Coastwalk

Bradwell Waterside → St Lawrence Bay

Distance: 4.4 miles
Ascent: unknown
Duration: unknown

Gateway to the Blackwater
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I'm continuing the theme of alternating between the north and south ends of my Essex gap. After only one day alongside the sea, Bradwell Waterside marks the point where I head upstream once more, following the vast Blackwater Estuary to Maldon.

This is the third Saturday in a row I've walked in Essex. If I keep it up I should be able to knock the county off by the end of the year.

I had guessed I'd be able to get to Maldon with one or two walks, but today's relentless drizzle dampened that idea. On reaching the caravan park at St Lawrence Bay I gave up and caught the bus back to the car.

This gave me an opportunity to see the sights, so I spent the afternoon on a walking tour of the Magnox reactor on the marsh. They're big on decommissioning here, and the visitors centre shows how the process will slowly convert the site back to farmland. It's the length of this process that seems to cause most objections to nuclear power these days, yet I can't help thinking of derelict industrial land up and down the country that's suffered a similar fate without such complaints.

The road to the power station takes you pass another intriguing sight. Where it crosses a disused airfield, the most insensitive war memorial ever has been erected by the roadside. I'm all for memorials that tell the truth, but the statue of a fighter aircraft nose-to-the-ground is perhaps a little too tactless. I suspect it's not the most loved of memorials, and wasn't surprised to see the RAF paint peeling from the model.