please empty your brain below
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I thought newts were protected. What happened to them when the diggers destroyed their habitat?
Andrew | 17.09.14 - 7:54 a.m. | #
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The Benfleet to Leigh section is glorious, with a castle, islands and a proper fishing village at the end and you can carry on along the beach to Southend or further. I'm very pleased this route has official status now. A wonderful weekend escape.
Dan | 17.09.14 - 8:04 a.m. | #
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Great read, thanks DG.
Kevin | 17.09.14 - 8:08 a.m. | #
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Duck Ramp? that's no really a thing - is it?
| 17.09.14 - 8:42 a.m. | #
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Unlike Tilbury Fort which, as DG says, is an English Heritage property, the open days at the smaller Coalhouse Fort are only possible thanks to volunteers.
As well as the radar station there's also the remains of various other 1940's reinforced defences, including (also outside the actual fort) a control post that would have set off lines of mines laid across the river, to repel any approaching enemy craft.
RogerW | 17.09.14 - 9:28 a.m. | #
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Oooh, a new long-distance path! Thanks, DG - another one to put on my list.
Karen | Homepage | 17.09.14 - 10:57 a.m. | #
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Andrew:They could have been little lizards rather than newts.
And could the duck ramp have been for the amphibious landing craft(DUKW)which were known as Ducks?
popartist | 17.09.14 - 3:21 p.m. | #
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The link to the photo of the duck ramp for lazy readers:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dgeezer/15075727380/in/set-72157647274840888/
Greg | 17.09.14 - 3:45 p.m. | #
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Great read DG. one to do in the future
Tim | 17.09.14 - 3:55 p.m. | #
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Is it suitable for cycling too? has anyone done it?
Martin | 17.09.14 - 6:38 p.m. | #
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What Karen said. Cheers DG.
THC | 17.09.14 - 7:55 p.m. | #
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"As we continued, we started to notice more than a few narrow ramps, leading up the inside of the sea wall to its top. These were each clearly marked “Duck Ramp”, and exist to help shelducks to make their way landward, though there were no ducks we could see today. Still, these ramps gave the kids no end of pleasure; when one was spotted a shout of “Duck Ramp” would go up, and the kids would rush off to climb it."
(thecoastalpath.net)
Great Aunt Annie | 17.09.14 - 9:46 p.m. | #
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How exciting! I’ll add this to the list of paths to run on when I’ve finished the main Thames path, the London Loop, and the Capital Ring. It might be a while before I get to it :).
Simon W | 18.09.14 - 12:06 a.m. | #
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when I visited Tilbury Fort, I remember reading that it wasn't at the Fort itself that Elizabeth I addressed her troops ... the Fort at that time was a small affair, what we see today wasn't built till much later ... I've just checked on Wiki and it says "it was in nearby West Tilbury that Elizabeth I rallied her makeshift army"
anyway, thanks for the great write-up DG, very interesting
Caroline | 18.09.14 - 2:04 a.m. | #
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Does anyone know if there is an easy way to walk between the end of the Thames path and the start of this new path?
Whiff | 18.09.14 - 4:17 a.m. | #
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You could trace a path between the end of the Thames Path at Woolwich and Tilbury, via the north bank of the river or the south. But with power stations, ports and mouths of rivers in the way, I wouldn't call it easy.
diamond geezer | Homepage | 18.09.14 - 6:47 a.m. | #
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There's apparently a long term plan to extend the Thames Path all the way to the sea. I suspect routes like this are a key way for them to open it up in stages. May take a while though.
Andrew Bowden | Homepage | 18.09.14 - 6:53 a.m. | #
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Cheers DG. Great read. Suitably inspired, have just done stages 5,4 and 3. Interesting walk. Not much river but plenty of mud flats, pylons, wildlife - dragonflies, a last sand martin for the summer, and hundreds of waders (not sure what most were but certainly little egrets ((I had a few)) and curlews). One thing that was lacking was signage. Maybe it is designed to be done the other way. Or, I suspect, to be done with the app. Even with an OS map it took some guesswork between Benfleet and Pitsea (if you meet a bare torsoed man in a boat, go back and take the smaller path alongside the fence) and even more on the RSPB marshes between Pitsea and Stanford. It would be difficult to do it with a leaflet and by following the signs as you can on the Capital Ring and London Loop. Enjoyable, mind you.
GJ | 25.09.14 - 9:57 p.m. | #
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DG great to see you tried the path. As the person who developed the path from scratch I was pIeased with your critique/description. I think you appreciated the industrial grandeur of the path. Some of the problems have been rectified. The opening from East Tilbury is there now. But we still have a diversion up Rainbow Lane. I was on the East Tilbury path which is very muddy but not impassable.
Like all paths there are many gems: the Norman church at Corringham, the Bull at Corringham, the White Lion at Fobbing, Hole Haven Creek, Two Tree Island, F&C at Leigh to name but a few!
John Meehan | 20.10.14 - 4:51 p.m. | #
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A follow-up comment on this post a few months on...
This post appeared just at the right time, when I was looking for inspiration for a walk for the winter programmes of Hampstead and North West London Ramblers groups.
Today we walked the route from East Tilbury to Pitsea (missing out the Mucking - Stanford-le-Hope section).
East tilbury to Mucking is still very muddy (probably a landscaping work in progress). We had an excellent pub at the lunch stop (The White Lion in Fobbing) and good weather all day (if a bit wet underfoot, but you expect that walking on the marshes in winter).
Steve Bird | 01.02.15 - 9:43 p.m. | #
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Glad you all enjoyed it, Steve. I must get out and walk the rest, but maybe later in the year when it's a bit drier.
diamond geezer | Homepage | 01.02.15 - 9:46 p.m. | #
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