Shotley

The circular walk at Shotley is pretty famous in these parts…but not one that I had taken much time to appreciate before. Parking at the water’s edge it is easy to find the footpath, steering you right along the shore around Erwarton Bay and Cockle Creek. This particular January morning, the ice has just begun to melt from three days of hard overnight frosts, and the ground underfoot is black and sticky, weighing down boots and making the going rather tough - but it’s worth it, as the bay catches the light, behind the trees and shimmers, iridescent against the sky.

Further along, the path crosses perfectly ploughed fields that seem to reach out to the deep purple of the winter’s sky, with tapering lines of rich earth. The horizon seems lower here, below the line of the field, the sky skimming the water beyond.

As if to ensure all senses are raised, the path finishes at the boatyard, pebbly shorefront, home to one or two seals, the foreground to the industry of the working port of Harwich. Towering containerships with their Jenga of crates carrying everything from cars to Karaoke machines seem to glide effortlessly…

It is this juxtaposition of life that is most inspiring about the coast - one moment silence and splendid isolation, the next the bustle of industry and the clamor of commerce.