Southend-on-Sea – Coastal Road Trip

Day 37 – Southend-on-Sea to Sittingbourne

We are travelling 104 miles today as we drive first along the north side of the River Thames and estuary, then back along the south side. One of our busiest days for traffic too as we skirt around the edge of London. However, there was a mid-October heatwave, so at least we are lucky with the weather!

Photo of the day

Coastal Road Trip, Gravesend, St George's Church, Pocahontas, Statue, Princess, — Pocahontas statue (yes, you read that right!) in a graveyard in Gravesend.

Shoeburyness

Coastal Road Trip, Shoeburyness, Gunners park, Shoebury East Beach — We started off with a short detour east from Southend-on-Sea to Shoeburyness at the mouth of the River Thames Estuary. Views northeast from Gunners Park towards Shoebury East Beach.

Coastal Road Trip, Shoeburyness, Gunners park, Shoebury Ness, Graffiti, — Interesting welcome signs at the entrance to the Thames. It is a shame that the war defences were covered in graffiti, but at least it brought some colour to the concrete.

Coastal Road Trip, Shoeburyness, Warrior Square, Horseshoe Cresent, Clock, Gates, Garrison — Shoeburyness was a pleasant surprise, with smart military avenues and squares, mixed with newer developments. We also tried to continue further north past the St Nicolas Church at Great Wakering, but found ourselves heading into a Ministry of Defence area, so did a quick u-turn.

Southend-on-Sea

Coastal Road Trip, Southend-on-Sea, Beach, Ness Road Slipway, South-on The Sea — Heading back into Southend-on-Sea, we made a short stop at the beach by the Ness Road Slipway with views towards Southend-on-Sea.

Coastal Road Trip, Southend-on-Sea, Pier — The longest pleasure pier in the world at Southend-on-Sea, stretching into the hazy sunshine.

Coastal Road Trip, Southend-on-Sea, Pier, Train — It is so long (1.34 miles) that you can take a train to the end!

Coastal Road Trip, Southend-on-Sea, Adventure Island, Roller-coaster, Rage, Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter — The entrance to Southend Pier flanked by roller-coasters at Adventure Island.

Leigh-on-Sea

Coastal Road Trip, Leigh-on-Sea, Leigh Marshes, Boats, Thames Estuary — Abandoned boats in the marshes on the edge of the Thames Estuary at Leigh-on-Sea.

Canvey Island

Coastal Road Trip, Canvey Island, Canvey Point, Smallgains Marina — Driving through Canvey Island (basically a large housing estate) we arrived at Canvey Point and the nearby Smallgains Marina.

East Tilbury

Coastal Road Trip, East Tilbury, Coalhouse Fort — More Thames defences at Coalhouse Fort. The original fortifications date back to the 15th century. More recently it has been used for a variety of purposes, including being featured at the start of the ‘Batman Begins’ film. It is now a pleasant park overlooking the Thames, where today families were enjoying the sunny afternoon.

Tilbury

Coastal Road Trip, Tilbury, The Worlds End, Pub, Tilbury Fort — The Worlds End Pub on the way to Tilbury Fort. Aren’t British pub names great?! This pub was haunted too!

Coastal Road Trip, Tilbury, Tilbury Fort, Gun — Guns at Tilbury Fort. The first fort was built here by Henry VIII in the 16th century, and continued in use until after World War II.

Coastal Road Trip, Tilbury, Tilbury Fort, Cruise Ship, Thames, CMV, Wind Turbines — Looking west up the Thames from Tilbury Fort to the cruise terminal and a wind farm project.

Coastal Road Trip, Tilbury, Tilbury Fort, Boats, Yachts, Thames, Gravesend — The Thames was busy with yachts, making the most of the lovely weather.

Dartford Crossing

Coastal Road Trip, Dartford Crossing, Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, Cable-stayed Bridge — Heading south over the Queen Elizabeth II Darford Crossing Bridge.

