Ascent/Descent:
40m; Net Walking Time: 4 ¾ hours
Toughness: 3/10
Take
the 10.02 Shoeburyness train from Fenchurch Street (10.06 Limehouse, 10.11 West Ham, 10.16 Barking,
10.25 Upminster), arrives Benfleet 10.45.
Return trains: xx.00 and xx.30 to Fenchurch Street, and xx.15 and xx.45 to L’pool Street.
A flat walk, that starts and finishes
with a busy road stretch, features a fair amount of hard surface paths and some
A-road noise near the end, and passes – in succession – a golf course, a static
caravan park, an ex-landfill site, housing estates, another caravan park, a
sewage plant, an LNG terminal, an oil product terminal, an oil refinery, the
site of a never-finished oil refinery, another oil terminal and another –
larger – landfill site?????? And yet, and yet…
This is one not just for the
Industrial Romantic, or for fans of the Pub Rock legends Dr. Feelgood, or for
students of the lives of the ex-East End White Working Classes.
Without navigational challenges (as
all you do is: walk to the seawall and follow it) you experience an
ever-changing scenery of tidal creeks and mud flats, river marshes, salt
marshes, flood barriers, sluices and sandbanks, get views of the Benfleet
Downs, of Hadleigh Castle & Country Park, the Essex cliffs, Southend with
its Pier, the North Sea and the busy river traffic, of ships big and small,
boatyards, yacht clubs and marinas, pass sandy beaches and enclosed pools on
the foreshore, jetties, extensive seawall murals telling Canvey Island stories
and – post lunch – long tranquil stretches past grassy marshes with abundant
birdlife.
A walk like no other? Most certainly.
Shorter Walk: Canvey
Island is linked to Benfleet station by many regular buses, enabling you to
start or finish the walk at almost any point along the way (in the first half
of the walk), as bus stops are often just a short distance from the walk
route. For a route map of the bus
network you should check here: http://www.plusbus.info/benfleet
(under ‘Additional Information’).
The most logical shortcut to a
bus stop, right after the late lunch stop, is described in the directions.
It results in a 14.6 km/9.1 mi walk
(rated 1/10).
Lunch: The Labworth
Restaurant and Beach Bistro (9.7 km/6.0 mi), in its modernist building with panoramic views of the
Thames estuary;
The Lobster Smack (13.2 km/8.2 mi, food all day) is the oldest
surviving building on Canvey and a classic pub which has so much history it even
features in the Dickens novel ‘Great Expectations’.
Tea: Three pubs and two sub-continental
restaurants on High Street, just past the station (see pdf for details).
T=swc.258
1 comment:
n=13 on this very enjoyable walk. The first highlight was the little extension onto the tidal mudflats facing Southend Pier, we had beautiful clear views of Leigh-On-Sea and the Isle of Sheppey to our right. After walking around to face the Kent coast several of us took refreshments outside at a little tea room while watching children play on a little beach. The cafe offered us 10p on each mug we bought back, apparently a lot of Canvey Islanders walk off with them! And so on to a lovely lunchtime pub where most walkers enjoyed lunch alfresco. Next bit was a bit industrial with big gas/oil holding facilities but this in no way spoilt what was a varied and interesting walk. The last third was green and beautiful.
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