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Easter guide, indoor sports, outdoor sports, attractions, explore old leigh, self-catering accommodation.

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The Bembridge, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex 1987

Bulit in 1938 and was the home of the essex yacht club between 1976 and 2004. under restoration and now in poland. my canon av-1 camera, canon fd 50mm f/1.8 lens  .

classic racing dayboat, gracing the river Thames since 1911

Estuary One Design

Welcome to the website of the Estuary One Design (EOD) Class, a unique fleet of racing dinghies based at the Essex Yacht Club in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, some 35 miles from London.

Sailing in tidal waters, our boats today offer some of the most exciting and friendly dinghy racing in the Thames Estuary. Few sailing experiences can compare to racing an EOD in a good breeze in the wonderful estuary light.

The Estuary Class dinghy is 18 feet long with a lifting keel and is sailed by a helm and two crew. The fleet is one of the most active in the area, racing most weekends during the sailing season from May to October.

With a tall mast and a large sail area for their size they offer close, exhilarating and challenging racing in constantly changing tides and winds. We welcome new sailors, whether you want to helm or crew. The racing is friendly but competitive and the class also has an active social calendar. Owning and racing an EOD is surprisingly inexpensive.

If this sounds like your kind of sailing, we have boats available and we can help you get started. Please see our contact details located on the ' Contact ' page on the menu.

Website by Alex Carpenter

Estuary One Design - Calypso. Photo courtsey of Tim Browne

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Essex Yacht Club

Address HQS WILTON Leigh-on-sea SS9 1BD

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• Essex Yacht Club Ltd, Essex, United Kingdom

United Kingdom

Leigh-on-Sea

Sailing / Yacht Club

Essex Yacht Club Ltd

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Founded Year

Originally founded in 1890, and situated about a quarter of a mile east of picturesque Leigh Old Town, the Essex YC is a family club and is particularly proud of its Cadet section, with over 100 cadets. It's unique feature is its headquarters - a ship. HQS Wilton is a conversion of the first ever glassfibre warship, the Mine Hunter HMS Wilton. An extensive sailing program runs from Easter to October, with races and events that cater for beginners in Optimists through to high performance dinghies and Cruisers. Members can store their boats on Club moorings or our own boat racks, adjacent to the club. There are numerous social events throughout the year, from formal dinners to summer barbeques, providing entertainment for sailing and non-sailing members.

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http://www.essexyachtclub.co.uk/

Essex Yacht Club

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Leigh On Sea SS9 1BD

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A walk along the Essex coast to a historic pub: the Crooked Billet, Leigh-on-Sea

This stroll past beach huts, wartime ruins and wildfowl cuts through Southend and ends in a 16th-century boozer

W hy is the Essex coast so underrated? Close to London, and arguably as pretty as any other, is it because there’s something unchanging about it – perhaps even conventional? And yet stepping off the train at Shoeburyness – the last stop on the capital to coast railway from Fenchurch Street – feels gently discombobulating.

There’s always a romantic quality about the end of the line, and just a few minutes’ walk away there is a vast estuary foreshore with rocky outcrops under an expansive Essex sky.

It’s here, on a blustery Sunday, that my boyfriend and I survey the view at the start of our seven-mile coastal hike to the village of Old Leigh. To our left is a mile-long defence boom, built in the second world war to prevent submarines from accessing the Thames, now protected as a historical monument. To our right is Shoebury garrison, formerly owned by the Ministry of Defence, which sprang up during the Crimean war in the 1850s. We begin by strolling past its historic buildings, including the officers’ mess, now converted into prestigious housing, while an adjoining park is dotted with grassy mounds, once air-raid shelters.

A vantage point over the beach houses the imposing quick-firing battery , built in 1899 as a coastal artillery training facility. We learn from one of the many info plaques that a 1940-built machine-gun emplacement set into the seawall is the only second world war anti-invasion facility to have survived in the garrison. We read about the magnetic mine dropped on to the tidal flats in 1939 by German seaplanes, and the remains of the concrete Mulberry harbour, designed as a supply base for the allied invasion of Normandy.

