THE RAMBLINGS OF A STRUGGLING ARTIST ON LIFE WITH TWO TERRIERS, A PONY WITH ISSUES AND OTHER WILDLIFE AND BIRDS THAT CROSS OUR PATH

2 September 2013

WALTON ON THE NAZE


East, West, home's best, but we had a great few days away in the East. In Tilbury, I was camera free in my wedding gear, so no pictures. Another time with that one; a town that deserves attention. We also stayed in Upwell, near Wisbech in Cambridgeshire and Leytonstone in London again, but failed to photograph anything of interest due to the whistle-stop nature of our visits. Walton, however was great. The slightly down at heal neighbour of Frinton-on-Sea a little way along the coast, Walton is a classic British seaside town with a pier two thirds of a mile long and a great sandy beach. The inevitable amusement arcade is housed in an enormous hangar-like structure at the coast end of the pier, along with a ghost train, waltzer, and bumper cars. I'm not sure I would want to spend too long there but the surrounding countryside and salt marshes are fantastic. We stayed with an old friend of mine who I had not seen for at least fifteen years. His house backs onto Walton Mere (seen below), a lovely salt marsh earmarked for a very controversial development which would involve the destruction of a fabulous area for birds and wildlife, and my friend's view. It seems plans are currently on hold due to local opposition. Walton boasts a Martello Tower, which you can see in the background of the picture below, and in the words of the entrance sign close by, 'Britain's cheapest camp site'. It could have been Essex rather than Britain, but whichever it was, it's not helping the image of the place. Classy. Here are some pictures at last.....


View from friend's garden with the Martello Tower in the background




Boats on the Mere


Concrete barge used to transport fuel during WW2, now abandoned



Looking over towards the port of Harwich and its giant cranes


Beach huts and the pier 


The pier again


OB avoiding the waves



The tide was right in at this point, with waves spraying people walking by



Not doing so well avoiding getting wet here


Lifeboat at the end of the pier




More pier shots; I love the pattern of the boards, some of which were looking a bit dodgy



Inside the hangar


New residents in a run down sea-front house


Interesting spelling here, particularly the use of the acute accent


These next few were taken in the evening sun down Quay Lane where there is one of the many creeks in the area:





Sorry it's taken me so long to post but it's taken days to get back to normal. The dogs are well, as is Trigger although he has some serious separation in one of his hooves. Am packing it and it should grow out fairly quickly. The weather is lovely. I won't bore you with the tale of the Renault Megane and the Tilbury monsoon this time so until next time, here are the dogs sleeping together at last.


39 comments:

  1. Love seeing your photos. Ilfracombe has martello towers!!!(not meant to be, but they look a little like them!!). That sounds awful for your friend being faced with a lot of building nearby - and with a marshland, makes me worry that he could end up getting flooded - these planners just don't seem to care these days! The trouble is the Government has decided to do loads of new building all over the country to kick start the economy...I wonder whose going to buy all these new houses though!!

    OB looks like he is loving those waves...why is it kids love the thrill of water and getting wet.

    Aww, love seeing the dogs cuddled up together, that is SO sweet.

    Hope Triggers hoof will be okay, just what you need to come home to!

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  2. Lovely photo of the dogs!

    I had a most weird reaction to the wonderful, evocative Essex photo.
    It brought all my youth back....in a very mixed sort of way.

    Yes, always lots of those all wartime barges and things. Horrid Essex mud.
    Anyway it was super to see things from a different perspective.
    ps I will still be blogging at elizabethwix.com but maybe not so much!

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    1. I think I'mm glad to have been evocative; I hope some of the memories weren't too painful.

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  3. The marsh area reminds me of Fareham in Hampshire (or how it looked when I lived in nearby Lee-On-The-Solent)...we looked at a house there,we decided against it as it had subsidence...methinks the same will happen to the supermarket.
    Jane x

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  4. How much more of the natural environment has to be destroyed before we see the error of our ways?
    Love that last pic! And their bed!

