Coastwalk , Islands

Mersea Strood West → Mersea Strood East

Distance: 12.8 miles
Ascent: 142 metres
Duration: 3 hours 39 minutes

A complete circuit
« Tollesbury | Wivenhoe »

Today I walked round an entire island. It's a walk I had my eye on while living in Suffolk, but never attempted. Wanting to complete a coastwalk in May, and needing to be in Colchester tonight it was the obvious candidate. (Or even, the only candidate.)

Mersea is connected to the mainland by a tidal causeway - The Strood. When I walked the mainland coast I decided against including Mersey, crossing The Strood at its northern end. So today's walk was from one side of the road to the other, the long way. What was previously five paces turned into just shy of thirteen miles.

And what glorious weather to be walking in! Perfect blue skies gave the sun free reign to warm the island. Consequently the beaches on the southern (seaward) side of the island were rammed with half-term holidaymakers.

Rather than begin and end my walk at the causeway I based myself at the eastmost point on the island. This meant tackling the most demanding stretch - the northern coast - first and finishing off with the well-populated southern shore.

Besides a few Scouts packing up their tents at the start I met no-one on the northern coast. The winding path sits atop the sea wall between farmland and estuary - classic Essex. On the far side of the water an occasional thudding noise declared the presence of the Fingringhoe firing ranges.

Just east of the causeway the seawall on which the right of way sits is breached in a number of places. The popular alternative appears to be to back-track a short distance to the next embankment inline.

A new addition to the path is a camera bag. It's one I was particularly fond of, but which somewhere over the course of the first eight miles fell out of my open rucksack. Tonight I've scanned all my photos for signs of where it might be, but without luck.

The westernmost point of the island was a delightful surprise: a small fishing village with wooden houses and boats pulled right up the beach. The south was disappointing - endless caravans, leading too soon back to the east. (Those who choose to walk this way in the future: be aware that the south-eastern section requires walking on the beach and may be impassable at high tide.)

So today I've smelt an oyster farm, seen barnacles fossilised in rust, heard big boys play with big guns, felt my arms burn to a crisp and tasted my first ice-cream of the summer. Mersea may be a small island, but in completing a circuit I feel as though I've revisited much of the past ten years' walking in miniature.