Monday 05 October
The trials and tribulations of being a grown up are very much like the place I visited briefly after work today. Seemingly, harmless and secure sending you on a journey with twists and turns you navigate with confidence and ease. But, if you drop your guard, are unprepared, or unaware, it can become all consuming. The pathway vanished from view. Anyway, that’s enough of that!
This causeway is a little gem, hidden on the edge of the Blackwater Estuary between Heybridge and Goldhanger. It has a prestigious history first being laid by the Romans and, more recently, making its name in film and TV.
It joins Osea Island to mainland Essex and has been used as the causeway in the film ‘The Woman in Black’ and, most recently, in the supernatural miniseries ‘The Third Day’ with Jude Law. The latter being set wholly on the island (more about that tomorrow).
The causeway itself is dripping in atmosphere and it is an eerie concept. Only accessible for a few hours at each low-tide this mile long gravel road has a foreboding, even threatening element to it. The sea grabs it back when it chooses leaving those caught in the middle with a dilemma; head back to the island and remain stranded until the next low tide or make a run for it to try and reach the mainland?
The tide comes in at quite a pace too. I was there as the tide was coming in, mid afternoon. It was a very warm sunny day and I was excited to be there. But again, it’s a space that wreaks of mystery and unease, and I was equally pleased to be walking away. But, I want to go back and walk the length of it, to the island and back again. Like a dare to myself.
The Bald Birder 