Upchurch

10/7/15

While Operation Stack mounted up a colossal 30 mile queue of 4,600 lorries, we crossed the Thames into Kent and experienced blissfull cycling compared to Essex.

We arrived at Tilbury and another cyclist called Peter arrived with a Thorn Rohloff and a bigger beard than mine! He was so interested with our journey that he generously paid for our ferry crossing and we exchanged tales over a cup of tea in Gravesend.

Joining the NCN 1 for it's final stages to Dover we enjoyed a car free day stopping for lunch in Rochester then continuing on a lovely track along the Medway avoiding Gillingham. We met another cycle tourist from Denmark, he seemed to have done a substantial tour of Britain and was heading off to France, Germany, Holland... As long as he can get a ferry across the channel though!

Only the last few kilometres gave us difficulty as we approached Upchurch where the frustration of a hot Friday and effects of the M20 blockage was taking it's toll on all the drivers- or perhaps they had all come over from Essex!

Our walk to the Three Tuns pub in the next village (Lower Halstow) was rather perilous with the constant stream of cars on narrow lanes, we were regarded as the freaks on foot!

Figures:

Distance:- 41.3 km

Cycle Time:- 3 hours 29 minutes

Average speed:- 11.8 kph

Total Distance:- 4970 km

Stanford le Hope

9/7/15

After wheeling our bikes to the end of the jetty I phoned the ferry man only to get the bad news that his sister had been taken very ill and he could not take us today.

With no other options for crossing we headed west for the first bridge and reconciled that Southend would have to be missed.

The roads and many of the drivers were appalling. I began my love of cycling in Essex, commuting to and from work. I remember the sudden silence as I left the busy town for the quiet rural lanes. The lanes are still there but they are now full of cars. Mid week, mid day, it seems to be no let-up in the congestion.

Sustrans will have an uphill struggle trying to route this county and it is rather ironic that we peddled our day in the shadow of the Olympic mountain bike course at Hadleigh Park. Surely a greater legacy for the games would be to provide safe cycling between towns and villages so people can build exercise into their everyday lives.

Essex comes bottom of my league of good places to cycle. We positioned ourselves on the south side of Stanford le Hope at Walton Hall Farm who, as well as being a museum, playbarn and camping site, have some brand new B&B rooms, we opted for a room.

Figures:

Distance:- 54.5 km

Cycle Time:- 3 hours 33 minutes

Average speed:- 15.3 kph

Total Distance:- 4929 km

Burnham-on-Crouch

8/7/15

The roads in Essex are substantially more busy than anywhere were have encountered so far. That coupled with inconsiderate drivers didn't make for a pleasant ride today.

We left Mersea Island on The Strood which is a short causeway only occasionally covered by a high tide and not for very long.

We arrived in Maldon and made for the promenade park and quay on the Blackwater River for some tea. Large groups of primary school children were all  laden with clipboards and packed lunches on a school visit and it all looked strangely familiar but too long ago for me to truly recognise it.

Ye Olde Harte Hotel(e) is positioned very conveniently on the picturesque water front of the river Crouch which we need to cross tomorrow.

Figures:

Distance:- 45.7 km

Cycle Time:- 2 hours 52 minutes

Average speed:- 15.9 kph

Total Distance:- 4875 km

Rest Day 17

7/7/15

We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast of 

cherries from a tree in the garden accompanied by croissant, pastries and good coffee. This was in our own breakfast room looking on to the garden with free range chickens larger than the family dogs!

After some planning and admin jobs we ventured in to town for a late lunch at Company Shed. This has become a trendy place to visit from the city and with no booking system and bring your own bread it takes a little patience. We got a table at 3:30pm and sat with a young couple from Burnham on Crouch. The sea food platter was good but not as good as the shack in Southwold. The bottle of Mersea white went down very well though!

Back to the art cafe for tea and cake put an end to a quality rest day!

Figures:

Distance:- 9.3 km

Cycle Time:- 0 hours 36 minutes

Average speed:- 15.4 kph

Total Distance:- 4829 km

West Mersea

6/7/15

Monday mornings are great by the sea. The weekend crowds have left, the sun was shining and the promenade out of Walton on the NCN 150 was empty.

There was a change as we entered Frinton, bigger expensive houses, open green spaces and even a thatched public loo!

Through Clacton the scene turned back to crazy golf and kiosk cafés. Half of the beach is still closed here for the £36 million protection and beach recharge scheme. Much of the beach has been lost to storm and tidal action over the years so 23 fishtail groynes made from Norwegian rock are promised to give 100 years of protection to the beach and coastal houses. They are quite aesthetically pleasing and will provide perfect little bays for paddling toddlers.

