Essex By The Sea

The cliffs at the Naze near Walton are erroding at an alarming rate! But locals are trying to slow the process by installing new sea defenses. David Eagle has been leading this work and showed Owen what they have been doing to try and save the Naze. He'd also like to hear from you if you've got a story to tell! Email  ⁠essexbytheseapodcast@gmail.com⁠ Join him on social media:  ⁠Instagram⁠...

Quirky and colourful beach huts line the Tendring coastline for as far as the eye can see between Clacton and Walton-on-the-Naze. It's estimated that there's over 3,000 along this stretch of the Essex coast alone. Each little hut, has many stories to tell, memories to recount and experiences to share. Nancy Stevenson has written a book called "Beach Hut People" telling those stor...

Located off the coast of West Mersea and long black timber building with small windows hoovers above the water line. The Packing Shed is actually resting on Packing Marsh Island, where a for decades Mersea Island's oysters were procressed and packed before being sent to London for sale. Now fully restored, the Packing Shed is an education centre, which is open to the public on certain days, te...

On June 22nd 1948, passengers aboard the HMT Empire Windrush began disembarking in Tilbury. Most were from Caribbean countries seeking a new life here in the UK. 2023 marked the 75th anniversary of that voyage and the arrival of who have become known as the Windrush Generation. The Port of Tilbury marked the anniversary with a special commuinty day at the old railway terminal where Owen spoke to L...

Each year in Brightlingsea, a unique ceromony takes place which dates back centuries. The Blessing of the Waters is a historic event that happens in the early summer before town folk and invited guests reclaim Brightlingsea Creek by performing the "din". The event was held for the first time during the reign of King Charles III on Sunday 4 June 2023 when the Lord Warden of the Cinque Por...

In a bid to make the River Thames even more cleaner, the Port of London Authority is trialing a new passive debris collector off the Essex coast. Sited close to the DP World's London Gateway port, the collector is the largest of it's kind and is hoped to reduce the amount of rubbish that collects on certain parts of the river. At the time of recording it had only been operational for a few...

There's a part of the Essex coast that used to be deep below London. When the Elizabeth Line was dug out, the soil removed to create the tunnels was shipped to Wallasea Island where the RSPB enhanced the landscape to create a haven for wildlife. Owen went along to the island to find out more from RSPB Site Manager Rachel Fancy. He would also like to hear from you if you've got a story to t...

It turns out that the waters off the Essex coast in the outer Thames Esturary are one of the perfect places to site an offshore wind farm. There's a number of them already, with plans for more in the coming years. The Galloper Wind Farm has a state of the art control room and maintanance depot in Harwich, which is where Owen spoke with the General Manager; Sean Chenery. Owen would like to hear...

The Essex Wildlife Trust are working with the local community in Tendring to help get small local projects up and running to improve habitats for wildlife. With funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Nextdoor Nature will provide people with the advice and support they need to help nature on their doorstep, and leave a lasting natural legacy to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. In Jaywic...

There are 58 Ships listed on a board at the Navyard Wharf in Harwich. They were all built in historic dockyard between 1660 and 1827 but very little is actually known about them. Volunteers from the town's International Shanty Festival took it upon themselves to set up a project and find out more about these forgotten ships. The project is a huge task, and still in its early days and so more v...

Artists Trish Evans and Nick Humphreys, who are collectivly known as Instar, are taking a journey to discover the ocean, shining a light on the wonder beneath the waves and to creatively explore the impact of climate change and rising sea levels for communities and local people, by creating ARKADE. ARKADE will be an art project over the winter of 2023/24 in Jaywick combining fruit machines and wil...

Along the coastline of Britain volunteers keep a look out. They are members of the National Coastwatch Institution and are there to help keep the coastline safe. In Essex, there are two stations based in the Thames Esturary at Thorpe Bay and on Canvey Island. Owen visited the station on Canvey to find out more about from station manager Grahame Harris. More information about the National Coastwatc...

In Episode 37, Hugh & Madeleine from the Radio Lento Podcast joined Owen to explain how and why they enjoy recording sound scapes of the the Essex coast. As an attempt to emulate their work, Owen visited the same site in Stanford-le-Hope that they have visited to record an episode . Sitting on the banks of the River Thames he tried for himself to record the sounds of the River Thames. This epi...

