The Broomway, Maplin Sands

[Concerto]

Came across this article about the Broomway on the Maplin Sands to access Foulness Island. Just thought you might find it interesting.

Broomway: Britain’s Deadliest Path | Amusing Planet

 

[Chae_73]

Came across this article about the Broomway on the Maplin Sands to access Foulness Island. Just thought you might find it interesting.

Broomway: Britain’s Deadliest Path | Amusing Planet

Interesting article - thanks.

 

[MoodySabre]

There are occasional guide walks.

 

[MikeBz]

I believe Tony Smith, aka CreekSailor, the current custodian of Shoal Waters, has run guided walks in the past. It's something I would like to do one day.

 

[Tomahawk]

Bloody irritating web site ... keeps popping up with read next rubbish article over the cornef of the page..

 

[Cantata]

There are occasional guide walks.

I was intending to go on one of those but the couple who organised them have given up now.

 

[Capt Popeye]

Yes well first time I sailed accross was running late for the HT and felt a slight uplift as I crossed over it heading for Havengore Bridge, the Bridge Fella shouting out to us, 'hurry up I am shutting the Bridge', so guess that My Gods were looking out for me that day

Supose that its usual for users of the Broomway to notice these Keel Markings made into the top surface of the Way , probably smirking to themselves oh deary me, a near one that ?

Mind you I did fear getting stuck across the Broomway, both blocking the Way and being fired over top of, well would only be for a few hours or so, thats if the 'Gunners' were good at it ?

 

[Hydrozoan]

The first reference in the OP's linked article is to a version of the ‘Silt’ chapter in Robert Macfarlane’s The Old Ways: reflections on journeys on land (and sometimes water) in Britain and elsewhere.

 

[Aquaboy]

The title instantly turns me off, Britain's Deadliest Path....... Is it then?
Sort of thing itv2 or Quest would keep shouting if it were a TV programe

 

[Bru]

The title instantly turns me off, Britain's Deadliest Path....... Is it then?
Sort of thing itv2 or Quest would keep shouting if it were a TV programe

No, it isn't. The deadliest one is surely the byway across the sands of Morecambe Bay

That one claims lives and swallows vehicles fairly regularly

(For the curious, it is a byway open to all traffic today because once upon a time the shortcut across the bay was used by post riders and even the occasional daring coachman in a hurry. It's considered extremely dangerous to walk or drive without current local knowledge and even then still regularly catches people out.

The Broomway is certainly dangerous but not, i think, as dangerous)

 

[MikeBz]

The title instantly turns me off, Britain's Deadliest Path....... Is it then?
Sort of thing itv2 or Quest would keep shouting if it were a TV programe

I agree. I may be wrong but I think the assertion that that depth can go from nothing to chest-deep in a few minutes is a bit far-fetched, but it does fit with the Britain's Deadliest Path title.

 

[Black Sheep]

The title instantly turns me off, Britain's Deadliest Path....... Is it then?
Sort of thing itv2 or Quest would keep shouting if it were a TV programe

Agreed - Any programme titled Britains <superlative> <noun(s)> doesn't get a glance from me.

I'm quite selective about following links - that title sounded too much like clickbait to me, so I didn't read it.

I have walked the Broomway though. A gorgeously bleak experience. The Way itself is well established, firm, and just an inch or so above the surrounding sand, so we never felt particularly at risk. The only problem is that when you get to Foulness there's no way off the island. As the very nice security guard told us, there are no public rights of way on the island- not even the roads.

 

[Bru]

. The only problem is that when you get to Foulness there's no way off the island. As the very nice security guard told us, there are no public rights of way on the island- not even the roads.

