path through to Jaywick from where a path along the sea defences leads to St Osyth Beach. Although the path continues here it runs into barriers down into the sea preventing access to Point Clear, so we used the track up to the main road to St Osyth. There was an option to walk into Point Clear but with time pressing on and the last bus not far off we waited for the ride back into Clacton in order to catch a train back to base-camp. I have walked between Point Clear and St Osyth on numerous occasions in the past having friends who lived in Point Clear so I may include this simple walk in the blog at a later date.

Pub: Moon and Starfish, Weatherspoons Pub, Clacton: this is on the corner of main road just up from the pier. A typical busy Weatherspoons pub with a variety of ales at very good prices.

Walk Feature: Jaywick: it may seem strange to mention Jaywick as a walk feature, but I include this as Peter Catons 'Essex Coast' book mentions that Clacton people call Jaywick a Shanty Town and to appreciate this fact you really need to go there and walk through it. Rows of seafront wooden chalet houses, some derelict, some inhabited and others not, but all in varying states of disrepair. Each chalet has a garden and in most cases each garden is uncared for with laundry hanging to dry amongst rubble and rubbish whilst cars are parked up alongside on the unmade roads. Every so often there is one home where someone has spent a bit more time to present a more tidy house, but these are very much in the minority.

Walk Feature: Martello Towers: These were built as defensive forts during the Napoleonic wars. There are 5 Martello towers between Clacton and Point Clear, the 3 at Clacton are unused, one at Jaywick Holiday camp is used as an arts venue for visual and digital arts and has an observation tower and the one at Point Clear is used as an aviation museum

Notes: Walton-on-the-Naze is the home to propensity of beach huts! I have never seen so many in one place, they are terraced up the cliff face in places. The walk along the promenade walking was very easy, although a bit hard on the soles of the feet on the concrete surface.

As we approached Holland-on-Sea wall notices informed us of the distance along the promenade to Clacton to encourage people to walk for health reasons. Not sure why anyone really would want to walk for health reasons. It is far better to walk for pleasure. The notices gave their distances in km which I can work with quite comfortably in mathematical terms but certainly do not understand as a walking parameter. I am not so sure whether anyone took the messages offer up, there were plenty of people about but most seemed content with sitting by ice-cream shops and beach huts and a few would make us jump as they cycled up behind us. As we headed out to Jaywick we saw fewer and fewer people until there was no-one out along the seawall to St Osyth beach apart from a lone walker with a small rucksack on his back who passed us in the opposite direction.

It is somewhat unfortunate that we couldn't walk down to Point Clear as I have very fond memories of walking the marsh up St Osyth Creek. Many years ago I even helped salvage a decaying boat from the marshes and many a pint has been supped at the Ferry Boat Inn and Old Ma Gradys Good Time Emporium (which has now gone). Even the bus service has changed since those halcyon days, I remember it as a small friendly hopper service with a helpful friendly driver - now it is the familiar advertising infested First Group bus complete with grumpy driver.

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 Walton-on-the-Naze, return from St Osyth to Clacton on First group 17 bus service, return to Thorpe-le-Soken by train from Clacton. Clacton station early Saturday evening is devoid of any impression of it actually being a working railway! If the idle carriages had not been standing on the platforms I would have thought this was part of Mr Beechings cuts back in the 1960's. The station building is up for sale. Iron railings bar virtually all entrances onto the platform. Tickets have to be bought from a machine and the toilets are locked with a notice on them informing that the police will be monitoring them for indecent behaviour. There was no sign of a policeman, unless he had locked himself in the loo as part of a surprise arrest. In fact, there was no sign of anyone apart from a couple of would-be passengers looking equally as lost as us. Sorry to rant, but maybe, just maybe, dear National Express if you are listening, if you put a little personality and soul and presence into these places we wouldn't have indecent behaviour and locked loos and deserted stations. As it was, the place gave the impression that I had woke up on an intergalactic space freighter where the only company was the tannoy which offered messages in a computerised woman's voice about an impending arrival and the nearest human being was several light years away and the only other lifeforms is some alien being who likes to do indecent things to unsuspecting humans.