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Essex coast

BoatieBird

BoatieBird

Well-Known Member
If I wanted to visit the lighthouses in Harwich, Walton on the Naze and Frinton, where might be a nice place to base ourselves for 2/3 nights?
Anyone know the area?
 
Have been to Walton on the Naze and Frinton - you can walk between the two along the beach. Frinton was a weird place - when I went there maybe 10 years ago, it had no pubs at all, because of an archaic Parish law banning them - I think it now has a Spoons - Walton was more fun, more pubs, pier with amusements and that . I've only briefly been to Harwich to catch a ferry. If I was to choose a place to base myself for some Lighthouse visiting - I'd go for Walton.
 
Frinton and Walton are essentially the same place, like Harwich and Dovercourt. The two pairs are some way from one another, with no direct train connection (you have to go into Colchester and change).

Without any research or experience I'd guess that Harwich might be slightly cheaper to stay in.
 
BoatieBird said:
If I wanted to visit the lighthouses in Harwich, Walton on the Naze and Frinton, where might be a nice place to base ourselves for 2/3 nights?
Anyone know the area?
Click to expand...
Know this coast well - Point Clear / St Osyths / Brightlingsea is the one

Clacton and Jaywick are nothing to get excited about....Holland on Sea is no different really, jsut further away from Clacton town centre
 
BoatieBird said:
Thanks for the replies everyone, and especially ska invita - we've booked a long weekend in Brightlingsea in early September :)



'The most deadly path in Britain', what are you trying to do to me Pickman's model :eek::D
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it's a really good walk - me and mrs model did it last october, it was great fun if very muddy. wouldn't want to do it without a guide, the wastes are pretty trackless to an untutored eye. but if you do it you'll be recommending it to people you like too.
 
Pickman's model said:
it's a really good walk - me and mrs model did it last october, it was great fun if very muddy. wouldn't want to do it without a guide, the wastes are pretty trackless to an untutored eye. but if you do it you'll be recommending it to people you like too.
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It does look like a great walk, but unfortunately it's out for us because we'll have the dogs with us :(
 
I grew up in St Osyth.
Walton, Brighlingsea, Maningtree, Mistley and Wivenhoe are all interesting places with good walks, creeks, marshes and old houses.
Clacton - if you want your standard seaside town stuff (plus lots of twats and a massive drugs problem).
Frinton is full of rich retired people and is famously snobby
Jaywick is worth a visit - its pretty unique - a shanty town of prefabs and self builds with a beach with all the roads named after post war british cars.
Colchester lots of historical roman stuff, good park in middle of town, museums, castle, lots of little shops.

Enjoy!
 
quimcunx said:
I had the best Victoria sponge ever in a little cafe between the station and the beach at Frinton. Probably 15 years ago so can't guarantee it's not gone down hill.
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Probably gone a bit stale by now. Even if it had been kept in tupperware.
 
Got a mate who moved to Leigh on Sea so paid him a visit last year, I was pleasently surprised by how nice it was there. :)
 
Are you driving? If so I would stay a tiny bit inland because the villages around are so lovely and the countryside in North Essex is so beautiful at the moment. Then you get the best of both.
 
polly said:
Are you driving? If so I would stay a tiny bit inland because the villages around are so lovely and the countryside in North Essex is so beautiful at the moment. Then you get the best of both.
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Yes, we're driving.
I've booked a place in Brightlingsea which looks like it's handy for the lighthouses + some of the villages.
I'm looking forward to exploring somewhere new :)

Any particular villages you'd recommend?
 
BoatieBird said:
Yes, we're driving.
I've booked a place in Brightlingsea which looks like it's handy for the lighthouses + some of the villages.
I'm looking forward to exploring somewhere new :)

Any particular villages you'd recommend?
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Nice! There is a lido there, I'm sure you know. I don't know that side very well but Mersea is worth a little trip - Cudmore Grove country park is lovely and there's a great place on Mersea called The Company Shed where you can eat fresh caught fish, if that's your thing. Hamford Water Nature Reserve is awesome if you like birds. Also Old Hall Marshes, which is an RSPB site, and if you're over that way, Maldon is quite nice, good places to eat for the area and millions of charity shops! Villages... you'll drive through them on the way to the coast. Thorpe le Soken is pretty, the Kirbys less so but Kirby Cross has a great fish and chip shop that people drive from all around for. I haven't been there but I also hear really good things about Wivenhoe. It's got lots of student residences, don't know if that's a plus or minus.
 
polly said:
Nice! There is a lido there, I'm sure you know. I don't know that side very well but Mersea is worth a little trip - Cudmore Grove country park is lovely and there's a great place on Mersea called The Company Shed where you can eat fresh caught fish, if that's your thing. Hamford Water Nature Reserve is awesome if you like birds. Also Old Hall Marshes, which is an RSPB site, and if you're over that way, Maldon is quite nice, good places to eat for the area and millions of charity shops! Villages... you'll drive through them on the way to the coast. Thorpe le Soken is pretty, the Kirbys less so but Kirby Cross has a great fish and chip shop that people drive from all around for. I haven't been there but I also hear really good things about Wivenhoe. It's got lots of student residences, don't know if that's a plus or minus.
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The Company Shed looks amazing :cool:
 
polly said:
Are you driving? If so I would stay a tiny bit inland because the villages around are so lovely and the countryside in North Essex is so beautiful at the moment. Then you get the best of both.
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Lived up there for a few years (small Victorian cottage opposite thatched houses and 14th Century church) and it was lovely but ultimately boring with the only work for me being in Cambridge and Mrs.Griff had a long daily commute into Liverpool Street each day.

Moved back to London in 2016 and never looked back.

Having said that we went to a friend's wedding in Great Chesterford last year and it seemed idyllic, and we wondered if we could give up London again now we're not reliant on London/Cambridge for work.

But yeah, agree it's worth visiting. :)
 
Griff said:
Lived up there for a few years (small Victorian cottage opposite thatched houses and 14th Century church) and it was lovely but ultimately boring with the only work for me being in Cambridge and Mrs.Griff had a long daily commute into Liverpool Street each day.

Moved back to London in 2016 and never looked back.

Having said that we went to a friend's wedding in Great Chesterford last year and it seemed idyllic, and we wondered if we could give up London again now we're not reliant on London/Cambridge for work.

But yeah, agree it's worth visiting. :)
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We are also thinking of moving back to London! Not so much for work but the lack of interesting things to do, especially in the winter.
 
For somewhere a bit different, article about Foulness, most of which is out of bounds - although there are open days first sunday of the month in summer

busandtrainuser.com

This bus route’s restricted to residents and monitored at a security checkpoint

Saturday 9th July 2022 I took a ride with my friend Ray on Stephensons’ bus route 14 between Southend-on-Sea and Foulness recently. But we needed special permission to travel on it. That’s because …
busandtrainuser.com busandtrainuser.com
 
polly said:
I don't know that side very well but Mersea is worth a little trip
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I have developed a think about Britains islands and Mersea Island popped up on my radar recently and I am considering it next weekend. Sadly, it looks like drive only and no public transport.
As an aside, it does not even getr a name check in Lonely Plant's Great Britain.
 
WOW, fantastic. Are they frequent or once a day jobbies.
I suspect it might take forever from home to their by public transport. I will have to invesitgate.
 
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