Dengie Marshes

Sunday, 21 October 2012 - 8:50am - 5:00pm

A remote countryside edged on three sides by water - two rivers and the sea - and a great expanse of sky, sea and marshland. Inhabited by man since the iron age, the Romans built forts and homes and the Saxons gave the area its name. The history of The Dengie was shaped by the surrounding sea, the marshes and rich farmland. And...England's oldest church (built 654AD), a nature reserve, traditional Thames barges in the estuary...

We will start from either Wickford or Woodham Ferrers depending on the group's inclinations and the weather on the day, and then cycle eastwards with one or two diversions to take a look at the Blackwater estuary. Then after lunch at Bradwell-on-Sea (marina cafe bar/pub/picnic as you prefer) we'll visit St Peter's chapel right on the bleak east coast, before heading across the marshes and farmland for tea at the yachting mecca of Burnham-on-Crouch (and as in "nice bit of posh from" for those old enough to remember Ian Dury). Then it's home on the train.

Train from Liverpool St, around £7.50 return with group save 4 discount. Buy a return ticket to Southminster for flexibility (same price as to Burnham). About 40 miles riding, easy pace.

Meet at Liverpool Street station outside ticket office at 08.50 in time to get tickets for 09.15 to Southend Victoria. Get off the train at Wickford, where we either change trains or start riding. Alternatively catch the same train from Stratford at 09.22, but note that there may not be a ride leader there so you will need to look for other cyclists if you want a group save ticket!

Ride difficulty: 
Moderate
Ride distance: 
40 miles
Number of riders: 
23
Ride report: 

The forecast for Sunday 21st October suggested a dry sunny day – provided you were west of London! So Wheelers headed east to Essex and donned their waterproofs…. 21 assembled at Liverpool Street station with a further two joining at Stratford keen to explore the end of the world that is Dengie Marshes. We disembarked from a rather crowded train (well it was once we had all got on) at Wickford and set off in two groups to ease crowd control and allow all those who needed to visit the station facilities.

The two groups met up near Woodham Ferrers but divided again to tackle the only real hill of the day - 200 feet - for a somewhat grey view over the Crouch estuary. Quiet lanes gave way to a section of busier roads around Cold Norton and Latchingdon but sadly there are no easy alternative routes for this section. As we left the busiest section behind us, the leading and slightly faster group took a detour to St Lawrence to look at the (grey) Blackwater estuary, giving the tail-enders a chance to catch up before the group arrived at Bradwell Waterside for lunch. Two options were available – the village pub and the marina bar – and the group split almost equally between the two. I chose the marina and they offered a good selection of lunch staples such as baked potatoes and toasted baguettes. We were entertained by a young kitten that had a great time swinging on and playing with pannier straps whilst outside the window we watched the weather and the boats.

Suitably fortified, we set off for the ancient St Peters Chapel. It’s a fascinating place, still a consecrated chapel but happily left open for visitors to enjoy (and take shelter in) – I guess the remote location and the last 200 metres down a bumpy track puts off the vandals. From there we retraced our steps (or wheel revolutions) to Bradwell and then headed south over the Dengie Marshes. For the first time in the day we had the fairly strong wind on our backs which made a nice change. Still in two groups, we cycled small lanes and farm tracks to Burnham on Crouch, with Owen transferring neatly from one group to the other whilst he fixed the second puncture of the day. As we arrived in Burnham, the rain had become a bit persistent so a tea stop was a more popular option than looking around the town. We crowded into the Cabin Dairy café and conveniently occupied the 55 minutes to the next train home eating cake and drinking tea (which Wheelers always do so well). We all fitted fairly easily onto the local shuttle train to Wickford, and then were the beneficiaries of a surprisingly good customer service experience as the driver of the Liverpool St train patiently waited for all of us to struggle over the footbridge to make the advertised connection.

All in all rather a grey sort of day, grey cloud or drizzle all day, but as we said "much more atmospheric"!

The slightly speedier group visit St Lawrence on the Blackwater estuary.

At St Peters chapel near Bradwell-on-sea.

 

42 miles
2 punctures
0 fallers (or at least no-one admitted to it!)

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