22^nd April 2014

Lets have another go!

So I had spent an awfully long time off trek exploring this abandoned mod site and felt it was about time I headed back down to the coast to carry on. I headed back to the same place I had entered the facility in the far corner of the site and clambered back down the cliff to the shingles and head on wind I had left behind earlier.

To try and reduce the impact of the forces of nature I kept in close to the cliff face but no matter what you do the shingles and loose stones still provide you with a challenge. The backpack also acts like a sail so every time the wind switched direction you have to re balance yourself to compensate. It was tough going! All the time I kept an eye on the sea as the tide was still coming in and the beach was slowly becoming narrower. Its very easy to get cut off by the sea especially in areas you have never visited before.

I eventually reached the end of the beach and clambered up a small bank and back on to solid ground. I followed the coast, still with the sea to my right until I came across another memorial left over by the second world war. Another bunker! Today was starting to turn out to be a day of exploration. Now I have seen many pill boxes whilst on this trip but none had bunkers attached to them. I wandered around the find and headed down to the underground tunnel which was easily accessible but unfortunately flooded. My new boots had still not found their way to me and as I really didn't fancy getting wet socks again I decided not to go any further into the complex. There was however a tower near by that had the words "prisoner of war" welded to some bars. This had to be worth looking at so I went to Investigate. Inside there were three levels with metal ladders leading to each floor and I was able to climb right to the top peering out to sea as the soldiers would have done during the war. On the inside of the wall below on the ground level was a message stencilled in red paint.

I wondered if this had maybe been the location of an old pow camp but without Internet I was unable to find out so I moved on and headed for the next village on the map, a place called shingle street. Hmm lovely a place where they obviously felt it necessary to let everyone know especially me that I would have more shingle to battle against ...

22^nd April 2014

I was now heading for shingle street and was running low on drinking water which is tough to find on this stretch of the trek. I had just left the old bunkers on the sea wall and still had a few miles to go before reaching civilisation. I carried on, the wind beating me down continously however at least I was back on solid ground so had to be a little happy about that.

As I continued on my way I passed plenty of martello towers which built to watch for napoleons fleet. One in particular caught my attention. It had been converted into a home and had a spaceage dome attached to the top. I could really see myself living in one of these towers and imagined what I would do to the inside and how I would stamp my own personality into it . the tower soon disappeared beyond the horizon as I approached shingle street.

Shingle street is an unusual little place with an unusual history and a small community of lovely people. As the name suggested it is built on shingle and during the second world war it was acquired by the armed forces as a test site for the dam busters and their bouncing bomb. Now the story goes during the testing of one of the bombs they targetted one of the martello towers but accidentally bombed the only pub in shingle street. In fact the pub was never rebuilt and you can see a gap between the houses where the local pub once stood.

22^nd April 2014

I had just arrived at shingle street and was well to be honest feeling a little parched. I knew that this would be my last chance to top up my water supply and I hadn't really had that much to eat recently just some rice, noodles and some sea kale. I had one last high calorie meal left so I decided I would indulge and take a short break. I sat down removed my slightly damp boots and boiled up some water to rehydrate the ration pack and have a nice cup of tea. Afterwards I lay back in the sun behind a gorse bush and rest myself in the sun. About half hour later I packed up, put my boots on and set off towards the houses hoping to find a local who could top my water back up so I could then head off towards Orford.

I was in luck, there were three individuals standing by the back garden of one of the houses. I headed over and introduced myself and asked if it would be possible to get a refill. Susanne and jason both lived in shingle street and were more than happy to oblige my simple request. As susanne went in to top up my water I chatted to jason and his friend whom I unfortunately can't remember his name but I think it was john. John was a tree surgeon and avid adventure himself, jason was a photographer and graphic designer and susanne from Germany was an architect.

Intrigued by my little adventure john had many questions and was extremely interested in the pack raft and how the trip was going. Eventually susanne came out with a refilled hydration pack and a bag of nuts. She tgen asked if I would like some fruit to go on with. I simply couldn't refuse so she disappeared again so I continued talking to the chaps. When susanne came out afain she brought with her more gifts, some biscuits, fruit and a bag of chocolate eggs. Well I am always amazed by the generosity of german folk. We continued discussing the challenges of the trek and I mentioned about the small things you really miss whilst travelling such as a comfortable bed and showers. I also told them about the rules I had set to make the trek even more challenging such as no beds or mechanical assistance. I also told them about the random acts of kindness those I had met along the way and how I wasn't allowed to ask for help but due to the Tilbury ferry episode it had been decided by my followers that I must accept any assistance due to any random acts of kindness.

Susanne took no time at all in offering me the use of their shower, which is always nice and quite often needed due to sleeping rough everywhere. When I had finished and was refreshed I came down ready to set off on the challenge once more. Jason and john were now in the living room sipping red wine and nibbling on pork scratchings, crisps and olives and asked if I would care to join them. As sat down I explained that I was pretty much alcohol free on my journey but that on the camino de santiago, a trip I had done two years earlier, red wine was referred to as the pilgrim's blood and was in fact good for replenishing the body and helped with aches, pains and certainly helped you get a good nights sleep.