At this point the 25-hectare (60-acre) Gunners Park and Shoebury Ranges nature reserve runs parallel to the coastal path. As well as containing structures built when it was key to MoD testing and training – such as the two brick powder magazines and the experimental casemate – it’s a site of special scientific interest. The relatively undisturbed habitat – which has been closed to the public for 150 years – is now home to migratory birds, rare plants and lakeside paths.

Leaving the military ruins behind as gulls shriek above us, the path becomes Thorpe Esplanade, lined by pastel beach huts. At the water’s edge we spot dozens of sanderlings and turnstones; another plaque informs us that the Thames supports the fifth-largest total of wintering waterfowl of any estuary in the UK, including short, stocky grey wading knots and black-and-white oystercatchers. The light here is stunning: clouds part celestially, a flash of sun illuminating the mirror-flat turquoise water.

Southend pier is already visible, yet still deceptively far away. We’re now in a more built-up suburb, the housing an eclectic mix of seafront mansions and Edwardian piles, some more tasteful than others. We pass the Roslin Beach hotel , set in tropical gardens, where I’ve previously stayed, an inviting pit stop for a cocktail or lunch, but we persevere, instead breaking for coffee and carrot cake halfway, at the cute Dog & Co artisan cafe on Eastern Esplanade.

Opposite are tapas bars Ocean Beach and Billy Hundreds , both with the inviting air of Spanish chiringuito s . But, caffeine-fuelled, we avoid the temptation of grilled sardines and crisp verdejo and continue along the traffic-heavy coastal thoroughfare. On our left, boats perch in the low-tide mud, surrounded by hazy pools of water, while on our right cars roar past, windows open, music pounding. And, just like that, we’re sucked into the blur of Southend. There are several demands now for our attention, from the sealife centre and Mediterranean-style park to flashing arcades with names like Monte Carlo or New York New York.

But it’s the grand dome of the Kursaal that holds our gaze: built in 1901, it mutated from amusement park to live-music venue, casino and bowling alley. Now derelict and decaying , it’s owned by the UK arm of an American investment firm with a 200-year lease and no break clause.

This section is dominated by Southend pier . Opened in 1889, it’s the longest pleasure pier in the world – at 1.34 miles, a 25-minute walk each way, or a seven-minute ride on new electric trains, which last year replaced the old diesel engines. A bottleneck of daytrippers vie for tickets, while others head for the big wheel and Adventure Island rides. Opposite is newish arts space and cafe Twenty One , a welcome retreat from the crowds.

Here, too, we spy the elegant Regency terrace above Southend Cliff Gardens, where both the Royal hotel and Hamiltons boutique B&B are situated. We’re now on Western Esplanade, towering palms lining the pavement, walking towards the Cliffs Pavilion theatre , past a spate of seafront cafes and restaurants, including popular ice-cream parlour Rossi’s . At Chalkwell beach, walkers congregate around the Crowstone, a stone pillar on the mudflats which, until 1857, marked the seaward limit of the jurisdiction of the City of London over the River Thames.

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As the afternoon wears on, the light on the watery pools shimmers, the path narrowing alongside Essex Yacht Club, mastheads rattling in the breeze. We finally reach Old Leigh, the oldest part of Leigh-on-Sea, up on a steep hill. Cottages and clapboard buildings line the cobbled streets, former industrial storehouses and boatsheds have become bars and restaurants, and the briny whiff of seafood stalls is pervasive, just-caught fish glistening.

Eagerly we stop for a pint at Ye Olde Smack , whose rear terrace enjoys views over the creek. A more spacious gastropub, the Peterboat , is a little further down, past the Boatyard restaurant and Old Leigh Art Studios , but our hungry eyes are on the strip’s oldest boozer, the Crooked Billet. At the threshold we pause to listen to the warbles emanating from the mudflats.

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Start Shoeburyness station Distance 7.5 miles Time 3 hours Total ascent 0 metres Difficulty Easy

The late 16th-century Crooked Billet is the tiniest pub in Old Leigh. It’s opposite Billet Wharf, home to the Osborne Brothers cockle sheds, and the pub’s own waterside terrace, where a handful of drinkers are nursing pints. The story behind the name is appealing: from the early 1850s, an organisation – which became known as the Billet Club – was formed here to help sick fishermen.

