Tuesday 16 February 2010

ABC Wednesday - Egypt Bay

A sandy beach, a stretch of water, time to take a dip?


Oh look the sun has come out, maybe just take in some rays, and the view....

is delightful interesting of Canvey Island Oil Terminal.  Although over there is also the home of Canvey Island's own Dr Feelgood who are still rocking after all these years, you can't keep a good band down.

The exotically named Egypt Bay is on the Thames estuary.  These are the Halstow Marshes or Cooling Marshes which are on the Isle of Grain, Kent.  If the name Cooling seems familiar that is because this is the countryside described by  Charles Dickens in Great Expectations. They certainly were cooling when we were there as it was a very blustery day, but sunny, unlike how Dickens describes it when Magwich is hiding in the marshes.  But given a winter day I think it would be exactly how it is in ones imagination.
This little bay would be very useful for smugglers landing contraband, the convicts might have been those housed in hulks in the Medway, which is at the other end of the island, or the ones of Dickens imagination. Real or imagined their fate if escaped and caught was to be hanged, to deter others.  And curlews, well the marshes are a birders idea of heaven.  There are numerous birds of prey, waders,(including Avocets), and field birds like lapwings.  But its most famous inhabitants are at the Northward Hill RSPB reserve. Stand at the top of the hill or sit and view the marshes and woods as great grey winged birds glide, here are about 100 nesting pairs of herons, but also the largest colony of little egrets in the country.

This end of the Isle of Grain is a mix of grazing land, woods, water and marsh with big skies but also

go through the gate and cherry orchards are there by the reserve and apple and pear orchards too.  And if visiting at night you may hear a nightingale sing.

Escape, visit the ABC Wednesday meme where there will be more words beginning with the letter E

 

15 comments:

Sylvia K said...

Interesting post and lovely captures for the E day! I particularly like the light in the second shot and colors in the last one! Hope your week is going well!

Sylvia

Mara said...

If you don't mind I won't take a dip into that bay. It looks absolutely freezing!!

Great photos though.

lv2scpbk said...

Looks like a nice play to relax.

On behalf of ABC Wed. thanks for participating.

photowannabe said...

Interesting and informative. Love the sunlight on the water. Nice picture and choice for the letter E.

Tumblewords: said...

Engaging post. Lovely photos and narrative.

Roger Owen Green said...

It's snowing here - I'd rather be THERE!

Jay said...

Oh, it would be worth coming down to hear the nightingale! But it looks far too cold for a dip!

x_pEpPeRoNi_x said...

All the photos are very nice. But the second one is ah-mazing. :) Very nice shine on the water. It's a breathtaking photo to look at.

MaR said...

Lovely place, great shots!!

e is for...

annies home said...

wow wonderful pictures

jabblog said...

Thank you for helping me to revisit scenes from my childhood. The Isle of Grain always rather scared me - so remote and alien. Quatermass had an effect on me, I think!
There are some very beautiful parts of Kent.

LeAnn said...

What fun details you have provide with these pictures! We have a small orchard industry near us and it is a blast to visit and pick all kinds of things.

Joy said...

Sylvia - You had to catch the light while you could that day as the clouds scudded in front of the sun

Mara - The cold would not be the only reason not to take a dip, never know what you might find in the Thames.

lv3scpbk - the ideal place to chill out

Photowannabe - Sunlight on water is beautiful in any weather.

Tumblewords - Hurray for another E word, LOL, thank you

Roger - These photos were in September, so like you they have had a lot of snow down there this winter. I like snow - if I'm on holiday.

Jay - Cold for a dip and rather murky but the nightingale woods make up for it, wrap up warm.

Snapperoni - Thank you, the sun can certainly change the look of the place entirely.

Mars - It is an amazing place

Shopannies - Thank you, it was a lovely day

Jabblog - There are some wonderful parts of Kent and they are all so different but the coast is my favourite. Must have been a great place to grow up in. I can see how a small child might find the Isle scary, just the type of place for a Quatermass experiment.

LeAnn - How lovely to live near orchards and to pick apples. I like picking fruit, something quite satisfying about it, especially on a warm summers day.

Sheila @ A Postcard a Day said...

Funnily, today I noticed a fishing boat going past Deal Pier, marked as from Canvey, and heading in that direction. Deal used to be a great smuggling town too, in fact probably the whole of the south east coast was. :)

Joy said...

Yes Sheila I can imagine Deal as a smuggling town, lots of places to land your barrels of brandy from France.