Tilbury 10km: A Circular Walk in East Tilbury Taking in Coalhouse Fort, Bata-ville, and the Thames Estuary

This is an easy 10k (6.5 mile) circular walk around east Tilbury and along the Thames in Essex. There are many sites of interest (The Coalhouse Fort and Bata shoe facotry and village) as well as the flat farmland typical of the Thames estuary. The Thames is a working river and the section of the walk along the sea wall provides a great variety of entertainment with boats and freighters coming and going. About half the route is on paved paths or sea wall. The rest is on good foot and bridle paths with some small sections of rougher field paths.

Of special note is the abandoned Bata-ville. A shoe factory and model village this is one of the remnants of Tomas Bata's utopian dream for a worker's community. I remember Bata shoes in Canada where they are still a going concern but SD had never heard of them. And if it is about shoes he should know! I have never seen them for sale in the UK.

Parking

There is a big free parking lot at the Coalhouse Fort. There are also toilets there and there is a picnic and play area.

The fort is at the very end of Pricess Margaret Road in Tilbury. There is an informatin centre there and the fort sometimes has special events and tours.

Because of the parking and facilities we decied to start the walk at this point instead of the point suggested by the route below.

Directions

The text below comes from the Essex Walks site and I have included some of our suggestions. It starts at H because the fort is actually in the middle of the walk.

We did this walk mid-September. I can't say as it was a beautiful day. The sun played hide and seek but there was no rain. In the fields around the estuary the silage harvest was mostly in, leaving a jumble of stalks and straws for crows and gulls to glean as best they could.

It was Sunday which must have been hunting day. The sound of buckshot came to us out of the sky and over the flat but the only hunters we met that day, like us, were bagging wild autumn fruits. I could taste all of the sweet summer just past in the sun warm blackberries.

From the parking lot at the fort:

H. Head back north up the road until you come to St Catherine’s Church (8). Opposite the church is public footpath 200 heading west across a field (9).

I. Follow this path until you come to a slight rise, where the footpath is crossed by a farmtrack. Go straight across the farmtrack, heading slightly downhill towards a tall concrete wall you can see in the distance (10). The terrain is more overgrown here although the path is still clear.

The paths start out well but soon become obscure.

J. From here until you reach Station Road (M.), the signage is either missing or plain confusing. Follow these instructions and you’ll find the way through.

K. Just before you reach the wall the path turns right up the slope, circuiting the end of the wall and then descends back onto valley floor. After about 50 yards the valley opens out into a field; follow the field edge on the left (11).

L. At the far corner of the field is a gap in the hedge and a ditch. Cross the ditch and you will find a well maintained path between hedges: continue along this for about half a mile until you come to a track ahead of you (12). Follow this track as it curves to the right, goes up a hill and comes to some gates. Go around the gates on the right hand side and continue to Station Road.

This is where you might get confused. Right after coming out of the bush there is a dirt track up to the right but there is also a dirt track straight ahead that goes up to the right after several yards.

SD and I never did agree which was correct because in both cases the landmarks are the same. There is a track and some gates. However, if you go straight and around instead of immediately right the landmarks are a better match.

We took the immidiate right and ended up in a weird abbandoned little industrial park which was not described in the instructions. Another reason why I believe this is the wrong way. Such a distinctive area would have been used as a landmark. A strange dead place. Remote in the midst of suburbia.

So when we got to the "gates" the directions no longer made sense because the gates we came to required us to turn right and the right turn was not on the map.

Taking the correct way: Go through/around the gates and go straight ahead down the paved road to the intersection with Station Road.

Station Road is not sign posted at this intersection.

M. Turn right along Station Road for about 500 yards to the junction with Love Lane, Just before this junction there is a bridleway (No. 58) on the left, adjacent to a house: follow this (13).

Station Road is not sign posted (another reason we got a bit confused here) when you come to it but Love Lane is and so is the bridle way

N. This bridleway starts off as a green lane called Coal Road then becomes field side track: follow the signs across a field and then along the field edge with the hedge on your left, until you come to the level crossing. You will see the abandoned Bata factory on the right (14), and Tilbury Power Station on the left.

