Coastwalk

St Lawrence Bay → Maylandsea

Distance: 8.4 miles
Ascent: unknown
Duration: 4 hours

Islands and inlets
« Bradwell Waterside | Maldon »

So I didn't manage to complete Essex last year. There's perhaps a dozen walks left; if I start now and do one a month I should be able to knock it off before Christmas comes round again.

The road south of Maldon is familiar territory for me now, but this'll be one of the last times I take it. One more day and I should make it to the first bridge across the Blackwater.

The view of the northern shore of the Blackwater is equally familiar. Today though the view is blocked by Osea Island, one of two inhabited islands in the estuary. Living in nearby Chelmsford as a child, the islands fascinated me whenever I spotted them on the map. I dreamt for hours of the causeways that join them to the mainland, and what life on an island would be like.

Passing Osea today it just looks like any other lump of land, though certainly one threatened by daily tides. On the next walk I'll pass the causeway to Northey Island and both dreamlands will disappear.

I need to find new places to live when I sleep.