We stopped to watch a digger at work pulling rocks out of the sand, digging a big hole then curiously burying the quarried stone. It was like grown up sand castle building!

The road to Point Clear seemed never ending, a committing peninsular pointing towards Brightlingsea and Mersea Island. We pushed our bikes nervously across sand and mud to the shore of the ebbing tide and hoped that the ferry would come. There was no response from the phone number but on the hour, as scheduled, the little boat appeared and to our delight it had a ramp enabling us to wheel the bikes straight on without unloading.

It was as easy to exit the boat but a sandy push for a few hundred metres in to Cudmore Grove country park.

On our way out we were waved down by another cycle touring couple who nervously enquired about the ferry but we reassured them. It is odd that, with the greater popularity in cycling, we see only about one or two other tourists per month.

Safely across the water it was now time for lunch ( at 3pm) and soon we arrived at Maria's Vintage Tearoom in Mersea Island's Vineyard. We had a smoked fish platter each with a glass of local white wine- it was, after all the first day of our school holiday!

Continuing on to West Mersea, we explored the town and had tea at the Art Cafe before heading to the Old Forge B&B- once home to illustrator W. Heath-Robinson, the quirky collection of rooms fitting for this artist were, however perfect for our 2 night stay.

Figures:

Distance:- 41.6 km

Cycle Time:- 3 hours 17 minutes

Average speed:- 12.6 kph

Total Distance:- 4820 km

Walton-on-the-Naze

5/7/15

Suportin' 'olland today are ya? Asked a man sat gazing across to Harwich. Why's that? I replied. Your both wearin' orange, he added. This explained why several people in the last few weeks had thought we were Dutch and our ignorance about sporting national colours had left us puzzled.

The short ride through new housing and frontage development terminated in a shingle beach for the ferry and fine views across to the busy Harwich port.

A ramp onto the ferry from the beach was helpful and we were soon bobbing across the water as the first of the day's rains started. Exiting the boat at Harwich was not so easy, a backbreaking lift onto the mooring followed by a flight of stairs precipitated the need for coffee.

On the pier in Harwich is the Light Vessel LV18, once host to pirate radio in the 1960's and used in the filming The Boat that Rocked

Essex was like coming home, county of birth but a lot of years since I have been back. We sat in the Cafe on the Pier waiting for the monsoon to calm down and chatted to a couple from Lowestoft with perfect Sufolk accents. When we told them we were heading to Walton, they told us about life there in the 60's, it was such a popular resort that almost all the residents provided B&B. They did this by moving all the children out of their bedrooms for the summer months to sleep in sheds and out houses in the garden.

We eventually left Harwich on the NCN 51 for a while before curving off to The Naze. This promontory is eroding at about 2 metres per year and threatening the Naze Tower built in 1720 for navigation so there is considerable work being done to try to protect it.

Walton has a spectacular array of beach huts on the front but the pier (third longest in the UK) is a yellow monster full of machines that eat your money.

After a few hours in various tea shops waiting for the rain to stop and check in, we opted for cheese and fruit for our dinner as a takeaway didn't appeal.

Figures:

Distance:- 34.7 km

Cycle Time:- 2 hours 36 minutes

Average speed:- 13.3 kph

Total Distance:- 4778 km

Felixstowe

4/7/15

Today we completed the planning puzzle for the forthcoming week which involves crossing Essex and the Thames into Kent. It would have been all too easy to hit a main road and ride inland to avoid all the ining and outing but fortunately there are a series of small passenger ferries that enable us to keep to small lanes and see some great seaside.

After a noisy night (from both the thunder storm and the drunks outside the pub) we left Leiston on quiet lanes. First stop was the Maltings near Snape which is one of the main sites of the annual Aldeburgh Festival.

There have been fewer and fewer sheep to say hello to but pigs have become our companions in recent days. Sue feels that this is more like pig camping.

A sunny Saturday has brought out the crouds so the first of our small boat crossings at Felixtowe Ferry was a bit fraught but reassured us that we could lift our bikes and bags for these small ferries.

Felixstowe has all the key features of a coastal resort but the 3 fish and chip shops were not coping with the thousands that were all trying to eat their tea at the same time. We ate a solitary chinese takeaway up a side street near our B&B.

Figures:

Distance:- 42.3 km

Cycle Time:- 2 hours 51 minutes

Average speed:- 14.4 kph

Total Distance:- 4743 km