Nowadays, the cosy dining room is on the left, the lively bar on the right; both have roaring fires. Grabbing the last available table, we devour excellent calamari, chargrilled rose ribeye and a game suet pudding (from the seasonal menu), all washed down with a hearty Portuguese red.

Where to stay

Old Leigh’s accommodation comprises mostly Airbnb options, but if it’s an independent boutique hotel you’re after try Hamiltons in central Southend. Housed on the 1790s Regency parade known as Royal Terrace, which runs along the Cliff Gardens, it was fully restored in 2007. There are six rooms – a top tip is the balcony suite with its wrought-iron veranda, where you can drink in the lofty views over the park, promenade and estuary. Doubles from £70 a night B&B, hamiltonsboutiquehotel.co.uk

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7 Essex Seaside Towns (And Islands) To Visit From London

Essex has a decent-sized coastline running all the way from the Thames Estuary up to the shipping port of Harwich, but much of it is marshland — great for wildlife, not so good for day trippers. If it's beach huts, slot machines and candy floss you're after, read on, for a selection of destinations running from south-north up the Essex coast.

Canvey Island

Right, we're just going to get this off our chest first. When we were little, we thought this was where the Thunderbirds lived. Turns out that's Tracy Island, which is sadly not within a day trip of London. Canvey Island, however, is, and is best accessed by car.

Despite its name, Canvey Island is connected to the mainland, albeit via marshland, meaning there are two roads in and out. It's surprisingly residential, although it's geared up for visitors with a smattering of hotels and caravan sites.

Seafront amusement park Fantasy Island is the predominant visitor attraction, although a more peaceful, less candy floss-drenched time can be hand wandering along the Eastern Esplanade — and just over the wall is Concord Beach, with a manmade shallow pool, ideal for the kiddies determined to take a dip.

In better times Canvey Island Transport Museum is worth a visit, located inside a former bus garage, as is the Canvey Island miniature railway but both are currently expected to be closed for the rest of 2020. Instead we're focusing on food with a side of history: round off your day with dinner at the Lobster Smack , a traditional pub right by the sea wall which featured in Dickens' Great Expectations.

Leigh-on-Sea

If you're into boat-bothering head to Leigh-on-Sea, home to both Essex Yacht Club and Leigh-on-Sea Sailing Club, where many, many boats are usually moored up, just crying out to be photographed. For the best views, head up to the park at Leigh Cliffs East and gaze out over the River Thames estuary — it's prettier than it sounds, especially on a summer evening.

There's a spit of beach on the seafront, and a paddling pool for kiddies, but other places on this list have better beach offerings. Instead, wander the olde worlde fishing village type streets, pottering in and out of pubs, tea rooms and gift shops. If you find yourself further inland, stop off at Poco Gelato — it may be a small parlour, but it stocks several big London restaurants.

Sandwiched between Leigh-on-Sea and Southend, Chalkwell is lesser-known and more residential, so has less in the way of entertainment. What it does offer is a lovely — and at low tide, lengthy — beach, with a wide pedestrian esplanade running parallel. Look out for the fibreglass changing huts on the beach, which are narrower than beach huts and look a bit like Smeg fridges .

Bring your sturdy shoes to go hunting for crabs in the mudflats at low tide, or head to one of the cafes and wait for the water to return, before laying your towel out on the sand. Best of all, Chalkwell station is practically on the beach, making for an easy journey from Fenchurch Street.

Southend-on-Sea is to Essex what Margate is to Kent; an all-singing, all-dancing, traditional (and yes, slightly tacky, but gloriously so) seaside town which Londoners have flocked to for generations. (Alas, you can no longer take the tube to Southend as Londoners did in the past.)

It boasts the longest pier in the world at 1.34 miles, and technically it extends into the Thames Estuary rather than the sea, but this grandstanding comes at a price — you have to pay an admission charge just to get onto the pier. You can't currently ride the train out to the end —  the Southend Pier Railway's yet to reopen after lockdown, but the walk is a pretty one.

