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Leigh-on-Sea to Shoeburyness via Southend-on-Sea walk

Gentle coast path with quiet, residential, and seaside resort sections, and the world's longest leisure pier.

Easy Essex

History

This is a list of previous times this walk has been done by the club (since Jan 2010). For more recent events (since April 2015), full details are shown.

Date Option Post # Weather
Sun, 25-Feb-24 r Sunday Walk – Shoeburyness to Leigh-on-Sea 2 cloudy and breezy
Sean
Extra Walk 355 (in reverse) – Shoeburyness to Leigh-on-Sea

Length: Around 12½ km (7.8 miles). Toughness: 1/10

10:35 Shoeburyness train from Fenchurch Street (Limehouse 10:40, West Ham 10:45, Barking 10:51 etc), arriving there at 11:52. The simplest ticket is a return to Shoeburyness, but you can save a pound or two by getting singles in each direction as c2c have implemented the new fares policy (off-peak single = half the price of a return).

Trains back from Leigh-on-Sea are every 15 minutes or so, at xx:15, xx:29, xx:45 & xx:59. The walk route never strays far from the railway line and you could cut the walk short at any of the five intermediate stations along the way.

I'd been planning a newish walk on the North Kent marshes but the resident waders and other sea birds will be enjoying its squelchy conditions rather more than we would, so I'll substitute this coastal walk on the other side of the Thames. Mud shouldn't be a problem here as most of the walk appears to be along the seafront promenade. In the four years it's been on the SWC website it's only had one feedback comment (from an intrepid pair of independent walkers) and this is its début as a group walk.

The outline notes for this walk actually describe it in the opposite direction, but Leigh looks to be a far livelier place to end up. You'd also have the option of carrying on past Leigh and finishing in Benfleet, using the directions in §B of the Benfleet Circular via Leigh walk. Anyway, I'm going to exercise the walk poster's prerogative and specify an east-to-west walk (and hope that there isn't a westerly gale blowing on Sunday).

The walk notes mention several possible refreshment stops along the way, although without any specific recommendations. The greatest choice is presumably on Southend's seafront, which you'll reach in about an hour and a half. Their establishments will surely welcome out-of-season walk-in customers, so just choose somewhere which appeals. You'll also find plenty of pubs and tea rooms along Leigh's High Street; the Crooked Billet pub at the far end (nearest the station) seems to be the favoured watering-hole.

NB. The notes highly recommend walking out and back along the ridiculously long Southend Pier (£1); or you could take the pier railway which glides out and back every half hour, leaving at xx:00 & xx:30 (about £6, half price for oldies).

Please print off the walk notes from the L=swc.355.rev page, even though there shouldn't be any directional challenges doing it in reverse (head for the beach at Shoeburyness, turn right and keep the sea on your left).

  • 20-Feb-24

    Now I might do the Walk on Sundayr. But I can't guarantee I will. Now to get a Ticket Son Sunday. To get it Cheaper. By using your Network Railcard and Freedom Pass. A Single Ticket from Purfleet to Shoeburyness is £4.05. And on the way back. A Single Ticket from Leigh on Sea to Purfleet is £2.70.

  • 20-Feb-24

    Thanks Marc, I've edited the post. You're right, it is slightly cheaper to get singles in each direction if you're just buying a ticket for the c2c journey. However, a Freedom Pass (or Zones 1-6 Travelcard) is only valid as far as Rainham, not Purfleet.

  • 26-Feb-24

    On a weekend where cancelled trains and closed footpaths led to strong competition for the least successful walk post, I think I can still claim the prize. My day got off to a tricky start because someone had rejigged my local station's ticket machine to resemble an Enigma device, where pressing S displays F, and so on. The best minds at Bletchley Park might have struggled to decrypt the code for "Shoeburyness" in the 5 minutes I had available, and I resignedly pressed the large "Travelcard" button and faffed about with extension tickets for the rest of the journey.

    2½ hours later I emerged from the designated c2c train at a deserted station on the Essex coast. Any other SWC walkers had managed to give me the slip so I set off on a solo walk. Luckily there were plenty of interesting panels to peruse along the coast path and within half an hour an SWC regular who'd been on the next train caught me up, so we were 2 on a cloudy and breezy day (luckily with the wind behind us). With the looming threat of rain we decided to spurn the many outdoor cafés and other eateries along the seafront and press on to Leigh. After a quick look around the museum and a swift half in the standing-room-only Crooked Billet I decided to take the 3pm train for my equally long return journey, but my companion was made of sterner stuff and set off towards Benfleet, apparently looking forward to a nice cuppa in Barge Gladys.

    This made a good winter leg-stretcher with no mud at all, but we both felt it needed a bit more variety to justify future postings. For example, it could detour through Gunners Park near the start and the steeply sloping gardens of 'The Cliffs' at Southend. Also, since Leigh has lots of possible lunch places another short walk option would be Southend-Leigh-Benfleet (in either direction).