Benfleet Circular via Canvey Island walk
Varied walk around a unique island in the Thames Estuary: mudflats, creeks, river traffic, sandy beaches, seawall murals, grassy marshland, oil terminals & refineries
Length | 23.2 km (14.5 mi), with 40m ascent/descent. For a shorter walk see below Walk Options. |
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Toughness | 2 out of 10, with 4 hours 45 minutes walking time. For the whole outing, including trains, sights and meals, allow at least 7 ½ hours. |
Walk Notes |
A flat walk, that starts and finishes with a busy road stretch, features a fair amount of hard surface paths and some A-road noise near the end, and passes - in succession - a golf course, a static caravan park, an ex-landfill site, housing estates, another caravan park, a sewage plant, an LNG terminal, an oil product terminal, an oil refinery, the site of a never-finished oil refinery, another oil terminal and another - larger - landfill site?????? And yet, and yet...
A walk like no other? Most certainly. |
Walk Options |
Canvey Island is linked to Benfleet station by many regular buses, enabling you to start or finish the walk at almost any point along the way (in the first half of the walk), as bus stops are often just a short distance from the walk route. For a route map of the bus network you should check here: http://www.plusbus.info/benfleet (under ‘Travel Maps - Interactive Streetmap’).
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Maps | OS Explorer: 175 (Southend-on-Sea & Basildon)
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Travel | Benfleet Station, map reference TQ 777 859, is 48 km east of Charing Cross, 6m above sea level and in Essex. It is on the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway line from Fenchurch Street to Shoeburyness in eastern Essex, with up to four (fast) trains an hour Mon-Sat and two on Sundays, journey time is between 43 and 48 minutes. All trains stop at one or more of the following DLR, Overground or Underground Stations: Limehouse, West Ham, Barking, Upminster. Saturday Walkers’ Club: Take the train closest to 9.30 hours. |
Elenvenses |
Anita’s Tearooms Canvey Island Marina, Smallgains Creek, Canvey Island, Essex. Anita’s is located 6.9 km (4.3 mi) into the walk and has some inside and outside seating. |
Lunch |
Several cafés, tea rooms, pubs and restaurants on Canvey. Recommended are:
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Tea |
Several options just past Benfleet Station. Please consult page 2 of the pdf. |
Profile | |
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Help Us! |
After the walk, please leave a comment, it really helps. Thanks! You can also upload photos to the SWC Group on Flickr (upload your photos) and videos to Youtube. This walk's tags are: |
By Train |
Out (not a train station) Back (not a train station) |
By Car |
Start SS7 1NF Map Directions |
Amazon | |
Help |
National Rail: 03457 48 49 50 • Traveline (bus times): 0871 200 22 33 (12p/min) • TFL (London) : 0343 222 1234 |
Version |
Nov-21 Thomas G |
Copyright | © Saturday Walkers Club. All Rights Reserved. No commercial use. No copying. No derivatives. Free with attribution for one time non-commercial use only. www.walkingclub.org.uk/site/license.shtml |
Walk Directions
Full directions for this walk are in a PDF file (link above) which you can print, or download on to a Kindle, tablet, or smartphone.
This is just the introduction. This walk's detailed directions are in a PDF available from wwww.walkingclub.org.uk