Mistley to Harwich: E2 Day 99

My final day in England was an interesting one, before a late departure by ferry.

My knee was aching when I woke up today, like yesterday. Strange as it was not bothering me when walking and the fluid build up is not significant. However towards the end of each day both knees have more difficulty going up and down steps. I ignored such things and enjoyed a good breakfast (huevos rancheros) before continuing on the Essex Way. 

The path swung between fields, a wood and stretches beside the estuary. I liked the latter the best as it seemed a long time ago that I left the Humber Estuary on the Viking Way. After pushing my way through a field of oilseed rape which had overgrown the path, I reached the wide estuary of the Stour, covered in spots of yellow pollen. There was an strip of salt marsh beside the path and beyond a flock of brent geese floating on the waters of the estuary. Later in a sparsely wooded nature reserve I asked a bird watcher which bird was singing such a sweet song. A nightingale he told me and pointed it out on the branch of a tree. Without him describing precisely where it was perched I would not have spotted it, as it blended in so well with the surrounding leaves. He showed me a photo of it taken with his camera which had an impressively large lens. Such a loud song seemed inconsistent with such a small brown bird.

Path over fields.

Walking by the estuary.

After the path swung inland I joined a road by a church advertising bread and soup in exchange for contributions to Christian Aid. Two men encouraged me to go in and join them. The elder one gave me a coin with the ten commandments on one side and some New Testament verses on the other. Later I tried to remember all ten commandments but realised I had forgotten a few, I have used the coin to revise! The spicy cauliflower soap and thick slices of bread set me up for a few more miles and I left a donation worth rather more than the soup as Christian Aid has the laudable aim of ridding the world of poverty. 

The men I shared bread and soup with suggested I made a detour to visit Grayson Perry's Essex house. Being only a little way off my route I walked up to it. A curious building with a tiled exterior. Some tiles show cassette tapes on their raised surfaces, others safely pins or hearts. There were rows of tiles of a not very flattering, female figure called Julie, presumably Julie Cope a fictional person the artist created who appears in his other work. 

Grayson Perry's house for Essex.

From the village of Ramsey the E2 (as shown on Ordnamce Survey maps) leaves the Essex Way and heads in a direct way to the ferry terminal. My boat for Holland was not due to leave for several hours, so I continued on the Essex Way to its conclusion in the old part of Harwich. A slightly frustrating experience as  the route made an extensive detour to the south, through fields very similar to those that I had been walking through for the last few weeks. Its purpose was maybe to bring me to the southern end of a long concrete promenade, which it did after a path lined with green angelica. Walking up the promenade beside the sea might have been an enjoyable experience some days but today a cold, north wind was fighting against me. Earlier a couple, in hearing I was planning to hike in Holland, warned me of such winds, it seems I was getting an early taste of them.

A long and windy promenade at Harwich. 

Eventually I reached the old Harwich. In front of me on the other side of the estuary was the huge container port of Felixstowe. Metal containers extended for miles on the opposite bank, huge cranes lifted them onto equally huge ships. After viewing the scene from the "Ha'penny Pier", I retreated to the Alma, a pub recommended by the lady serving me breakfast. A very friendly place where I ate dressed Harwich crab with salad and chips. The salad included some plant from the chef's garden, I thought they said it was common ditchwort but I cannot find any reference to such a plant on the internet.

On entering the outer bounds of the ferry terminal I was a little confused by signs saying "Authorised persons only", while also indicating it was a pedestrian route. Maybe if you are catching a ferry you are authorised? After the usual queues for security and passports I am now safely in my windowless cabin, getting ready for bed.