Well the security guard was talking nonsense then because there are various PRoW on the island including the Byways from the Broomway landings up to the village

The Broomway is the only access to Foulness over a PRoW on foot etc. The road and bridge on and off are not PRoW

The only other access is via the landing in the Brankfleet

None of the PRoW on Foulness appears to have any restriction orders in force. What the Shoeburyness Range Bylaws have to say is another matter though

 

[Black Sheep]

Well the security guard was talking nonsense then because there are various PRoW on the island including the Byways from the Broomway landings up to the village

The Broomway is the only access to Foulness over a PRoW on foot etc. The road and bridge on and off are not PRoW

The only other access is via the landing in the Brankfleet

None of the PRoW on Foulness appears to have any restriction orders in force. What the Shoeburyness Range Bylaws have to say is another matter though

Or more likely I'm misremembering. He picked us up as we were walking on the road from the village towards the bridge. Maybe what he said was that we couldn't get off the island by public right of way (the tide being on the rise by then, the Broomway didn't seem to be a good idea). It's a while ago, but what I took home was that you can walk to the island by the Broomway... but what then?

 

[Bru]

Or more likely I'm misremembering. He picked us up as we were walking on the road from the village towards the bridge. Maybe what he said was that we couldn't get off the island by public right of way (the tide being on the rise by then, the Broomway didn't seem to be a good idea). It's a while ago, but what I took home was that you can walk to the island by the Broomway... but what then?

Ah he'd have been right if that was the case

There used to be a pub to at least make a visit worthwhile but it closed a good few years ago

 

[LONG_KEELER]

Ah he'd have been right if that was the case

There used to be a pub to at least make a visit worthwhile but it closed a good few years ago

Landlord bit of a grumpy chap if I remember. Got a right telling off for downing a pint in the so called post office area.
Made the visit to the island much more interesting though .

 

[[178529]]

I agree. I may be wrong but I think the assertion that that depth can go from nothing to chest-deep in a few minutes is a bit far-fetched, but it does fit with the Britain's Deadliest Path title.

Of course it doesn't. It comes in over the Maplin sands at a walking pace. But across the sands there are depressions and rivelets that's get filled so you can be walk across sand and then have to wade.

It's the same walking out to the mulberry harbour at Thorpe bay. There are two areas that the tide fills whilst the sand before the mulberry is still dry. So people who don't know the area stay too long and suddenly have to cross two stretches neck deep of water. The rnli have a hovercraft to rescue them.

 

[Gargleblaster]

Landlord bit of a grumpy chap if I remember. Got a right telling off for downing a pint in the so called post office area.
Made the visit to the island much more interesting though .

But to anchor at the steps at Quay Reach ( I think Bru is calling this the Brankfleet) and walk to the George and Dragon and have a pint of Mild and Fish and Chips was a brilliant excursion. On the way to the pub there was an old house inhabited by Ravens that looked like something out of a horror film and juniper berries to be eaten by the roadside.

The George and Dragon had a walled garden that was said to be the site of the last LEGAL bare knuckle fight in the UK.

Very sad day when it closed down but it couldn't continue economically depending on very few locals a few Qinetiq workers and the odd visiting yachtsperson. Very sad.

 

[MikeBz]

It's the same walking out to the mulberry harbour at Thorpe bay. There are two areas that the tide fills whilst the sand before the mulberry is still dry. So people who don't know the area stay too long and suddenly have to cross two stretches neck deep of water. The rnli have a hovercraft to rescue them.

My wife grew up in Thorpe Bay and had that very experience as a youngster - regular visits to the Mulberry Harbour and one day got cut-off coming back. They swam for it and didn't need to be rescued but a lesson was learned!

 

[Medway Matt]

I haven't walked the Broomway but I have been driven over the Maplin Sands on the canvas roof of a Bedford 4 tonner to look for shells.

It was very interesting sensation to be out walking around on sands that I'd sailed past and it was a wonderfully empty 'landscape'. The sands we're fine for walking on but if you stood still for a while you'd gradually sink in ankle deep.

The shells were 155mm and inert. They'd been fired around HW and we were collecting them for examination as part of the proofing of a gun. I was pretty close to the gun for some of the firings, behind a wall of Pendine blocks and in an armoured shelter like a sentry box, and the blast was something else - it literally took my breath away!

This was back in '92 when I was an electronics engineering apprentice.