Essex Coast Gems

Surprising Gems about The Essex Coast

If you’re looking for a day on the beach, walks at the edge of the sea or along the tidal riverbanks, or activities with your family, there are over 350 miles of coast line in Essex and exciting things to do all year round.  

Surprisingly, the Essex coast is about more than just beaches. There are five important rivers in Essex and lots of islands in the estuaries of these rivers.  Some of the islands are large with towns and people, others are so small only birds live there and some need special permission to visit.  Check ahead on tide times and opening times at tidetimes.org.uk

The five main rivers are Roach, Crouch, Colne, Blackwater and Thames.  When the England Coastal Path is fully open the Essex coastal path will follow the contour of these rivers, where feasible,  and it will be a wonderful opportunity to explore the Essex Coast from a different perspective.

Most of the islands are cut off from the rest of Essex twice a day when the tide is high.  At other times you cross a causeway to get to them, but always check the tide times. 

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The History of British Seaside Holidays at The Essex Coast

Seaside resorts began to be popular in the 1700s with wealthier families, but holidays were a luxury that working families could not easily afford. This started to change in 1871 when the Bank Holiday Act was passed giving workers in the UK four days of paid holiday a year, at Easter, Whitsun, August and Boxing Day.

For the first time people could have time off from work without the worry of losing their wages, and Essex developers quickly provided for these new holiday makers at Walton, Clacton, Harwich, Dovercourt, Jaywick, Southend etc.

Further legislation in 1938, with the Holidays with Pay Act gave workers one-week paid leave bringing holidays within the reach of many more people. By the 1970s, many workers had two weeks paid leave. 

Easy travel to and from the coast was crucial if the Essex coast was going to be successful as a holiday destination, and in the early days this meant bringing people by boat. The first piers were used as landing places for steamers that sailed up and down the coastline. They could pick up passengers from the end of Tower Pier in London, stop off in Southend and go all the way around the coast to Great Yarmouth. 

From the 1880s, new railway lines brought the Tendring resorts into easy reach for holiday makers and day trippers. Hundreds of people would arrive by train on sunny weekends and barrow boys would meet holidaymakers and carry their suitcases to the local hotels and guest houses. Easy transport on the trains and then increasingly by car meant that day trippers could spend the day enjoying the seaside but then return home at night. This changed what was on offer at the resorts as there was less need for overnight accommodation and evening entertainments. Since 1960s, easy flights and package holidays have challenged the traditional seaside holiday, changing again what is on offer in the resorts. However, the emergence of a 'staycation' in Britain has become popular as people return to holidays beside the sea in the last three years.  Things tend to go full circle and once again we are encouraging our visitors to take advantage of the sustainable public transport available.  

Further history of the seaside holidays at the Essex coast can be found here.