Day 147 – Canvey Island Sea Front to Pitsea: 11.8m: 4.3h

We reconvene in the hotel car park shortly before 7:30. The reception desk is closed and the door to it is locked but, having already paid for our rooms, drinks and supper, no check out admin is required other than to leave our keys in a box on the outside wall. As we walk along the street leading back to the leisure park, one of the few establishments which seems to be open is a Greggs, but we decide not to investigate its takeaway breakfast offerings in anticipation of finding somewhere on the esplanade which we reach at 7:50. However, as we resume our journey alongside the Thames, this prospect quickly becomes more and more remote. After not much more than 10 minutes, the limited retail outlets around the park have disappeared and we’re into a completely residential area and, 15 minutes or so later, we’re beyond the houses and walking past a series of what appear to be gas and oil storage depots. When we reach the end of this stretch after another 45 minutes and turn north, it’s too early for the Lobster Smack pub on the south west corner of the island to be open. Comfort has to be derived from the fact that our purchase of crab sandwiches yesterday has left us pretty well stocked with fruit, chocolate and cereal bars and, for reasons which are not immediately apparent, we convince ourselves that, after leaving Canvey, we might find a café in Benfleet. For now, we continue along a grass bank into an area of open countryside (the scenery on Canvey has been varied if nothing else). We’re not completely sure of the route we’ll take to get across the various creeks and inlets which run round and through this part of the island. One possible creek crossing proves to be a locked sluice gate and, a little way further on, there’s no path up from the grass bank to a road which crosses another creek. Two of us decide somewhat more quickly than the third that we’re not going to investigate less conventional ways of trying to make the ascent! Instead, we walk under the road and keep going along the grass bank, before eventually turning east and reaching the road over Hadleigh Ray which brought us onto Canvey yesterday. Back on the north side of Hadleigh Ray, it isn’t too long before we reach Benfleet station. However, as this isn’t a particularly major point on the rail network, it is perhaps not surprising that it doesn’t feature anywhere selling something akin to breakfast food, but a sign pointing towards a short tunnel under the railway line indicates that there’s a café at the other end. Our raised hopes are quickly dashed. The café is closed and, to all outward appearances, it’s a permanent closure. None of us experiences (or admits to doing so) a mirage of Greggs, but several comments are made about the folly of foregoing its delights 3 hours earlier. We return to the road on the other side of the station which, after a couple of hundred yards, bends to the right at a path which takes us into some fields. We walk through the fields along a track which soon curves to the south and follows the west side of the creek to the road which we walked under on the east side about 90 minutes ago. Again, we walk under the road and then turn right to continue on paths through some more fields towards Pitsea. Our pace increases on the final stretch which runs along the north side of the railway line leading to Pitsea station. John has worked out that, if we manage to catch the 12:21 train, we’ll be back in London sufficiently early for him to get across to Paddington at a time when there are 3 services to Kingham in the space of 1 hour. A later departure from Pitsea risks him missing the last of these trains and having to wait at Paddington for up to an hour for the next one. On such important considerations is the admin of the round England walk conducted. Anyway, our acceleration has the desired effect. We catch the 12:21 which arrives just after 1 o’clock at Fenchurch Street from where Ben and Gary catch their tube trains home, and John gets to Paddington shortly before the departure of a train which results in him getting home at 3:45 which he subsequently pronounces to be “the earliest ever by a long way”. This marks the end of our 2021 walks. We’ve made 7 trips and completed 205 miles which, given the restrictions which were in force earlier in the year, is perhaps more than we could have anticipated. And, shortly after this trip, we hear that Mike’s consultant has given him the green light to resume the walk next year. So here’s looking forward to February 2022….hopefully.

