Thursday, September 3, 2015

The Grand Tour 1 Brightlingsea Beach


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Just got back from a thoroughly enjoyable  month travelling around the UK. On the first day we visited Brightlingsea Beach, somewhere I had never been before. Located where the river Colne reaches the open sea, not too far from Colchester.

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It is famous for its beach huts which I guess are a quintessentially English thing. A place to store some beach furniture, make a cup of tea, etc. I was amazed to learn that the price of one of these costs at least three times what we paid for our Japanese farmhouse.

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It is a decidedly uncommercial beach, a single cafe at the end of the promenade being the only place to spend money, which means the free activities of hanging out, chilling out, paddling and swimming, exploring the marine life of the shore,  fishing,  napping in the sun, practising English Tea Ceremony, or just watching the boats and clouds pass by are what most people do.

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Batemans Tower was built in 1883 and was used by John Bateman as a place for his daughter to recuperate from consumption. Reputedly the foundation were built upon faggot piles as that is why the tower leans.

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1 comment:

  1. Just came back to Japan from a trip home to the UK myself. Saw plenty of those beach huts in Heacham in Norfolk. I have to say, the weather was better in the UK than it has been in Japan recently.

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