Residents along the Essex coast awoke in the early hours of 1st February 1953 to a storm surge sweeping across the land. Over 300 people lost their lives in the UK.  Over a third of them were in Essex.  59 perished on Canvey Island alone. Footage from the time show homes, holiday camps and buisnesses submerged with just the roof tops above the water. Lesser told is the story of how farml...

Rowhedge on the River Colne was once a hive in maritime industry. Today, there is significantly less in this now very nice riverside village. Volunteers with the Rowhedge Heritage Trust are working to capture and tell the stories for future generations. Nick Baker & Roz Watling joins Owen to tell him more about their work and what people can discover from their archive. They also have a free e...

If you think of a beach in Essex, Grays Beach is unlikely to be the one you thought of. However, this 300m stretch of river front is set to be transformed by enthusiastic locals. The project by Riverside Community Big Local is being supported by the Essex Wildlife Trust's Nextdoor Nature initiative; a programme to support small and medium sized nature projects in the Thurrock and Basildon area. On...

Standing tall way out into the Thames Estuary are strange looking towers. These were built during the Second World War to defend the entrance to the river and London beyond. The Maunsell Forts are named after their designer, Guy Maunsell who created two types used in the Thames Estuary. Following the World War Two, the forts lived on. Rough Sands Fort, sited some 13 kilometres from the Essex coast...

Along the 350 miles of the Essex coastline, saltmarshes are a distinctive feature. Some of them in the estuary of the River Blackwater are thought to be over 35,000 years old. However the Essex Wildlife Trust say 100 hectares of saltmarsh are being lost around the UK per year. Lauren Cosson from the Trust showed Owen the saltmarsh that was created at their headquarters in 2002. If you've got a sto...

The Essex coastline once had eleven Martello Towers built in the early 1800’s to protect Britain from invasion. Five of the towers remain. Some are clearly visable while one is a little bit hidden. Tower F has had a varied history. From a military fort, to a coastguard look out. Once a zoo and now the Tower Tea Rooms. The owner, Paul Nash welcomed Owen to the tower to find out more. If you've got...

Harwich is the eighth location in the UK to have a Tide & Time Bell installed. The bell sits on the foreshore and rings by the ebb and flow of the tide. The bell in Harwich was installed in October 2022, and Owen went to meet the artist Marcus Vergette, producer Peter Gingold and local co-ordinator Libby Scarfe on the day of it's unveiling. More information about the Tide & Time Bells can...

In May 1940, over 800 private little ships were sent to war as part of Operation Dynamo. Their mission was to evacuate British and French troops from Dunkirk. Some of those ships taking part in the evacuation were from the Essex coast. The six from Leigh-on-Sea; Renown, Reliant, Leticia, Resolute, Defender and Endeavour were volunteered for service by their crews who sailed them rather than being...

If you go down to Shoeburyness or Southend-on-Sea, you'll often see kite surfers riding the waves out in the Thames Esturary. But how do you get started in the sport? That's where Simon Mudd of the Essex Kite Surfing School can help as he runs sessions to help newbies to the sport. Owen met up with Simon at East Beach in Shoeburyness to find out more! If you've got a story, Owen would like to hear...

In years gone by hundreds of barges and smacks plyed their trade up and down the Essex coast line. These vessels are much smaller in number now and now provide a variety of services as well as occassionally racing. 2022 was the 60th Blackwater Sailing Barge Match where over twenty vessels took part in full sail. Cally Stubbs is a volunteer with the Blackwater Sailing Barge Match Association and ex...

Lobster stocks are dwindling off the Essex coast. The Thames Esturary Lobster Hatchery, hopes to turn the fortunes of lobsters around by giving them a helping hand. Thousands of lobster will be hatched in the hatchery before being released into wild. Gary Humm runs the only centre of this kind on the Essex coast and took Owen on a tour of the hatchery and learning space which has recently been add...

There are five small passenger ferries that operate around the Essex coast. One of them carries passengers between Wallasea Island and Burnham-on-Crouch. However in 2022, the operation was almost stopped following storm damage to the public pontoon on Burnham Quay. Owners and operators, Michelle and Mark Philips took Owen for a ride across the River Crouch. More information about the Burnham Ferry...