Day 146 – Southend-on-Sea to Canvey Island Sea Front: 16.2m: 5.8h

Once again, Mike and David don’t make the starting grid. Mike is due to be seeing his consultant this week and, according to John, David might be doing something called work. Ben and Gary catch the 8:32 from Liverpool Street which John joins at Shenfield (having been at his father’s over the weekend) for the rest of the journey to Southend Victoria. Our walk back to the pier takes us past The Last Post, but we’re not tempted to check whether the bar there has indeed opened at 9 o’clock. We take the steps back down to the esplanade (the lift doesn’t seem to be operational in any event) and set off westwards just before 10 o’clock. We are, in fact, accompanied by a new – or replacement – member of the team, namely the book in which Ben has been recording hourly distance (and occasionally height) data since the Thames Path Walk in 2010. Up until now, it has been with us for every day of the Round England Walk and, whilst it was dropped on 99 (Amble beach in 2017) it recovered – or was recovered – to complete its century. Unfortunately, 150 has proved to be 5 runs/pages too far, and its rather grizzled opener’s reliability has been replaced by a far flashier middle order type which should see us through to the finish. Anyway, enough sporting analogies for one day, and on to the weather which is dry and calm, but with a bit of a chill in the air. It’s certainly a relief to be continuing along the Thames without a strong wind in our faces, and, by the end of the first hour, we’ve completed 3 miles and have arrived in Leigh-on-Sea. We can’t be certain whether we’re in downtown Leigh (if such a thing exists) but the route which we take, close to the estuary, has much to commend it. It’s a narrow cobbled street with 4 pubs – all of which look very tempting, but seem to be closed – and a number of cafés/food outlets, most of which are open. And one of them, Osborne Bros Seafood Merchants, is sufficiently tempting that we stop and purchase crab sandwiches for consumption at lunchtime. At the end of the street, the surroundings become less appealing – a small and rather dilapidated industrial estate alongside the railway station. However, it doesn’t take too long to find our way around this, and we then cross a narrow stream onto Two Tree Island. This is a small nature reserve managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust, with trails running all the way around it which we complete in about 75 minutes, to include a very brief and uncharacteristic stop at a hide to look at some of the bird life (avocets and egrets I believe). Once off the island, we continue west along the north side of a stretch of water called Hadleigh Ray, pausing for 10 minutes to enjoy our crab sandwiches and then crossing Hadleigh Ray, just before Benfleet, to get onto Canvey Island. As with Two Tree, we’re walking around Canvey in a clockwise direction. We’re aiming to complete much of the eastern half today, finish on the sea (or Thames) front, and then walk inland to our overnight stop, the Oysterfleet Hotel. Because Ben is recovering from a heavy cold, there is the possibility of an earlier end point on the north side of the island, but fresh air and the crab sandwiches appear to be having a restorative effect. And so, having walked alongside Castle Point Golf Course (well maintained but pretty featureless) and paused to witness three very different swings from one of the tees, we continue past a residential area and on towards a country park and boatyard. It’s around now that brief mention of the fact that the short form of last Friday’s date (12.11.21) is a palindrome, prompts the realisation that day 2 of our next planned walk in February is a long form date palindrome (22.02.2022) and a typically fascinating conversation ensues, attempting to identify other future dates of this kind, and contrasting the position with regard to dates using the US notation. Remarkably, this conversation doesn’t last much more than 10 minutes. In fact, as we approach the boatyard, the more immediate question arises as to whether, as part of our circumnavigation of Canvey, we should walk to the end of the jetty beyond the yacht club which, along with the walk back, would be an extra mile or so. By the time we reach the yacht club, we’ve come to the very tentative conclusion that it will depend on the route which we would have to take and, with the yacht club gates padlocked, it soon becomes apparent that the first part of the only other route would be muddy and overgrown at best, and probably not walkable. We therefore turn and set off along the eastern esplanade, catch a brief glimpse of the Park Lane Stadium (home to The Gulls – aka Canvey Island FC) and eventually reach our destination for the day, a waterfront leisure park, shortly before 5 o’clock. It’s still three quarters of a mile directly north to the Oysterfleet where, once we’ve checked in, we repair straight to the bar. From the dark attire of a group of people already there, along with the West Ham flags draped around the shoulders of two of the more inebriated characters, it would appear that the bar might be hosting an East End wake (how the devil do you do it Poirot?) but we find a relatively quiet corner in which to rest our weary limbs and have a couple of pints before going up to our rooms. An hour later, we return to the bar for supper. We haven’t needed to book a table, but have been told that reservations are required if we want breakfast tomorrow morning. However, this won’t be available until 8:30, so we’ve decided to leave around 7:30 and hopefully find some sustenance in Canvey. With this in mind, Ben and Gary order something more substantial (supposedly) than usual, namely gammon and chicken pie respectively, whereas John sticks to the traditional fish and chips. The other traditions which are followed are a couple of bottles of wine, stickies, and bed shortly after 9 o’clock.