John has spent the weekend with his father again, but Helen has driven back to Cheltenham this morning, leaving John at Witham where he joins Ben and Gary on a Clacton bound train from Liverpool Street. Mike has also been visiting relatives in Essex and joins at Colchester where he has parked his car for collection tomorrow afternoon. We change trains at Thorpe le Soken for the 5 minute onward journey to Kirby Cross and, having donned our wet weather gear, alight into the rain which has been forecast to be with us for the whole day. It’s a 30 minute walk to reach our finishing point on the last trip, and we set off from there just before 11:15.
The first hour is slow going. The embankment track which continues along the south side of the Nature Reserve towards the marina at Walton-on-the-Naze is overgrown and somewhat reminiscent of our initial route out of Snape Maltings last October. Today, we don’t end up on a spit of land with water on three sides of us, but we do arrive at a point where a quite fast running stream is cutting through the embankment with no apparent means of crossing it. We therefore have to spend 5 minutes retracing our steps to a lane which takes us to a B road leading into Walton to the south of the marina. We find our way along a path at the back of a row of houses onto the west side of the Naze itself where, once again, the raised path is considerably overgrown, so we descend to a track on the inside of the embankment. Not only is this reasonably well defined, but it also provides some shelter from an ever freshening wind. It takes us about 90 minutes to complete our journey around the Naze and arrive at the Naze Tower towards its south eastern end. The wind is strengthening and, although it’s now behind us and the rain is easing, we are feeling a bit weary and take the opportunity to stop at a mobile snack bar in front of the tower for some shelter, sausage rolls and coffees. Their restorative effect is pretty apparent when we leave 15 minutes or so later and pick up our pace along the Walton sea front. This leads us past Walton Pier which looks somewhat rundown but which subsequent research has established is, at over half a mile long, by far the longest pier in the UK going out into the open sea. Beyond Walton, we come across what looks like a shanty town of beach huts – not just a line of them, but several rows rising up a slope from the promenade. Beach huts in fact become a defining feature of this couple of days: we seem to go past huge clusters of them at regular intervals. We get a bit of beach action on the approach to Frinton which includes the sight of some kite surfers taking full advantage of the wind – and very impressively too. The wind seems to be causing more problems for a few hardy souls on Frinton Golf Course. From the sea front, it looks like a very flat, narrow, “out and back” course, so it comes as a surprise to discover later that it was designed by the twice Open champion, Willie Park Jnr, and that the club professional in the 50’s/60’s was another Open Champion from way back (1923), Arthur Havers. Books and covers spring to mind.
We pass by Holland-on-Sea and arrive at the pier in Clacton (a bit less dilapidated than its Frinton counterpart) shortly after 5 o’clock and with our average walking pace after our break at the Naze Tower having increased to 3.2 mph (from 2.7 before the break). We’re staying at the Premier Inn on Marine Parade overlooking the pier but, before checking in, the Moon & Starfish, a Wetherspoon establishment a mere 100 yards away from the hotel, simply cannot be ignored. And it simply cannot be criticised for being overpriced – two pints of cider and two pints of Abbot clocking in at less than £10. On leaving, we spot Charnallies, an American restaurant and bar where we have a reservation to eat later. A quick look at the menu results in a brief discussion about possible alternatives, but we decide to go with what’s already been planned and so, following hotel check-in and very welcome baths/showers, we’re back there at 7 o’clock. For once, we don’t go for the fish and chips option. It features on the menu as a special, and it seems more appropriate at an American restaurant to go for the burgers which prove to be substantial and tasty. They are preceded by a bottle of white and accompanied by two bottles of red, and views of the street which result in Clacton securing a place in the Chipperville stakes. All in all we’re pretty happy that we stuck with our (or, more accurately, John’s) choice of eatery. Back at the Premier Inn, stickies are available at Wetherspoonesque prices, and doubles all round are the precursor to a good night’s sleep for all.
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