I think I had it in my mind to go to Goldhanger, but for some reason I ended up in Tollesbury, a beautiful village of about 2,600 people on the edge of the earth which has been around since Anglo-Saxon times - the church dates from 1090 and is on the site of an earlier building. It was very mild today, almost springlike. Definitely a nice day to park up in the square-ish square in the middle of the village and go wandering about.
I love this old house although I am sure the actual wording on there doesn't date back to 1390! You can see a couple of fire insurance plaques on the wall too which probably date from the 18th century. And there's always a Royal Mail van parked outside.
I normally go straight for the sea but this time headed north up Station Road, not really thinking about whether there was a station or a line here. There was in fact - the Kelvedon and Tollesbury Light Railway which opened in 1904 and closed to the public in 1951, running freight for another 11 years after that. There's absolutely no trace of the station and very little trace of the line.
I don't know if this was a railway tank of some kind but it looks like it's been here a while, hidden behind a bush.
The information board, helpfully planted in the middle of nowhere, seemed to indicate that the track ran along here. I walked for about 100 yards to the end, and then just finding a big field with no obvious track to follow, turned round and came back. I've walked a few disused railway lines before which have been reclaimed by nature but it's really hard to imagine anything was ever here.
(And it wasn't - I later found out that the board was wrong. The line was about 100 yards to the south, but there's still no physical trace of it on the group. This map very helpfully shows where the line was. If you then open Google Maps and look at the satellite, you can trace the existence of the line, so it looks about right. There's still no physical trace of the line or any station buildings or platforms on the ground though).
I headed back down Station Road - some of the houses still remember the railway. Or maybe this guy just likes trains.
I headed east towards the riverfront/seafront - we're at the mouth of the river Blackwater here. The tide was quite low - the spring tide comes in really quickly here and can leave you stranded. There were a lot of people sitting around outside the various cafes - first time I've seen that this year.
Heading back to the square one last time, I had a bit of a double-take when I saw this guy in the yard at Tollesbury Hall, next door to the church. He didn't bite me - but he did try!
3.14 miles in 1 hr 1 min 36 sec (ave 3.06mph)
Calories burned 516; steps taken 6,917; elevation 130 ft
10 deg C, cloudy
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