Day: 184 22/3/98 Goldhanger to Great Wigborough

Weather:  Dry and fair.

Distance:  30.5km (19 miles)    Total Distance:   2382 miles

I had done quite a bit of phoning around to try to find a B&B to stay in and ended up staying in the Chequers pub in Goldhanger – the exact place I was beginning today’s walk! The drive down along the A14 early in the morning was straightforward enough.  I left the car in the pub car park and hoped that the publican would not object. 

It was a short walk down the sea and into the peace of the sea defences. I hardly saw a person all morning! I took it very steady, stopping every hour for a rest and a drink.  It got a bit busier once Tollesbury came into sight.  

At Tollesbury there are some old boathouses built on stilts and what was more important, a café – I arrived among a crowd of but thought that ordering a cooked breakfast would be no problem.  Forty minutes later some food started appearing – but the waitress gave mine to someone else who started to eat it.  The owner appeared, failed to resolve it and said they would cook me another. Fearing another 40 minute wait I turned down his offer.  They did not even know if I had paid or not!  I left still hungry and frustrated so tucked into a packet of biscuits. 

There was more sea wall to go for.  I passed a large crowd of birdwatchers on the Old Hall Marshes.  At Salcott I was looking for the pub marked on the map so I could go and watch the rugby international – but it has gone!

I decided to walk a bit further to another pub marked on the map as I was too early for the bus.  I went through a farm yard – asked the way because it was far from clear where the path was and then through the fields,  only to find the second pub all boarded up and vandalised.

 I then walked up the road to Great Wigbourough thinking it would be a better place to leave my bike or car the next day.  I started to walk back to the bus stop and also hitched at the same time and ended up getting two lifts back to Goldhanger.  The first from a yachtsman in a BMW and the second in the most beat up old car I had ever seen from a road laborer on his way to buy a Mothering Day’s present.

The Chequers pub was closed and it was getting cold even in the car so I drove into Maldon, and bought a paper and cup of coffee in the supermarket to pass the time.  Back at the pub I arrived the same time as a family of three who I later got talking to. He was a Zimbabwean farmer whose land was under threat from being taken away from them by the government to give back to the black farmers.  He employed 400 people and their families, feeding them and giving them homes.  He grew a range of crops and flowers for export.   They were touring England looking for an agriculture college for their son to attend.

The pub was OK, the beer good, food OK, and room on a bid slope due to the fact it was 400 years old.  There was a good pianist playing, but I went to bed at 9.30 fearing that if I stayed too much longer I would have too much beer.  Even though my room was above the bar I went to sleep easily full of food, beer and fresh air!