Gravesend

Coastal Road Trip, Gravesend, St George's Church, Pocahontas, Statue, Princess, — Probably the biggest surprise of the day, finding a statue of Pocahontas in the graveyard of St George’s Church in Gravesend. Pocahontas had died on a ship on the River Thames close to Gravesend, and her remains are thought to be buried somewhere close to St George’s Church.

Hoo Peninsula

Coastal Road Trip, RSPB Northward Hill, Thames Estuary, Autumn, Colours, Fall Colors, DP World London Gateway Port, Stanford-le-Hope — Heading across the Hoo Peninsula, we decided to stop at the quiet RSPB Northward Hill nature reserve. Along the track there were lovely views over apple orchards turning autumn red, quite a contrast to the shipping port at Stanford-le-Hope across the Thames.

Upnor

Coastal Road Trip, Upnor, Upper Upnor, High Street — A quaint cobbled lane leading down through Upper Upnor to the River Medway.

Coastal Road Trip, Upnor, Upper Upnor, Upnor Castle, River Medway — Upnor Castle had just closed for the day, so we took in the views across the marshes on the edge of the River Medway.

Rochester

Coastal Road Trip, Rochester, Rochester Castle, Julian, Jarno — Another selfie moment at Rochester Castle, its orgins dating back to the 12th century.

Coastal Road Trip, Rochester, Rochester Castle — The castle towering an impressive 113 feet high.

Coastal Road Trip, Rochester, Roofs — Red roofs of Rochester. Rochester was a well preserved historical town, and we learnt it had actually been inspiration for many of Charles Dickens’ novels.

Coastal Road Trip, Rochester, Rochester Cathedral — The Norman Rochester Cathedral. Apparently Jools Holland is a big fan of the acoustics. We then made our way along the Medway to Chatham Historic Dockyard for dinner, before heading to Sittingbourne for the night.

Daily video

Day 36 – Ipswich to Southend-on-Sea

After a few weeks break from our coastal road trip, we are now continuing our journey, this time over four days from Ipswich in Suffolk to Worthing in West Sussex. Hence the sunny weather in the Ipswich picture (September), then a bit gloomy as we continued into Essex (October).

Photo of the day

Coastal Road Trip, Clacton-on-Sea, Clacton Pier, Helter Skelter, Helter-skelter, empty, closed — A helter-skelter on Clacton-on-Sea’s pier.

Ipswich

Coastal Road Trip, Ipswich Waterfront, Marina, Roadmap, Julian, Jarno — Our last photo as we finished the first 5 weeks of our Coastal Road Trip at Ipswich Waterfront. Feeling quite pleased with ourselves!

Mistley

Coastal Road Trip, Mistley Towers, Church of St. Mary the Virgin, English Heritage, Essex — Working our way down the south side of the River Stour we made the first stop of the day at Mistley Towers in Essex, the remains of the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin.

Harwich

Coastal Road Trip, Harwich, Ha'penny Pier — The wooden Ha’penny Pier at Harwich, named after the original toll charge for the Victorian pier. The Port of Felixtowe in the gloomy background.

Coastal Road Trip, Harwich, Lightvessel LV18, Ha'penny Pier — The Lightvessel LV18 moored off the Ha’penny Pier, the last surviving example of a manned Trinty House light vessel, now a museum.

Coastal Road Trip, Harwich, Harwich High Lighthouse, Old Harwich — Harwich High Lighthouse that was used in combination with the Low Lighthouse as a leading light for Harwich Harbour.

Coastal Road Trip, Harwich, Harwich Maritime Museum, Low Light House Harwich — And the Low Lighthouse on the promenade, now the local Maritime Museum.

Coastal Road Trip, Dovercourt Lighthouses, Low Light House, High Lighthouse — Then just a few minutes further along the coast we reached the two matching iron towered Dovercourt Low and High Lighthouses.

