Day: 180 11/1/98 North Fambridge to Burnham-on-Crouch

Weather:  Mild, dry and still.

Distance:  12km (7.5 miles)    Total Distance:   2323 miles

It was a very mild spell for January and the forecast was for a nice day so I decided to make a mad dash for Essex and get a days walk in to walk off the Christmas spread.

I also made the decision to wear daps and not boots, mainly because it was dry but also because I was in urgent need of a new pair of boots because my old ones were worn out and giving my feet trouble. I purchased a new pair in Lyons in Coventry a couple of weeks later. 

It also had to be a short days walk because the only obvious place to stop was Burnham which was a mere 7.5 miles away.  I traveled down M1 and around the M25 again.  I got a bit lost because instead of coming off at the Southend exit I came off a couple of turnings earlier which looked shorter.  I parked the car at Fambridge station as I was pretty convinced I would be making the return journey by train.  It also meant I did not have to park the car on the waterfront and worry about how much the tide would come in that day while I was out walking.

I strolled through the very middle class village of North Fambridge and onto the saae wall. Ugh!  Wish I had worn my boots! Even though it was a mild dry day it had been too cold for the ground to dry out and it was very muddy at times underfoot and my daps provided me with no grip. 

It was very quiet on the wall and I was only disturbed by the noise of sea birds, the most spectacular of which was a flock of about 200 Canadian geese which flew over me, their calling to each other seeming to try to give them confidence that they were going in the right direction.  They landed just ahead of me and proceeded to make even more noise – deciding what to have for lunch I guess.  I tried dropping down off the sea wall at times but the ground was no less muddy.

I saw few people all day, just a couple of dog walkers near the civilised bits.  Things started getting busier around Creeksea by which time there were lots of walkers out enjoying the weather.  Creeksea to the Marina was very muddy and blew my chances of walking into a nice tea shop undetected!  Burnnham looked just as people said – very middle class and yaghty! 

I had about an hour and a half to wait for the train so popped into a café – one suitably downmarket that would not throw me out for being muddy.  I happened to choose the café that was the rendezvous for the East London Bikers day out and seemed to be the only person there not dressed in leathers.  I ordered sausage, beans and chips as that was by far the best value for money.

I was soon joined by what appeared to be the local nuisance, walking in and insulting half the people present.  He was the size of a barrel and insisted on squeezing into the tiny seat opposite me.  This meant that when my lunch arrived I had no other choice but to eat it about two inches from his nose and trying to avoid eye contact.  The shame was it was a real nice meal.

I walked a few more hundred yards and then back up into the town and up to the station buying a newspaper on the way which kept me busy until the train arrived and took me back to the car.  Judging by the muddy state of another couple on the train, walking this stretch of the coast was a popular hobby – except they were wearing the correct footwear.