Just Back From… Brightlingsea Part Four

Another thing we weren’t short of. Boats. Watching the tide ebb and flow, the wind whipping up waves, the ferryman with his foot passengers, row boats, motor yachts, windsurfers and sailing dinghies was fun.

Perhaps not so much fun for this person who fell foul on a sandbank. We got quite a shock this morning and not just from the look of that sky.

Waiting for the tide to turn
1st September @ 10:40 – and yes there are people on board.
29th August @ 17:28 Our first view of the marina
29th August @17:30 – rowing club
29th August @ 19:45
31st August @ 06:17
31st August @ 09:38 – out rowing again
31st August @ 13:57 – sailing dinghies getting ready for a race
31st August @ 13:57
1st September @ 19:09
1st September @ 19:35
1st September @ 19:35

We thoroughly enjoyed our week by the water. So much to look at we were never bored.

Just Back From… Brightlingsea Part Three

One thing we weren’t short of was a dramatic sky.

29 August @ 18:56 – Rain clouds to the west and south
29 August @ 19:49 – looking south
31st August @ 19:42 over Point Clear
1st September @ 18:02 – after the rain
1st September @ 18:40 towards the west over Mersea Island
1st September @ 19:12 over Point Clear
1st September @ 19:18 in the west with the water as smooth as silk (zoomed in)
1st September @ 19:26 in the west (zoomed out)
3rd September @ 19:30
3rd September @ 19:34

I did a lot of popping in and out of the terrace doors in the evening to capture the sun setting or the rain clouds. We get some stunning sunsets here in west Cornwall, but I have to get in the car to capture one over water.

Just Back From… Brightlingsea Part Two

Brightlingsea has a sandy beach called Brightlingsea Beach, which features colourful beach huts and runs along the Western Promenade next to Bateman’s Tower.

Beach huts along the promenade

I am particularly fond of photographing beach huts and had a walk along the promenade on a very sunny though extremely windy day. The clouds were almost more appealing than the huts.

A convenient shelter from the wind

Behind the row of beach huts is a boating lake which looked a lot more attractive than on our previous visit back in 2016.

The boating lake

Sedges and wild flowers line the path by the boating lake

The huts along with Bateman’s Tower make a rather nice backdrop when the sun sets behind them.

Golden sunset with beach huts and Bateman’s tower. Often mistaken for a lighthouse, it’s actually a folly built in 1883 by John Bateman for his daughter to recuperate from consumption.
Another western sky

One thing we weren’t short of was a dramatic sky.

Just Back From….. Brightlingsea Part One

It was supposed to be a 2 week break covering Essex (to see our latest grandchild) then onto Suffolk and finally across country to our old abode in Ludlow. But things didn’t quite work out as planned. Such is life.

Our first view from the very extensive terrace of our apartment. The Waterside Marina luxury apartments development within Brightlingsea Harbour has over 50 berths.

We spent most of the week in Brightlingsea itself other than a couple of trips into Colchester which has the most horrendous traffic (and roundabouts). Our apartment however was magnificent and I would move there in a heartbeat if I didn’t have to go anywhere near London or Colchester. The views across the water, the sunsets, even a couple of sunrises, endless fun watching the goings on including people crabbing from the heritage jetty (feature image), the ferryman taking foot passengers back and forth to Point Clear, river policemen stopping for their lunch break, posh yachts coming and going, rowing clubs out on the water and more.

The red arrow points to the apartment we stayed in. Views towards Point Clear, Mersea Island and even as far south to the northern coastline of Kent (Whitstable)

Brightlingsea is a coastal town and civil parish in the Tendring district of Essex, England. It is situated between Colchester and Clacton-on-Sea, at the mouth of the River Colne, on Brightlingsea Creek.

The Waterside Marina consists of apartments and town houses and retail.
Waterside Marina

I have split the photos up into several posts (there are a lot of photos) so let’s first go for a walk around the Waterside Marina area in which we stayed.

All the apartments have either terraces or balconies.
There are not many of the old buildings left
With the exception of this one on the corner of Fieldgate Dock which leads to the Brightlingsea Sailing Club, the promenade and the beach huts.
Hard Shelter, Built 1898 – this was a former bus shelter situated on the waterside close to the Town Hard with the Harbour Office behind.
This distinctive blue and white building, features a prominent clock on its roof and is located close to the Colne Yacht Club.
‘The Hard’, is a very useful outcrop of water-borne gravel, on the southern part of Brightlingsea overlooking Point Clear and allows for launching of boats
The wooden hut, almost surrounded by water at high tide, is the Hard Master’s office where user charges are collected.
Originally the Angel Hotel built in 1901 by architect George Henry Page. Then it became the Anchor Hotel before being split into apartments. Lovely architectural details and stained glass. Next door is the Colne Yacht Club.
The Waterside Marina on our last day – sunrise at 05:28

The weather was unpredictable with sunshine, some heavy rain and almost always windy, with the terrace doors open we were serenaded by the ‘whap, whap, whapping’ sound of the closest yacht’s rigging slapping against the mast and on the windiest days a shrill whistling or howling sound. I have to say that I actually liked it. Made a change from the usual cattle sounds.