Walton on the Naze

Coastal Road Trip, Walton on the Naze, The Naze, Naze Tower — The navigational Naze Tower north of Walton on the Naze. With a beacon at the top, it was used as an early form of lighthouse to guide ships through the Goldmer Gap.

Coastal Road Trip, Walton on the Naze, Beach, Pier — Walton on the Naze Beach… and the sun trying to make an appearance. Yay!

Coastal Road Trip, Walton on the Naze, Beach, Pier, Beach Huts — Walton on the Naze Pier. To be honest we had seen better looking piers, though the brightly painted beach huts attempted to brighten-up the area.

Frinton On Sea

Coastal Road Trip, Frinton On Sea, Esplanade, Frinton Beach, Clock, The Clock Tower Shelter — A rather elaborate looking clock tower shelter on the Frinton Beach Esplanade.

Holland-on-Sea

Coastal Road Trip, Holland-on-Sea, Holland Haven, Beach Huts — More beach huts adding some colour to Holland Haven near Holland-on-Sea.

Clacton-on-Sea

Coastal Road Trip, Clacton-on-Sea, Clacton Pier, Entrance, Jarno — Stopping for some lunch at Clacton Pier.

Coastal Road Trip, Clacton-on-Sea, Clacton Pier, Helter Skelter, Helter-skelter, empty, closed — The helter-skelter looking a bit spooky on the deserted pier.

Coastal Road Trip, Clacton-on-Sea, Clacton Pier, Helter Skelter, Helter-skelter, Julian, Jarno — Just proving we were there 😉

Coastal Road Trip, Clacton-on-Sea, Clacton Pier, Steps — Some rather scary looking steps down to the sea from the pier.

Coastal Road Trip, Clacton-on-Sea, Clacton Pier, Noticeboard, quiet, empty — Clearly we were out of season with the empty entertainment noticeboards.

Brightlingsea

Coastal Road Trip, Brightlingsea, Beach Huts — If it’s not lighthouses it’s beach huts today!

West Mersea

Coastal Road Trip, West Mersea, Marine, RNLI, Lifeboat, Launch, Upside down boat — A rather unloved looking boat at West Mersea….

Coastal Road Trip, West Mersea, Marine, House boat, Pandora, Coast Road — … and the houseboats looking like they are in the middle of a field.

Tollesbury

Coastal Road Trip, Tollesbury, Trinity Lightship — Another Trinity Lightship, also with the illusion of being moored in a field.

Heybridge

Coastal Road Trip, Heybridge, Heybridge Basin, Lock — The picturesque lock at Heybridge Basin, joining the Blackwater estuary and the canal to Chelmsford.

Maldon

Coastal Road Trip, Maldon, Hythe Quay, Boats — Old Thames barges moored at Maldon’s Hythe Quay.

Coastal Road Trip, Maldon, Hythe Quay, Boats — The barges had been beautifully restored, several are still in use as charters.

Bradwell-on-Sea

Coastal Road Trip, Bradwell-on-Sea, St Peter's Chapel, Signpost, Coming Soon, Saltmarsh Coast — As walked down a long farm track to the remote St Peter’s Chapel we came across this funny sign. Something was ‘coming soon’, not sure what…

Coastal Road Trip, Bradwell-on-Sea, St Peter's Chapel, Saltmarsh Coast, Julian, Jarno — St Peter’s Chapel on the headland near Sales Point, one of the oldest Chistian churches in England, dating from the 7th century. Around a thousand years later, in the 17th century it was in use as a barn. You can still see where the barn doors were placed on the side.

Coastal Road Trip, Bradwell-on-Sea, St Peter's Chapel, Interior, Nave, Altar, Saltmarsh Coast, — We were surprised that the church door was open, so we had a quick look inside. Pretty good condition for 1,400 years old!

Burnham-on-Crouch

Coastal Road Trip, Burnham-on-Crouch, Burnham Yacht Harbour, Boat, Night — The Yacht Harbour at Burnham-on-Crouch, our final stop of the day before heading to Southend-on-Sea for the night.

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