Day 139 – Tollesbury to Heybridge Basin: 14.3m: 5.1h

We’re up at 7 o’clock for breakfast which is being prepared by the hotel manager. She’s particularly happy to see us at such an early hour because she’s working on her own and says that she has to cater for a table of 16 in about an hour’s time. This comes as something of a surprise because we didn’t notice too many other people yesterday evening, and we’ve finished our full English, checked out and are back in a cab before anyone else appears.

We’ve filled our water bottles before leaving, but it’s likely to be another warm day so we call in at a supermarket on the outskirts of Maldon to acquire extras. Suitably provisioned (and attired) we are returned to Tollesbury and we set off from the Sailing Club just after 8:30 in conditions which are far more favourable than those encountered yesterday – both overhead and underfoot. The weather is again dry, but it’s also brighter and less muggy, and the coast path around Tollesbury Wick turns out to be pretty well maintained. We’re therefore able to maintain a comfortable pace and to take in our surroundings as we reach the easterly end of the Wick, turn, and continue back westward along the north bank of the River Blackwater. The route then sticks pretty much to the river bank with views along the water towards Maldon, and across it to Bradwell and St Lawrence.

After an uneventful and enjoyable couple of hours, the path turns inland on a few occasions so that we can get round or over some river inlets. One of these takes us past the Goldhanger Sailing Club which is the first occupied building we’ve seen since leaving Tollesbury, but it’s not long before we encounter many others in the Osea Leisure Park. Immediately outside the eastern end of the Park near Decoy Point is a path leading into the river, and beneath the surface of the water, it’s possible to make out the line of a causeway which, at low tide, is the route out towards Osea Island. Beyond the Leisure Park, we pass a Marine Club, a caravan park and several sailing clubs as we approach Heybridge Basin where the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation Canal enters the river via a couple of lock gates. It’s here, shortly after 1:30, that we end today’s walk and start the process of obtaining drinks at the Old Ship. This involves finding an outside table, with somebody joining a queue at the pub door and, when at the front, placing an order, waiting for that to be taken to the bar and for a card machine to be brought out for payment to be made, and finally having the order brought to the table. It’s the palaver at the door which takes up most of the time. Once the order has been placed, it isn’t too long before the drinks arrive, swiftly followed by bacon and brie baked potatoes (baguettes not being available) for the Harkness contingent. Our table is alongside the lock, and watching the gates open and close to allow four boats to enter from the canal and exit into the Blackwater is strangely addictive. We also have the time to get a second round of drinks before our pre-ordered cab arrives on schedule to take us to Witham station. David waits there for a northbound train to reunite him with his car at Colchester, whilst the rest of us take a service to Liverpool Street from where Mike and John travel to King’s Cross and Paddington for their trains back to Newark and Kingham.            

Day 138 – West Mersea to Tollesbury: 18.6m: 7.5h

John has caught the early morning train from Kingham to Paddington. He joins Ben and Gary at Liverpool Street for the 9:30 to Colchester where Mike is waiting (having adopted a very snappy route from Newark via Peterborough and Stowmarket) along with David who is joining us for the next couple of days and has simply driven to Colchester and parked his car there. Also waiting is our cab which takes us back to West Mersea, and we set off from outside the Coast Inn shortly before 11 o’clock.

We’ve been fearing the worst weather-wise for the past week, and even today rain is forecast with sufficient certainty that flood warnings have been issued. Therefore, although it’s dry and there are no threatening clouds immediately in evidence, most of us are – somewhat pessimistically – wearing overtrousers and jackets. We make good progress during the first hour around the north-west shore of Mersea Island and over the causeway back to the mainland. We then turn right off the road having decided to take an indirect route to Peldon so as to avoid walking along the B1025 – a diversion which proves to be not only off piste but also overgrown. Our pace slows considerably because of this and also because the weather is becoming warmer and distinctly muggy. Some layers are removed, but the difficult underfoot conditions continue beyond Peldon, and in fact deteriorate when we approach Salcott 90 minutes later and have to practically hack our way along the side of a field with no discernible path in order to reach a farm on the edge of the village. Two men at the farm are able to assist in explaining why a path across the field hasn’t been maintained (“it belongs to the council”) but unfortunately can’t assist in replenishing our low to non-existent water supplies, which is becoming of particular concern to a heavily perspiring Gary who has, rather stupidly, not yet removed his overtrousers. This rather simple expedient to avoid overheating is belatedly adopted 10 minutes later outside the house of a local resident who kindly refills our water bottles. But by now the damage has been done and, whilst the green screens are not required, Gary’s condition is such that, as well as rehydration, it’s necessary for John to carry his rucksack to assist recovery. There is also a hat retrieval point, but no need to protract the story save to say that, 45 minutes later, as we start to walk around Old Hall Marshes, recovery has been achieved and the rucksack has been returned to the shoulders of its rightful carrier.

As with much of the previous 11 miles, most of the 7 miles or so around the marshes are along overgrown paths, and these have the added problem of a particularly prolific and clinging type of vegetation which an app on Mike’s phone identifies (with perhaps questionable reliability) as beet. This means not only that our pace continues to be slow – by now we’re averaging less than 2.5 mph – but also that any scenic attractions along the route aren’t readily appreciable because we’re having continually to focus on what’s a couple of yards in front of us. But eventually, around Old Hall Marsh Farm, the path becomes clearer with just a mile and a half to go which we complete in a far more creditable 30 minutes, arriving at the Tollesbury Sailing Club just after 6:20.

A slightly delayed cab gets us to our overnight stop, the Blue Boar in Maldon, around 7 o’clock and, whilst we’re having arrival beers/ciders at a table under a canopy  outside the bar, the forecast rain starts to fall. It’s not heavy, but it’s enough to prompt discussion about our eating plans. We intended to get takeaway fish and chips which the Blue Boar has told us can be brought back and eaten at our canopy covered table. We had hoped to get the takeaway from the neighbouring Friendly Frier, but that was closed when we passed it in the cab. The prospect of walking 10 minutes in the rain to the closest alternative, the Fish Inn, appeals to nobody. David provides the high-tech solution by downloading the JustEat app and ordering a delivery for arrival after we’ve been to our rooms to freshen up. And it all works very efficiently. The food arrives about 20 minutes after we’ve reconvened, almost finished another round of beers/ciders, and ordered a couple of bottles of wine having been told by the young woman at the bar that she’ll be shutting up shop at 9 o’clock. We stay at our outside table for half an hour or so after this, finishing our drinks and disposing of the considerable amount of detritus resulting from the Fish Inn’s very liberal interpretation of “small” chips. Somewhat weary and somewhat later than our usual bedtime, we then wander around the outside of the bar to reach a courtyard and the door leading to our rooms.