If you're more about going upwards than outwards, the Cliff Lift is a funicular which runs up the cliff between the seafront Western Esplanade and Clifton Terrace at the top. For the real seaside experience though, we'd stick to the seafront with its beach, amusements , aquarium (with added meerkats...), and countless cafes, bars and restaurants.

Walk along the Western Esplanade all the way past Southend Cliff Gardens for the smaller but nicer beach at Westcliff on Sea.

Mersea Island

Mersea Island covers an area of approximately seven square miles, and claims the title of the UK's most easterly inhabited island. It's only 10 miles from Colchester but feels a world away, with a very natural landscape on the uninhabited parts.

There's no station nearby, so you'll need a car if you're making this day trip (although there's also a ferry between Mersea and Brightlingsea, which you'll need to book seats in advance for), and you'll need to check the tide times before you set off to make sure your passage is unimpeded. The majority of the island's action happens to the south-west, in West Mersea, home to the main shops and restaurants, plus Mersea Island Museum.

But if you were to believe Instagram it'd seem that the only thing on the island is the famous pastel beach huts. You'll find plenty of them on the south of the island, lining the lovely beach by Victoria Esplanade and Seaview Holiday Park — and can even hire your own . If you opt for a dip, you're swimming where the mouth of the River Blackwater meets the sea. Read about our trip to Mersea Island .

Clacton on Sea

Another staple holiday destination for Londoners of previous generations, Clacton on Sea is a stereotypical British seaside town. Pier? Tick. Crazy golf? Tick. Annual air show ? Yes. And it's true that on blazing hot days, you really have to fight for your little patch of sand on the beach itself.

Seaside glitz is just a small part of Clacton though, and can be easily ignored if that's not what you're after. The Seafront Park up on Marine Parade is a chain of perfectly-manicured gardens, ideal for sitting and watching the world go by, or gazing at the wind turbines in the distance. The two Martello towers to the west of Clacton's centre are a reminder of the town's history, and for a touch of culture, visit the art hut on the seafront just west of the Pier — on busy days, a group of local artists sell their work at very reasonable prices.

Clacton's the last stop on the line out of Liverpool Street, a pleasant journey through the Essex countryside where falling asleep isn't a problem. Intrigued? Find out more about Clacton , including its Churchill links, and where to find a charming model village.

Frinton and Walton on the Naze

If you're into beach huts in any way — admiring them, Instagramming them, idly planning which one(s) you're going to buy when you win the lottery — we suggest starting at either Walton or Frinton, and walking the length of the promenade between them. There's a lifetime's fill of beach huts in every colour, pattern and design you could ever dream of.

There's more going on at Walton including the pier . It's not much of a looker from the outside, but head inside for amusements, cafes and the like.

If you're up for a bit of a walk, visit the Naze Tower , up the coast a bit from Walton proper. An impressive sight even from the outside (which you might have to satisfy yourself with this summer, as they've yet to announce reopening dates), the 26m high tower houses a gallery, museum, tea rooms and viewing platform. Climb the 111 spiral stairs for views over the entire coastline.

Find out more about those Walton-on-the-Naze beach huts , including how to bag one for yourself.

Where have we missed? Let us know in the comments.

Last Updated 07 July 2022

Continued below.

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Easter is coming early this year so watch out for lots of great events!!

Essex Yacht Club Ltd

Bembridge Leigh-on-Sea SS9 1BD

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• Essex Yacht Club

August 2024

Eyc cadet week.

Essex Yacht Club Cadet Week 2024. 3rdCB are invited to enter Scouts/Explorers into their annual Cadet Week – a week of racing, fun & games, and social activities based at EYC’s HQ “Wilton”. Members may borrow dinghies from The Den to enter if you don't have your own (single or double handed). It’s a really...

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Essex Yacht Club

Leigh on sea, essex.

Welcome to the events page of the Essex Yacht Club! Here you will find a comprehensive list of all the exciting events happening at the club throughout the year. From sailing races and regattas to social gatherings and our annual cadet week, there is something for everyone at the Essex Yacht Club.

We look forward to seeing you at an event soon!

Upcoming Events

• Categories Cadet Cadet Sailing Cruiser E-Sailing Entertainment EOD Fast Handicap Medium Handicap Sailing Events Social Events Solo

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