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squiz Member Member#: 6644 Location: Registered: 27-05-2007 Diary Entries: 3071 |
1st September 2017 Mt. Biking: Heybridge Basin along the Chelmer & Blackwater Nav Wind Direction: Wind Stength: Surf / Sea State: Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: Weather: sunny periods Max Speed: 16.03 (knots - unless stated otherwise) Distance Covered: 25 miles (Nautical Miles - unless stated otherwise) Friday 1st September – Bike ***** Heybridge Basin along the Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation Canal including Maldon – sunny periods. Lovely quiet night at Tollesbury Marina being the only vehicle along the creek:) Woke at six just before the sun came up behind the lightship. Dressed quickly to walk over the creeks to take some pics but my good camera is still away being repaired and I am having trouble with the batteries in my little point and shoot:( Mag got her mobile phone camera ready for me but I got the Finepix A920 going just in time so whizzed out to get some sunrise pics and stunning it was too:) With not a breath of wind and the tide out it was lovely :) I was out over half an hour and got some nice shots including the old derelict boat house in the marina. Mag was reading with a cuppa when I got back so we relaxed for ages enjoying the view. Several cars were coming now to the marina but very few boats were making the most of the high tide. After breakfast, we packed up and headed the short distance to the free carpark (but sadly no overnight) at Heybridge Basin right beside the Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation. Mag packed a salad while I sorted out the bikes and we left at 10.30. We biked along the road to the river front where the café was busy with customers enjoying the warm sunshine. We soon came to the lock that is the start of the Navigation which runs 14 miles to Chelmsford. In April 2011 when we were here before we did a ten mile walk from the same spot so set off doing the same route. The Navigation is full of moored boats, a small tea hut and hire boats with swans jostling for position! Passing through Heybridge with some large waterfront warehouse now flats and out to a large Tesco Extra where we stop for salad cream (essential!!) and rechargeable batteries. We only have our emergency rucksack £10 so just have enough money, that’s our ice cream gone for later:( We get in a bit of a muddle losing the River and ending up by a lake and an old railway station with the tracks long gone and recognised it from our last visit – we must have got lost then too! It was then out to a road which led to a machinery museum before turning down the private Maldon Golf Club road to the place we parked for the night last time right by Butleigh Lock and Falls! We crossed a long wooden footbridge to a lock, crossing over and continuing upstream. It was very beautiful and quite remote only seeing the odd canoeist and walker! The first sign of civilization came at Hoe Mill Lock where a boat had just gone through the lock, they have to take it easy as the River is badly silted up in places! There was a small campsite here and several narrow boats moored but only a little on road parking so not a spot to head for an overnight stop later:( We soon came to a pretty little church on the other bank and had a nice chat with a lady dog walker who has a caravan at Bradfield near where I windsurf on the Stour and she had walked from a popular tea room at Paper Mill Lock on the Little Baddow road. We found a seat before the tearoom for our picnic and had a great hour relaxing in the sunshine reading. Paper Mill Lock tearoom had a huge carpark that was full and the place was heaving so we carefully proceeded and the river soon quietened down as we reached the next bridge on the Boreham Road. With Chelmsford still several miles away and with aching legs we asked a family of cyclists where Baddow was, it was up the hill but we were told we could head towards Boreham and there was a farm track back to the River. So, we went that way, past a large lake with big buoys around the edge we later learnt it was a training centre for Triathlon! It was uphill to the footpath/track across farmland which brought us back to Hoe Mill lock. It was then back to Beeleigh where we headed away from the River towards Maldon. It was very steep for a section and we got off to walk but soon found the lovely old high street and found a side road leading down to Maldon Prom where a large number of sailing barges are moored but there was no water just lots of mud! It is a very popular prom with a great park including one section with large, fun, water fountains. There is also a sea water lagoon with kids crabbing and small hire paddle boats which looked like great fun! We went to the end of the prom with the large statue of I think an Anglo-saxon king with seats offering great Blackwater views:) We sat and relaxed for ages before heading off in search of the river path on the far bank. This is harder to find than you would expect as you had to pass a large industrial area with no access! But we found the new housing estate which led to the start of the sea path and then out into a nature reserve with views over to Maldon one side and geese filled lakes the other! This path led back to Heybridge Basin Lock and we were soon back to the van – knackered after being out for 6hrs. 15mins covering 25 miles:) Our longest in a while, with Mag still recovering from Shingles and an inner ear virus she hasn’t been up to it lately :( As there was no overnight stopping at this carpark we headed out of Maldon to the Triathlon Lake where there was a large lay-by by the side of the Boreham road near the River. It was a bit busy to start with but quietened off as it got dark. We had a well-deserved cuppa watching the swimmer’s cyclists and runners doing circuits of the lake! A top omelette followed by another top sunset:) Rob texted to say he was working on Sunday so we now have to delay our arrival, shame really as if I had known I would have put a board on as it might be windy enough to sail at Southend on Sunday, still never mind. Perhaps we can drive over to Burnham-on-Crouch tomorrow and avoid the deadly M25 for another day? Photo Gallery here |
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