On this tour along the Essex coast at the mouth of the River Stour, we will walk from the seaside town of Dovercourt to the pier at Harwich, a traditional point of arrivals and departures. The train journey from London takes 1 hour and 20 minutes.

This is a 2-guide walk: Rob Smith will talk about lighthouses (some nice ones here) and the repair yard belonging to Trinity House, who look after navigational aids around the UK. He’ll discuss shipbuilding as we pass a treadwheel crane built in 1667, and ships built in Harwich, the most famous being the Mayflower. Thames barges were also constructed here.

Laura will talk about ordinary and able seamen in the Age of Sail, whose jobs involved running up rigging during storms, manning guns during battles and dealing with boredom in the doldrums. Men (and some cross-dressed women) volunteered for a life at sea in large numbers, and some were forced through impressment when the navy needed them. Small children were powder-monkeys during battles. Laura will also mention Arthur Ransome’s intrepid Swallows who Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea and Harwich’s connections to colonies across the Atlantic.

We’ll take in views across the estuary to the container port at Felixstowe, while the town of Harwich has fine Georgian architecture and good pubs to explore after the walk.

The walk is about two miles and finishes at Harwich Pier, a short walk from Harwich Town Station.