onionbagblog

And so having cycled to Brightlingsea and back at breakneck speed last weekend, I thought for my birthday I would commence the great Tendring Coastal Exploration that lies ahead for this summer. A sedate estuary walk out towards Brightlingsea would be a good start.

Back in South London and a good Sunday afternoon out meant walking to The Oval tube, rather than catching the bus. But when in Wivenhoe, then you have to do things slightly differently (although a bus did ultimately feature in the travel itinerary of @AnnaJCowen and I.)

Starting off from Wivenhoe Quay, we walked the familiar route out towards Alresford Creek. Today wasn’t a day for grumbling, but on the great Colne Clearance debate and I note that the roots of the vandalised rosehips, blackberries and sloes are slowly starting to emerge into the spring estuary air once again.

High tide around 11am was indeed something rather special. I overlooked the jollity of my walking companion who tried to high tide me with a hand slap - seriously. I smiled politely at any passing dog walker.

We reached the Creek and then did a slight detour out towards Thorrington Tidal Mill. I know that the Pop Genius of this Parish eulogises about the historic building in the wonderful A Prospect of Wivenhoe. Beautiful though the location may be, the constant rumbling of car traffic heading back and forth to Brightlingsea slightly spoils the scenic ambience.

No worries - with Brightlingsea Church within out sites (lovely daffs by the way) we ambled on towards the estuary. You may think that walking from The Flag down to the Quay back at base is something of a struggle. The Wivenhoe Run is a mere leg stretcher however when compared to the sheer length of the approach into Brightlingsea town centre.

A brisk exploration of the Lido (mmm - not quite the beauty of Brockwell, but any outdoor swim is a good swim,) a stroll along the front and then a Sunday birthday lunch of fish ‘n chips along the sea front.

The trip was planned to perfection with time for a couple of pints at the Station Tavern, ahead of the 16:18 back into Wivenhoe.

The old boozer in Brightlingsea makes The Station in Wivenhoe appear more like the inner interior of The Ritz. The pub has character all right, along with damn decent beer. It is to my great regret that I overlooked a pint of Crab ‘n Winkle mild to set me up for the birthday celebrations ahead.

We were back in Wivenhoe in time for the second half of the football, and back to reflect that although Brightlingsea may be a near neighbour, I think that we may the right decision in deciding to make a home of Wivenhoe.

The summer months promise similar Tendring Peninsula explorations. The plan is to cycle out towards Clacton, Frinton and Walton etc (oh to live the high life) and then catch the train back to Wivenhoe.

But that’s for another day.

Or even another birthday.

Full flickr stream over here.

A winter walk out to Thorrington Tide Mill was the challenge. What could possibly go wrong, as we set off out of Wivenhoe *ahem* rather late in the afternoon with the bruising skies above looking foreboding?

Um…

The inspiration behind the walk was twofold. The wonderful Wivenhoe Encyclopaedia details the walk, as well as Martin Newell, the pop genius of this parish, enthusing about the panoramic scenes in his ace Prospect of Wivenhoe book.

Having already explored the Wood, Rowhedge and Alresford, the next logical location in the Saturday afternoon series of walks for @AnnaJCowen and I had to be out towards Thorrington.

Armed with a ropey print off of the Wivenhoe Encyclopaedia map (which to be fair, isn’t exactly OS quality in its original form,) and boastful claims of “back before tea,” everything was going fine until we reached Alresford Creek.

The realisation that the girl had forgotten the hip flask was the first crisis flash point. Failing to comprehend how utterly stupid it is to be stuck in the great outdoors during darkness, was a bit of a downer - they don’t have streetlights around here, y’know.

Ever creative, the Wivenhoe Encyclopaedia map is actually three maps rolled into one. For a non-creative cartographer that gets lost just reading street signs, this was all rather confusing.

Hey hoe - we pressed on, although not too sure exactly where on actually was. I don’t believe in re-tracing your footsteps to try and seek inner knowledge, but a quick scan of google maps back at base leads me to believe that we actually completed all three walks - twice over as well.

Cripes.

But away from the amateur rural exploration skills, both the Wivenhoe Encyclopaedia, and the pop genius of this parish were right about one thing: Thorrington Tide Mill is simply stunning. Not the building but se, but the views that it offers out towards Brightlingsea, and then back down the Creek and all the way back to Alresford.

A mere half hour walk out of Wivenhoe (yeah, right…) and you are presented with a landscape that can compete with the best that the British Isles has to offer. That’s not something that you can often say about Brightlingsea.

Blimey.

The return leg required a bit of guess work (“follow the Creek” - ah!) and soon we were back at Wivenhoe. In the absence of any hip flask activity, it would have been rude not to continue our afternoon of exploration, with the Black Buoy soon appearing on our radar.

Chin chin.

Thorrington strikes me as the type of place that is forever changing. Having approached it under rather brutal winter conditions, I look forward to a summer return. Don’t forget the hip flask, luv.