Day 145 – Little Wakering to Southend-on-Sea: 12.5m: 4.5h

The Last Post opens its doors for breakfast at 7:00, and the staff saw fit to inform us last night that alcohol isn’t served until 9 o’clock! However, we’re back downstairs for food opening time and the breakfast offering is just as competitively priced as everything else. The bill for the three of us totals just over £15, although this includes only a bacon butty for Ben who, in the light of yesterday’s digestive problems, thinks that he should take things easy – on the food front at least.

It was announced yesterday that Southend is to be granted City status in recognition of the campaigning for this which had been done by the local MP, David Amess, who died last Friday having been attacked and stabbed at a constituency surgery. When we leave The Last Post just before 8 to await a cab which we ordered over breakfast, the only noticeable difference in our surroundings is the fact that there’s been quite a bit of overnight rain. There’s still some drizzle in the air but, not for the first time, it seems that we’ve been fortunate in missing the worst of it.

We return to Little Wakering and resume our meandering around the creek at 8:20 in what are now dry but quite windy conditions. This initially takes us east, and then north around Fleethead to bring us back south to the Wakering boatyard opposite Potton Island and, beyond that, Foulness. Under our admittedly rather flexible rules regarding places separated from the mainland, neither of these will form part of our walk, in addition to which we haven’t sought permission from the MOD to visit Foulness. We therefore continue past the boatyard and towards another MOD installation, the Shoeburyness Firing Ranges. Around this time, John receives a phone call from The Last Post. They want to know what to do with a T-shirt and water bottle which have been left in one of our rooms – which turns out to be Ben’s. Our aim today is to get to Chalkwell, or perhaps Leigh-on-Sea, but this will take us through Southend and the pub isn’t too far from the sea front. We therefore say that we’ll call in to collect Ben’s belongings, although given the price of Ruddles and the proximity of Southend Central station, there’s a chance that this could affect our finishing point.

More immediately, we’re not too sure of the route which we’ll be able to take in order to get beyond the firing ranges. We’ve read that there are some paths through the ranges, but it isn’t clear when (if at all) they might be open. It becomes crystal clear as we approach the boundary fence: gates locked and no entry signs everywhere. We therefore have to walk on paths around the perimeter on the landward side of the installation until we regain the coast at Shoeburyness East Beach. Having done so, it soon becomes apparent that the current MOD properties/ranges are the most recent in a history of military defence structures in the area. Over a distance of no more than a mile, we pass a garrison memorial, gun emplacements and Victorian “quick firing batteries”, and in a small park there’s a cairn bearing a 19^th century artillery shell which serves as a memorial to 7 Royal Artillery personnel who were killed in an accidental explosion during tests on gun fuses in 1885. Perhaps this feature of the area is not surprising given its location at the entrance to the Thames Estuary, and it wouldn’t come as a huge surprise to encounter a similar landscape on the opposite shore when we walk through Kent next year.

For the moment, we continue along the north side of the estuary past Thorpe Bay and on towards Southend and its pier which is apparently, at 1.33 miles, the longest pleasure pier in the world (but not extending into the open sea – cf Frinton pier: see day 136). The distance there from the East Beach at Shoeburyness is not much more than 4 miles, but seems longer because we are walking directly into the strong wind. The pier marks the point where we suspend our route westward to make the short diversion to The Last Post in the town centre and, rather than following Ben to the series of steps leading to the streets above the esplanade, John and Gary take advantage of the lift conveniently situated opposite the entrance to the pier. This is probably as good an indication as any of whether we’ll be resuming our walk today. Indeed after reaching The Last Post, retrieving Ben’s effects and ordering pints of Ruddles, the decision is quickly reached not to return to the pier. Of course we seek to rationalise this with comments such as we would only be continuing for a couple of miles or so, and therefore we won’t be affecting plans for the next walk. But clearly the truth is that, rather than spending another hour walking into a headwind, we’d far prefer to have a relaxing beer before wandering over the road to catch an early train home. So that is what we do.               

