Fri 30 Mar (Good Friday) - Benfleet to Southend walk

[zora]

As it says on the tin: A walk from Benfleet via windswept Hadleigh Castle, and after a short pub crawl in Leigh-on-Sea along the sea front on to Southend.

It's a brilliant walk with great pubs along the way - I have been planning to organise a walk along this route ever since being shown it a couple of years ago.

Meet Benfleet station Fri 30 Mar at 11.15am. (This -relatively - early start is to catch some of the high tide.)

Edit: Train from London departs Fenchurch Street 10.25am, or its next stop West Ham 10.35am. Super off peak day return ticket to Southend is £13.40, or £8.80 with railcard from Fenchurch Street, or slightly cheaper if you travel to and from West Ham station.

alsoknownas Hollis mango5 quimcunx boohoo Maggot Ms T Stig Sue Rutita1 Artaxerxes han colacubes eme toblerone3 little_legs alien nation

Apols if I've forgotten to tag anyone who I have walked with in the past couple of years, and as ever of course also new walking buddies welcome!

 

[Maggot]

Sounds good. How does one get to Benfleet?

 

[Treacle Toes]

Sounds interesting!

 

[Treacle Toes]

Sounds good. How does one get to Benfleet?

From Fenchurch Street.

 

[Stig]

Sounds great, thanks for the tag!

rich! ?

 

[Sue]

Thanks for the tag. Sounds like a lovely walk but I'm away for the Easter weekend. Have fun!

 

[Stig]

Super off peak day return to Southend is £13.40, or £8.80 with railcard.

Don't think I've ever been along there

 

[colacubes]

I think I'm pretty likely to be there. I may also bring the hound.

 

[quimcunx]

Sounds good but I'm travelling that day.

 

[alsoknownas]

May I offer some logistics for the walk :

Benfleet to Southend, via Leigh-on-Sea

This is a scenic, relatively short walk at just over 7 miles. A hilly section at the start makes it feel vigorous enough though.

Meet Benfleet Station (Essex) Friday 30th March - 11:15

Trains run from Fenchurch Street Station, and take around 45 minutes (trains via Basildon are faster than trains via Ockendon).

Fenchurch Street Station is just around the corner from Tower Hill tube station.

Section one: Benfleet to Leigh-on-Sea

This crosses the site of the 2012 Olympic mountain bike circuit, which is still in use. Also the ruins of Hadleigh Castle, where there is a decent tea shop run by the Salvation Army.

Slightly hilly, but not too strenuous section:



Leigh-on-Sea is a nice little old town by the shore with a choice of 5 or so decent pubs for a pit stop, including the fantastically named Ye Olde Smack.

We should aim to get into Leigh while there is still some tide in for best views. Tide forecast for 30th March below:


Section two: Leigh-on-Sea to Southend

This is a flat walk along the sea (estuary) front in to built-up Southend. There is the option to walk along the extremely long pier if people are interested (admission is £1 if you walk both ways, £5 to take the train). Walking the pier would add 3 miles to the journey!

Walk end in town at the Railway Hotel, which is easily the best pub in Southend. There is a lively vegetarian kitchen, and there will likely be live music of some sort.

 

[alsoknownas]

ska invita braindancer littleseb Rebelda sleaterkinney MrSki 8115

 

[alsoknownas]

marty21 Fozzie Bear RubyToogood ShiftyBagLady

 

[alsoknownas]

wtfftw Mogden gaijingirl keithy

 

[Treacle Toes]

Lovely set of logistics that alsoknownas Well done!

 

[ska invita]

might well be up for this

 

[mango5]

Walking the pier

Hope this is not a euphemism.

 

[MrSki]

I think I will be working but if not I would be up for it.

 

[alsoknownas]

Hope this is not a euphemism.

Well it's the longest leisure pier in the world, if that helps...

 

[colacubes]

I have an excellent RNLI tea towel from the shop at the end of the pier

 

[zora]

Yay! Great to see there's some interest and great to see some tide charts - thanks to my fellow walk organiser

Also, thanks Stig for train info; I'll edit the op to add this in, as well as the train time, because there really is only one reasonable train to get, departing 10.25am Fenchurch Street (or 10.35am from West Ham, its next stop).

 

[klang]

littleseb ]

oooh, would have loved to, sounds great, but won't be in the country.
have fun, walkers, and thanks for the tag!

 

[zora]

Bumpety bump: It's in two weeks today!
Put it in your diaries, folks.

 

[MrSki]

Tried to get the day off but failed. Have a good one.

 

[Treacle Toes]

This is on my diary.

 

[han]

Ooh! I like the sound of this.

 

[Miss-Shelf]

Deffo in for this

 

[mango5]

All the yeses

 

[zora]

Likes all round for the enthusiasm for this walk; with a special mention to MrSki for gamely trying to get the day off work for the occasion (I hope there will be more opportunities soon to walk together).

 

[MrSki]

Likes all round for the enthusiasm for this walk; with a special mention to MrSki for gamely trying to get the day off work for the occasion (I hope there will be more opportunities soon to walk together).

Thanks. I thought with enough notice they would let me have the day off but just laughed at me. Tis the busiest weekend of the year where I work but look forward to future walks.

 

[alsoknownas]

I can exclusively reveal that your pub entertainment at The Railway Hotel will consist of Steve Hooker & The Stripped Down Stompin' Band, which from what I can make out consists of a middle-aged geezer playing rockabilly toons - very Southend .