I began the first day of my residency by taking a run down to the esplanade at Chalkwell, turning right to follow the path back towards London to see where it would take me. The weather was dull and rainy, but never one to shy away from bad weather, I was up for a period of exploration. I was well protected from the elements with my super-duper light trail-running jacket, that doesn’t let anything in, though my shoes whilst being able to grip the mud, were not able to keep my feet from getting wet for very long and before long they were sodden.
I knew from the train journey here that there is a stretch running close to the railway line into Leigh on Sea, and there is also a little stretch beyond that, but otherwise I was ready to see where the route would take me. I knew that this would depend on what would be accessible on foot and that much of the Thames estuary going back inland consists of mud-flats and mini tributaries and is very marshy.
The first section towards and through Leigh on Sea was a pretty straightforward concrete path, directly following the sea/estuary on one side and the railway on the other. The view across to the other side was obscured somewhat by grey, dull, rainy mist, but you could still get a sense of the vastness of the mouth of the river here, though it is difficult to tell at what point the sea stops being the sea and becomes the river. The picturesque quaintness of Leigh on Sea was followed more rugged wild landscape, as I ventured into Two Tree Island, a nature reserve consisting of grassland, scrub, reedbed and lagoons. A myriad of footpaths made it confusing to try following a direct path along the estuary so I opted for the one that seemed furthest away. Though muddy, it seemed to take me to the edge of the river inlet that becomes Hadleigh bay. So far, so good, until I came to a crossing where it appeared to be possible to cross a very thin stretch of water, barely anything, over to the other side, where I could continue my route west.
Except that after a couple of precarious attempts, I decided I couldn’t cross over : the mud was just that bit too soft and sinking to risk it. It meant going back on myself to reach the ridge opposite, but at least from then on it was a straight run for 3 1/2 miles into Benfleet. This was quite something- spectacular views all the way and no-one else around me; a strange silence enveloped me. Although I had to compete with pools of water for much of it, at least it was soft, easy and low impact. By the time I reached Benfleet I had done over 8 miles and I felt I had had enough for a first day. Although I could have continued either to Canvey Island or Pitsea, I decided I would head back to Chalkwell by train in time for lunch.
I’ve always though of approaching the run from Source to Sea, rather than the other way round, probably mostly following the south side of the river, but being here at the north side, and venturing back inland almost at the point at which the river becomes the sea, I’m now not so sure.