Susanne was in the kitchen at the time and eventually emerged and offered us all a bowl of homemade soup. How could I refuse, I was very much aware that I needed to keep my health up and needed to eat whatever was presented to me. It was delicious! We continued to chat until john said goodbye, he had to get back as his daughter was visiting for the weekend and he had planned a little tree climbing for her and her boyfriend.

Susanne then offered me the use of her laptop and both of them chatted about the history of shingle street and how they were in the process of modernising their home. They had also made a small vegetable garden in the back so I went out and had a look. Everything was reclaimed, right down to the fence and green house. It was lovely. Meanwhile jason had phoned one of the volunteers of the Butley ferry, a row boat dating back hundreds of years that ferried people from one side of the river to the other. Brian, the volunteer was more than happy to set this amazing random act of kindness into action and emailed another volunteer who would be ferrying the following day. Then jason came out and joined susanne and me and offered me a plate of spaghetti. As i endulged in this delicious offering he told me about what he had done. Not only was this kind gesture a great random act of kindness but it was also not mechanical assistance so ticked two boxes off the rules  meanwhile susanne had disappeared and unbeknown to me, interpretted the rules in her own way. She had taken a matress off one of the beds in their guest rooms and dragged it downstairs and into the living room. She also dressed it with sheets and a duvet for me. I was about ready to go and pitch up on the green outsidw as it was getting dark now and I wasn't going to get any further that night. Well it was extremely boarder line with the rules about sleeping rough but it wasn't a bed as such and it certainly wasn't in a bedroom, you could say it was a deluxe luxury improvised sleeping arrangement! After all that effort I simply was unable to refuse.

The following morning I helped jason return the matress to the guest room upstairs and had yet another shower while susanne prepared fruit and cereal for breakfast with real unpasteurised milk from a local farm dairy. jason toasted some pitta bread and I filled my belly.

It was absolutely lovely spending the time with both jason and susanne who invited me to come back after I finished the challenge to spend a night in their guest room  before I left I was given yet more supplies and a frozen pint of milk for my journey.

Meeting people like jason and susanne is really refreshing and makes the troubles and hardships of the trek completely worth it.

22^nd April 2014

Ok so I was about to head off for Orford and get ready for my next pack raft adventure but before I did jason wanted to get a photo for the local newsletter. We went round to the front of the coastguard cottages where susanne and jason lived for an idyllic photo op which is where I was introduced to james,, a long time resident and film maker. James Was a real character and had 20 or so local prison inmates over every year at easter to see the sunrise and share out hot cross buns. He was intrigued by the challenge and loved chatting about the history of shingle street and some of the places I had yet to visit. He invited us all in for tea and gave me a pack of hot cross buns for the journey. We all sat in his kitchen drinking tea and discussing some of the more unusual events of the trek so far. I was really starting to wonder if I would ever leave this interesting place and the characters that lived there. Well eventually I really had to start making tracks and bid my fairwells and set off to find the butley ferry.

It hadn't occured to me until now that I was no longer in essex but in fact that I had now entered suffolk.

It was a fair hike and although it wasn't raining the wind hadn't left off one bit. I took a short break on one of the pill boxes embedded into the sea wall and broke out a couple of hot cross buns while I rested. Looking out at the estuary that joined a small creek I noticed I had been joined by yet another seal. It was two tone grey and obviously young. I'm not sure who was more interested in who. I tried to get a photo but every time the seal got close enough it dived under the water and appeared near the far bank. I find seals really interesting and was pleased when it clambered clumsily up the bank and onto the shore lying on its back and almost comically falling over uncontrollably asvit watched me scoffing my buns. Although seals are graceful in the water, on land they're a little clumsy. I could have watched the seal for hours but I needed to get to the ferry before they shut up shop and went home so I put my backpack on and set off.

I followed the creek to where the ferry was. The tide was coming in, the current quite severe and the water extremely choppy. To be honest I was pleases I didn't have to get Hoolley out and paddle across. On the far side of the sea wall was a small shed with a man slouched over wearing a period hat holding an ipad. He'd fallen asleep, business had obviously been a little slow due to the weather. I approached the cabin and the man woke with a start. "Ah" he said "you must be the gentleman who is walking the coast, I have the pleasure of offering you a random act of kindness in taking you across the creek in the Butley ferry". Lol it was really quite bizarre so I replied "I would love to accept your random act of kindness and in return I come bearing gifts" I offered him a hot cross bun from the packet I had been given earlier. We chatted for a while and then set off to retrieve the row boat which had started floating away from the jetty. I climbed aboard and he took his position. Well this was a great surprise and thoroughly enjoyable as I was rowed across the river to the other side. We then swapped places for another photo op and I bid fairwell and thanked the captain before setting off once more.

The sun had now decided to rejoin the trek but the wind was still very strong. I followed the sea wall around for a couple of hours and met a family that appeared a little lost looking at their map. I went down to see if I could help. They asked about the ferry so I explained it wasn't too far but that it would probably not be running by the time they got there as it closed at 4pm. Before they left I was handed a kitkat to send me on my way. "Another random act of kindness" I said. I then explained what I was doing and how the people of suffolk were extremely generous. I said goodbye and thanked them for the little snack and headed on my way.

In the distance I could make out a huge castle. This must be Orford I though and filled with renewed energy I stepped up a gear and made for the village, the castle getting bigger with every step I took.