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    1. It's really troubling isn't it? All about money of course.

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    2. On the plus side it will bring much needed jobs into the area for the residence. That is if they ever build it.

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  5. thanks for all those lovely photos, brought back many memories from my childhood.

    Loved the last one of the two doggies together.

    Gill

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    Replies
    1. Funny how many people seem to have had memories brought back by this post.

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  6. Wonderful photos of Walton and the saltmarshes and little creeks. I didn't know about the development coming there, how depressing - and how typical that a special area is about to be destroyed. I love the two gorgeous dogs together & hope Trigger's hoof heals. Glad you had a great break (and I think I can guess when the Tilbury monsoon took place)

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  7. Honestly Em it just takes my breath away to think that developers want to destroy the beauty of that wild place. It is criminal. I love all your photographs - they give such a lovely picture of an unspoilt place.
    Good to see the dogs sleeping together - isn't it pleasing how well the new boy has settled in - lucky him to find such a home.

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  8. Ahh, lovely to see those two doggy boys snuggled up together.

    It looks like an interesting place where you were. I don't know that area at all. Draining a salt marsh to make way for a Supermarket!!!!! Will people NEVER learn?

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  10. The fifth photo reminded me of SWALLOWS AND AMAZONS

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    Replies
    1. My Grandfather read them all to me as a child and I know exactly what you mean.

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  11. Great images-love the fishing rods on the pier. Delighted you got away for a few days-the dogs look very content.

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  12. Replies
    1. ....and rather too much to drink on the pier for many.

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  13. Nice to have you back .
    Hope all stays well, with everyone .
    Loved the post.

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  14. Gorgeous photos - glad you were able to get away for a few days. The proposed development at Walton Mere sounds horrendous - do hope it doesn't go ahead and destroy such important habitat.

    Lovely photo of your dogs at the end :)

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    1. When I first looked at this, I read 'horrendous photos'! I really need to get more sleep.

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  15. Great collection of photos. I enjoyed looking at them all but the last one of the dogs asleep is my favorite! : )

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  16. So glad you are back! Also glad to see that the dogs seems to be getting on well.

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    1. I think Jack was a great comfort for Snip while we were away!

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  17. Welcome home ! glad you had a safe trip. I always look forward to your photos, Em. Snippet & Jack have made a fast friendship, surely much to your delight. xx

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    Replies
    1. If it had gone the other way, I don't know what we would have done!

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  18. I loved this post, Em, particularly since we are hoping to go to the Walton area before long. I particularly hope to go to Othona (a good 2 hours away), to the site of one of the (Roman) forts of the Saxon Shore and to the Saxon chapel. My interest stems from my History A Level dissertation on said forts. Oh so long ago!

    LOVE the photo of Snippet and Jack curled up together!

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    1. The chapel looks beautiful - so wonderfully simple.

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  19. 2 hours away from us, that is ... not from Walton!

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  20. Hi Em,

    I live in Walton and it is an amazing place, however you didn't go to the Naze or Stones Point where if you're lucky you can see the seals, nor did you go to the other side of the Pier.
    I live right on South Cliff itself and the views from here are awesome.
    There are never 2 days the same.
    Maybe next time you'll come back and spend some time visiting these places.
    You'd be welcome to pop in and view Walton /Frinton from my back garden ~ I've christened it Winton as I'm smack bang in the middle, my front door being postcode Walton, my garden being Frinton so it made perfect sense to me anyway that I in fact live in Winton ;D

    Kind Regards,
    Tina :D

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    1. Hi Tina,

      We only had 24 hours in Walton but I'll definitely be going back. Our friend told us about Stones Point but we just didn't have the time to go there. I've really enjoyed looking through this post again after what seems like a long time! Blogging is a funny thing - rare to look back over old posts. Thanks very much for visiting Tina and next time we're up there, I'd,love to pop in.

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