After 2 weeks of waking up in a different hotel each day, driving nearly 1500 miles and visiting many, many towns my brain finally melted under the pressure. Up until now I pretty much had the order of piers worked out but today it just wasn't happening for me. It could have been worse but we still had to back track because, despite Dylan's protesting that I was wrong, I missed out a pier. I should have known better than to doubt my little memory man. At least I got us to our first port of call, Clacton On Sea, on time (and in order).
Now I have to confess that since watching Britain On Benefits - Jaywick we weren't exactly looking forward to visiting Clacton and we weren't expecting too much from the pier but we couldn't have been more wrong. Free parking, beautifully kept gardens giving a lovely walk along the cliff top and an excellent pier with something for everyone, it was a very pleasant surprise.
We took our selfie before walking through the pier and onto the end. There's certainly plenty to do here with an aquarium, go kart track, fairground, amusement arcade and café on the pier. Or you can just do what we did and take a very pleasant stroll around the boardwalk.
We had a picnic on the cliff top enjoying the lovely views towards the wind turbine farm far out in the sea before driving on to Jaywick to see if it really is as bad as it looks on TV. It is.
Now, next up should have been the pier in Walton On The Naze but I had it in my head that Harwich was next so that's where we went. I didn't listen to Dylan and after apologising we headed towards the sea front.
Harwich was another town where my preconceptions proved to be wide of the mark. The pier is a little gem, although not big or flashy, and very similar to Swanage, although not as big. A wooden 'promenading' type of pier with a dogleg at halfway it was very busy with strollers and fishermen.
On the other side of the river stood the town of Felixstowe and brain fade number 2 was about to occur. I figured that instead of taking the long drive around the river estuary we could just take a 15 minute ferry across the river, do the pier and then get the ferry back. That, I thought, would save us a couple of hours and reclaim the time I was going to lose heading backwards to Walton on the Naze.
I was wrong, though the ferry was advertised as heading to Felixstowe we actually got dropped off at Languard a good 5 miles from the pier. Oh well, we had a walk around the nature reserve, admired the fort, had a cup of tea and then took the ferry back to Harwich. At £22 return for the three of us it proved an expensive mistake.
Brainfade number 3. I thought I knew better than Brenda the satnav and decided to take an alternative route back to Walton On The Naze. After 15 minutes driving I actually drove round in a full circle and arrived back in Harwich. It turns out Brenda knows best and I won't be doubting her again.
We finally got to Walton On The Naze late in the afternoon and quickly located the pier. Locating a parking space proved more difficult but eventually I got lucky and grabbed one down a side street close to the pier. Walton pier was another surprise with a massive building to the front housing an arcade to the left and a lot of fairground rides including a ghost train down the right. It's big!
However if it's white knuckle rides you're looking for then you simply need to walk the length of the pier. The planks of wood running down the boardwalk are a mismatch of loose, bouncy, bendy and rotten, with gaps so wide Dylan would have been in trouble if he turned sidewards. The walk to the end of the pier proved more frightening than jumping off a tower down a zipwire on Bournemouth pier and isn't something I'd be in a hurry to do again.
Which just left Felixstowe for today's roster of piers. We took the long drive around the estuary of the river Orwell and arrived about 3 hours later than I had expected. A quick selfie and onto the pier. It's basically just an amusement arcade. As we'd been driving for quite a while we allowed Dylan a couple of pounds on the machines and then headed off to do our now traditional walk to the end of the pier. Unfortunately due to safety problems the pier is shut from the arcade onwards. Oh well.
Tired and hungry we ate in the Dominos pizza place opposite the pier before heading to the next hotel to get some much needed sleep. My brain needs a rest and hopefully it will be operating a little better tomorrow....
Distance travelled so far: 1482 Piers visited: 35
Now I have to confess that since watching Britain On Benefits - Jaywick we weren't exactly looking forward to visiting Clacton and we weren't expecting too much from the pier but we couldn't have been more wrong. Free parking, beautifully kept gardens giving a lovely walk along the cliff top and an excellent pier with something for everyone, it was a very pleasant surprise.
We took our selfie before walking through the pier and onto the end. There's certainly plenty to do here with an aquarium, go kart track, fairground, amusement arcade and café on the pier. Or you can just do what we did and take a very pleasant stroll around the boardwalk.
#32 Clacton On Sea
We had a picnic on the cliff top enjoying the lovely views towards the wind turbine farm far out in the sea before driving on to Jaywick to see if it really is as bad as it looks on TV. It is.
Now, next up should have been the pier in Walton On The Naze but I had it in my head that Harwich was next so that's where we went. I didn't listen to Dylan and after apologising we headed towards the sea front.
Harwich was another town where my preconceptions proved to be wide of the mark. The pier is a little gem, although not big or flashy, and very similar to Swanage, although not as big. A wooden 'promenading' type of pier with a dogleg at halfway it was very busy with strollers and fishermen.
#33 Harwich
On the other side of the river stood the town of Felixstowe and brain fade number 2 was about to occur. I figured that instead of taking the long drive around the river estuary we could just take a 15 minute ferry across the river, do the pier and then get the ferry back. That, I thought, would save us a couple of hours and reclaim the time I was going to lose heading backwards to Walton on the Naze.
I was wrong, though the ferry was advertised as heading to Felixstowe we actually got dropped off at Languard a good 5 miles from the pier. Oh well, we had a walk around the nature reserve, admired the fort, had a cup of tea and then took the ferry back to Harwich. At £22 return for the three of us it proved an expensive mistake.
Brainfade number 3. I thought I knew better than Brenda the satnav and decided to take an alternative route back to Walton On The Naze. After 15 minutes driving I actually drove round in a full circle and arrived back in Harwich. It turns out Brenda knows best and I won't be doubting her again.
We finally got to Walton On The Naze late in the afternoon and quickly located the pier. Locating a parking space proved more difficult but eventually I got lucky and grabbed one down a side street close to the pier. Walton pier was another surprise with a massive building to the front housing an arcade to the left and a lot of fairground rides including a ghost train down the right. It's big!
#34 Walton on the Naze
However if it's white knuckle rides you're looking for then you simply need to walk the length of the pier. The planks of wood running down the boardwalk are a mismatch of loose, bouncy, bendy and rotten, with gaps so wide Dylan would have been in trouble if he turned sidewards. The walk to the end of the pier proved more frightening than jumping off a tower down a zipwire on Bournemouth pier and isn't something I'd be in a hurry to do again.
Which just left Felixstowe for today's roster of piers. We took the long drive around the estuary of the river Orwell and arrived about 3 hours later than I had expected. A quick selfie and onto the pier. It's basically just an amusement arcade. As we'd been driving for quite a while we allowed Dylan a couple of pounds on the machines and then headed off to do our now traditional walk to the end of the pier. Unfortunately due to safety problems the pier is shut from the arcade onwards. Oh well.
#35 Felixstowe
Tired and hungry we ate in the Dominos pizza place opposite the pier before heading to the next hotel to get some much needed sleep. My brain needs a rest and hopefully it will be operating a little better tomorrow....
Distance travelled so far: 1482 Piers visited: 35
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