Day 144 – Eastend to Little Wakering: 15.2m: 5.4h

David is unable to join for these two days due to family engagements (his wife Judith’s birthday) and Mike is still off games, although reports of his recovery from the operation continue to be encouraging. And so, for the first time since October 2017, the group comprises the original triumvirate, with John catching the early morning service from Kingham to London and meeting Ben and Gary at Liverpool Street for the 9:33 train. John has had some difficulty making cab arrangements for the next 24 hours, not because of fuel problems which seem to have eased since last month, but apparent reluctance to accept advance bookings for our pick up and/or drop off points. So far as this morning is concerned, the firm we used at the end of the last trip will collect us, but only from Hockley, the station before Rochford. However, the journey time back to the Plough and Sail is pretty much the same, and the driver makes a few suggestions regarding cabs to take us into and out of Southend this evening and tomorrow morning. And on arrival at the Plough and Sail, she helpfully continues along the lane next to the pub and drops us very close to the Eastend boatyard. We set off from the jetty at 10:45.

For the first hour and a half, we continue west along the north bank of the River Roach but, as we approach Rochford, we move slightly inland to get round the Sutton Wharf boatyard. This takes us past a cricket ground with a small pavilion which, according to a sign next to it, is for “responsible spectators only”. Maybe an MCC member is in charge. Shortly afterwards, on a narrow track running alongside the boatyard fence, we encounter a couple of blokes with four or five dogs which seem to be some kind of bulldog – squat, barrel chested, and wearing broad collars with spikes in them (the dogs, not the blokes). They’re not on leads and, whilst not particularly threatening, they do pay us a considerable degree of attention until restrained, with some difficulty, by their handlers. Once around the boundary fence, we cross a ploughed field and arrive at a very busy minor road. We don’t feel inclined to follow this, so cross over into a grass field and start to follow a signposted path which seems to be going in the right direction. It is indeed the right direction, but the path is not entirely straightforward. We soon have to duck under some trees and risk damp feet and dirty boots crossing a shallow muddy stream and, immediately afterwards, there’s a wire fence to negotiate. Fortunately, the wires don’t have too many barbs in them, and are (or can be made) sufficiently far apart that getting through isn’t too much of a problem.

Eventually, we get back to the minor road at a point where, on the other side, there’s a path leading to Roach Farm and then to the south bank of the river. The section beyond the farm is tree lined and unpopulated which is fortunate for Ben who has to escape from the path to deal al fresco with a digestive emergency. John and Gary reminisce about a similar incident among the sheep on the hills outside Pandy (day 54, June 2014). By the time we reach the Roach, the trees have disappeared and we’re back on a raised grass path walking east along the river bank. About an hour later, almost opposite today’s starting point, there’s a creek where we turn south and wend our way past Barling Hall. Soon after 4 o’clock, we reach our destination for the day, the western end of the creek at Little Wakering from where it’s less than a 10 minute walk to The Castle pub. The cab firm recommended by our driver this morning is one which John had contacted yesterday and they hadn’t been prepared to take a booking 24 hours in advance for a pub pick up. However, when contacted an hour or so ago, they were more amenable. We have the time for a leisurely pint at The Castle before the cab arrives and takes us to The Last Post in Southend. This is a Wetherspoons establishment with rooms – and with a huge bar area. It is not only wide but also very long, stretching from the street where we enter (opposite Southend Central station) to another entrance on a parallel street a block away. Access to the accommodation is through a locked door at the far end of the bar with stairs leading up to the rooms, and payment is taken on check in. The rooms are clearly recent additions. They’re spacious, clean and comfortable, with very efficient showers.

We reconvene at 6:15 and it’s hard to miss the price of a pint of Ruddles staring at us from the pumps on the bar, namely £1.79. We haven’t seen a price this low since, well, the last time we frequented a Wetherspoons, in Clacton-on-Sea earlier this year. But we’ve already ordered a bottle of white, and our attention has turned to the prices on the food menu, to include fish, chips and mushy peas, with an alcoholic drink, for about £8. It hardly comes as a surprise that we don’t linger over our choice, and the food is pretty good – as is the glass of wine which we all choose to accompany it. The only issue which arises is that our plates are clean and our glasses are empty well before 8 o’clock, that’s to say a good hour before our usual retiring watershed. A couple of stickies help to while away the time, and we leave the bar around 9:00.