There were lots of bunnies here! And a man training his hunting dog.

O. Once across the railway line, follow the bridleway signs across the field towards the electricity pylons. As you go under the second line of wires you will pass right by the pylon. The bridleway turns left here but there is a permissive path straight on (north) towards a small hedge, with a white house in the distance; take this (15).

What they mean here is that you are TO the right of the pylon. In other words the pylon will be on YOUR left! And there is indeed a small hedge and a white house.

P. When you reach the start of the hedge turn right on FP 61, going under the overhead power lines, following the line between two fields towards a gap between the houses (16).

There were onions. Lots and lots of onions. SD advised that the onions were not public domain. The smell from the field was amazing. I rather think the onions would have been very hot.

Q. This gap takes you into Beechroft Avenue: cross the road and bear right into Stenning Avenue and continue until you see an alleyway on your right (17) which takes you to East Tilbury Station entrance. Turn left away from the station to the automated crossing gates on Princess Margaret Road, cross over the crossing.

Tilbury is often thought of as a low income out-lier of the London commuter belt and there are parts of it that are less than salubrious. However the neat and tidy homes in this particular area indicate a hard working and prosperious populace.

I am always a bit jealous when I spend any amount of time as an observer (read tourist) in areas like this. Normal people with normal lives. Lives lived together in a home. Small troubles. Small and achievable dreams. I find myself wishing how nice it would be...

This is where the walk starts and ends on the Essex Walks website but we were only half way at this point.

A. Head north up towards the station and turn right on the footpath alongside Gobions Park, going through a kissing gate onto the grassy track that runs between the playing fields and the houses (1).

B. At the end of the houses, the track bends left then right around a small copse before continuing east through a shrubby area (2). After crossing a small stream the track turns right in front of the landfill site boundary fence.

It does and it doesn't. Bend left. Also all the area is shrubby so this landmark is not particularly useful. Just keep to the path and you will find the boundary fence.

England is full of these contradictions. It is a small land mass with a relatively huge population. You will find pristine farmland next to the land fill, a busy working river will feed a protected wet land. There is litter every where generally but on this walk it was not too bad.

C. The path continues southwards between the fence and the stream for about 400 yards before bearing left. From this point on you begin to get good views across the marshes to the sea wall. Continue heading east until you reach the sea wall

Can't say as there was much of a view of anything until we got to the sea wall.

D. Cross the sea wall using the ladder provided (3) (or there is an easier crossing point about 50 yards to the left of the ladder) and take in the views across the mud flats to Coryton oil refinery. Despite the industrialisation of this part of the coast, the mud flats are an important resource for indigenous and migratory birds.

We used the easy crossing point which was actually closer to where the path came out than the ladder. It certainly was not 50 yards.

The view of the flats and river were fantastic once we got there. You could see to the edge of the world even. The big ships dropping off into the abyss.

E. Turn right, away from the oil refinery, and walk along the sea wall (4). You have wonderful views of the mud flats to your left, the busy Thames, and the hills of Kent in the distance.

F. After about a mile the sea wall turns inland leaving a larger marshy area between the wall and the river (5). Stay on the sea wall.

G. Head straight across over the ramp continuing on the sea wall until you come to the grounds of the Coalhouse Fort itself (6). The grounds are open and you can walk through as you choose

Recommendations

The walk is on the flat (as is most of Essex!) and the terrain was easy to moderate most of it being sea wall, road, and bridle path. There were some field paths so if there has been rain you will want sturdy shoes.

The sea wall and some of the fields are rather exposed so you will want a fleece in the Fall or Winter.

There are no pubs or anything in the way of facilities on this walk except for the fort.

The fort has toilets but no drinking water so make sure you fill up before you go.

At just over six miles (10km) this was an easy walk for a Sunday afternoon and took us about two hours.

There were lots of people at the fort. There is a play ground and a picnic area. We had egg salad croissammiches for our lunch and picked blackberries.