Walton-on-the-Naze Circular
Length: 13.8km (8.6 miles) Toughness: 1/10
09:32 Clacton-on-Sea train from Liverpool Street (Stratford 09:39) changing at Thorpe-le-Soken (arr 11:00; dep 11:02) to arrive at Walton-on-the-Naze at 11:14. After an extra hour in bed this morning, a train at 09:30 shouldn’t feel too early.
Return trains are at xx:29 (journey time 1hr 43 mins).
If you decide before Sunday which return train you intend catching, the cheapest fare option is an Advance single each way, bought online or at a station (£10 out, £10-£15 back depending on time chosen). Otherwise buy a Super Off-Peak Return (£33.90). Railcard discounts apply to all fares.
Believe it or not, this is the first weekend outing for this interesting coastal walk that was launched almost ten years ago! It takes you from the faded grandeur of a Victorian seaside resort with a half-mile pier, to a wild, rapidly-eroding headland, a long sand spit and salt marshes with a nature reserve. Stone Point, at the end of the spit, is not accessible at high tide, which today is at 10:42 so, to give the ebbing tide time to recede, you may wish to walk to the end of the pier on arrival in Walton before walking out along the cliffs and back along the beach or the nature reserve’s sea wall.
The walk directions are rudimentary, and a map & compass are recommended, but you can’t really go wrong if you stick to the cliffs, beach and sea wall. There is an option to extend the walk to Frinton-on-Sea by continuing southward along the coast when you get back to Walton, making a walk of 16.3km (10.1 miles)
Pubs will be found only in Walton itself, but the 86-foot Naze Tower with viewing platform and art gallery, situated on the headland, has tea rooms that serve hot and cold lunches and snacks.
You can download the Walk Directions, such as they are.
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8 from the designated train plus 1 early starter, so n=9 on a w=calm_chilly_day_of_unbroken_sunshine, perfect for walking. We strolled to the end of Walton's pier and back before setting off at a leisurely pace along the esplanade and cliffs to the tall Naze Tower, where most paused to admire the artworks, enjoy stupendous 360˚ views from the top and take some lunchtime refreshments. All this allowed time for the tide to recede so that in the afternoon we could proceed along the sandspit to the tip of the promontory at Stone Point, returning to Walton via the beach or sea wall of the nature reserve. It's a delightful walk that merits posting more than once in ten years.
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