Ecological writer Satish Kumar once wrote that ‘unless you know Nature, you cannot love her’. Likewise, if we wish to protect England’s green and pleasant land, it’s important to get to know why. People who drop fast food litter, pollute our seas with oil and hunt our precious wildlife, obviously were never taught all about why our land is so beautiful and precious.
The county of Essex sits in Eastern England, and is far more than the Dartford Tunnel, Bluewater Shopping Centre and ‘cheeky boys’. After Devon, it features England’s longest coastline (350 miles), England’s longest pier (Southend-on-Sea) and many pretty villages including Dedham (above), which sits in the heart of the Dedham Vale (an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) and is home to cosy pubs , tearooms and independent shops, as well as being home to stunning Georgian architecture.
Epping Forest is a massive 2400 hectare woodland that spills over into East London, which contains many rare species of flora and fauna, including over 50,000 pollarded trees (ideal homes for birds, bats and insects) and also contains nearly all of England’s veteran beech pollards. It also has one of the best collections of fungi in England and hundreds of species of unique beetles, spiders, lichens and flies. There are also almost 90 nature reserves.
the seaside resorts of Essex
Southend-on-Sea is just one of several pretty coastal resort, this one boasts the world’s longest pier. Piers were built in Victorian times to offer platforms for ships to land, but today most house amusement parks and chip shops. The Crowstone (a large piece of granite) marks the space where London no longer ‘owns’ the River Thames, and it goes into Essex instead.
Clacton-on-Sea is another popular destination. No doubt naturally beautiful with a stunning sandy beach, in recent years like so many other places, it has become a tired town full of chain stores and a huge litter problem, after holidaymakers go home (it is individual responsiblity to clean it up, but legally a responsiblity of councils to clean it or serve litter abatement orders on private land). Report litter and other eyesores at Fix My Street.
A quieter resort is Frinton-On-Sea, if you don’t fancy screaming children, ice-cream vans and bucket-and-spade holidays. This beautiful beach is loved by older residents and holidaymakers, and far less commercial. Nearby towns are the historic olde-worlde Saffron Walden and Maldon (home to the famed sea salt).