Length: 11.5km (7.1 miles): extension to 21.5km (13.4 miles) possible: see ** below
Toughness: 1 out of 10: flat
10.18 train from Liverpool Street (10.25 Stratford) to Clacton, arriving 11.44
Buy a day return to Clacton-on-Sea. Since this is the same price as a day return to Walton-on-the-Naze, it should be accepted from that station too: if not you would only have to pay for the short hop to Thorpe-le-Soken,
where the two lines meet.
For walk directions click here. For GPX click here.
I had a special request for this walk and am happy to oblige. It is a very simple walk along the Essex coast, following a seafront promenade for most of the way, though with a stretch of about 3km in the middle when you are walking along the edge of a nature reserve cum country park. That being said, it is surprisingly varied, with Clacton, Frinton and Walton each having a different character. There is a rather magnificent windfarm out to sea.
If you are one of those people that are put off swimming by steeply shelving shingle beaches and not wanting to get out of your depth, this walk is for you - having gently shelving sandy beaches throughout, though with somewhat brown sea water (this is sediment not pollution). That being said, it is high tide around 1pm, so the sand may be covered in the early part of the walk.
Lunch is most easily had at beach cafes in Holland by Sea, just beyond Clacton. But the walk directions contain inland diversions to a couple of pubs if you prefer.
In Walton there are two options for ** EXTENDING THE WALK:
- One is an interesting 6 mile walk around the Naze, a low-lying peninsula that juts out into the sea and which is a haven for wildlife. For this there are walk directions here and a GPX file here. Note that while Stone Point may still be closed due to nesting birds (it reopens on 1 August), the walk around the peninsula can still be done, as far as I am aware.
- The other possible extension - not mentioned in the walk directions but not to be sniffed at - is to walk the length of Walton pier, the second longest in England. It doesn't look particularly exciting from the land and to get onto to it you have to walk through a ghastly (and mysteriously popular) amusement arcade. But once you are out on the pier proper it is a magnificent parade far out into the water with nice views back on the coast.
Trains back from Walton are on the hour (00 past the hour) until 22.00. This is a shuttle to Thorpe-le-Soken, connecting there to the train from Clacton. Total journey time back to London is 1 hour 37 minutes. T=3.52
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3 comments:
What about from Walton on Naze to ether Clacton on Sea or Jaywick?
OK. See post!
n=11 on this walk. We all agreed at the station it would be nice to detour from the initial instructions to see the centre of Clacton, which we did, and then someone suggested detouring again to see the attractive flower beds, which we did, and then would you Adam and Eve it, someone suggested walking along the coast to see the Martello Tower, which we did, all worth while because it was a very attractive piece of coastline. Anyway, after that we walked back along the promenade to rejoin the walk proper. Sadly a teenage boy had gone missing on Thursday afternoon in the sea off Clacton and several of the group were all too well aware of this fact. There were red flags out all along the coastal walk with nervous looking life guards keeping a look out for anyone else getting into trouble. Despite this, people were venturing into the sea. Two of our group went in and reported very very strong currents pushing them sideways. The group had by this time slit up somewhat with 2 or 3 opting to do the Naze extention while we others chose the pier extension, afterwards we had chips and coffee while looking out wistfully at the sea. An enjoyable day out, sadly reduced this morning by the sad news of the missing teenage boy being found, unfortunately not alive.
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