24 March 2023 - Burnham On Crouch & Minster On Sea.
Miles driven today = 67
Total Miles to date = 141
As the lyrical genius that was Ian Dury once wrote - "Oh golly, Oh gosh, come and lie on the couch - with a nice bit of posh from Burnham-on-Crouch".
We decided to jump on the train this morning and have a quick look around Burnham before we fired up the van and headed Kentwards. It's one stop and just 5 minutes from our overnight stay at Althorne. 2 x off peak returns = £11:20. You what mate?!
Burnham is a lovely little town though with lots of interesting buildings. The octagonal clock tower was erected in 1877 in memory of a chap called Laban Sweeting who was a local oyster merchant and a noted philanthropist.
Although it only has a population of 7,500 Burnham is reckoned to have no less than 22 different drinking establishments. Now that is a pub crawl I wouldn't mind having a crack at sometime!
It also has a cute little art deco cinema.
Along the riverfront are a succession of yacht clubs and marinas where the well heeled and their "bits of posh", as Mr Dury referred to them, meet up and moor their expensive craft. The rather blocky looking 1930s clubhouse of the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club is apparently Grade II listed.
Further to yesterday's tale, I have another sailing story about this place. We were here on a family holiday in 1979. By that time we had progressed to a 24 foot Achilles, which had a small cabin barely big enough to accomodate my parents and me and my 2 younger brothers at a very tight squeeze. We were stuck on a mooring out in the estuary not daring to move while the storm which claimed 19 lives in the Fastnet Race disaster blew itself through. For 3 days we sat there playing snakes and ladders, eating rehydrated soya mince and Smash and being chucked about by the wind and waves while Radio 1 played Cliff Richard's "We Don't Talk Anymore" on a seemingly continuous loop. 15 year old me was less than impressed. I just wanted to be in my bedroom at home where I could put on my headphones and blast out "New Boots & Panties" at full volume.
After a quick cafe stop for a bacon butty and a few groceries at the Co-Op we caught the train back to Althorne. Apart from our kitchen tap developing an annoying habit of intermittently turning itself on while we are driving (solved temporarily with a spare rubber band) we are confident that everything is in full working order. So we headed into Kent via the QE Bridge.
We've decided on The Isle of Sheppy as a first stop. Never been here before and really didn't know what to expect. The bridge which swept us across The Swale and onto the island is certainly a very impressive structure.
We've parked up at a pub called The Playa which is right on the seafront at Minster On Sea. We arrived at lunchtime so the carpark was fairly full but we squeezed in where we could and then moved ourselves a bit later so that we are tucked away from the road and have what to all intents and purposes appears to be our own private beer garden.
We took ourselves off for a walk along the front while we waited for the car park to clear a bit. The shoreline is a narrow strip of shingle at high tide but a wide beach is uncovered as the Thames' waters slip away.
Minster takes its name from the old Abbey which sits on a hilltop at the highest point on the island. It was founded in 664AD.
To quote from the Abbey's website: "Having been badly damaged in the 9th century it was rebuilt in the 12th century with an unusual arrangement of two adjacent “churches”, the Northern Church being for the nuns and the Southern Church for parishioners It also houses the famous de Northwode brasses dating from 1330 and an interesting array of monuments dating from the 14th to the 16th century." But it was shut when we got there so we'll just have to take their word for it.
The original Abbey Gatehouse is now a local museum but that was shut too.
But we were treated to some nice views across the flatter parts of the island and beyond which almost made the uphill slog worthwhile.
To use Lisa's description Minster is otherwise somewhat "suburban" so we walked back to The Playa along the clifftop path with the beach huts below.
It's fishy Friday in The Playa. 2 fish dishes for £20. We plumped for the seafood platter because we are always suckers for that when we see it on a menu. Not the best we've ever had but at £25 for 2 we're not complaining. This was before the bread, chips and salad turned up so suffice to say we are stuffed.
Comments
Post a Comment