Canvey Island | Curious Coast

Essex here we come
three cheers for Katie
home of Dr Feelgood
let us pray
towards low tide
if you insist
late for work
love the summer
barge
shelter
shipping lane
cool crab
another winner
stripes
with my mum
all the fun of the fair
anyone for tennis?
the Labworth
pink helmet
the likely lads

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CuriousCoast
Tim Baynes
Trevor Clapp
#CuriousCoast
info@curiouscoast

The offbeat, kiss-me-quick atmosphere of the East Anglian and Kent seaside and coast fascinates photographer, Trevor Clapp and watercolorist, Tim Baynes. This website records some of their trips to these extraordinary places.

Trevor and I go to Canvey Island.

For him because Canvey Island is the birthplace of the rock band Dr Feelgood, for me it was another opportunity to make sideways celebration of the English seaside.

This is a town, which is connected to Essex via causeway and a land of gas and oil storage bins.

These homes with sea views have had these snatched away from then when a high concrete coastal defence was built around the whole perimeter of the coast.

We arrived on a grey mid-morning – ideal for beach combing amongst the cockles and mussels and oyster shells. Looking out to sea we saw the Kent coast on the other side of the Thames Estuary.

By midday the sky was a lot less the glum. It was was shining and being the half term holiday people were emerging.

Outsized mums were driving pushchairs and their older offspring were complaining about the funfair was not yet open.

We went to Concord Beach, on the Eastern Esplanade. It was alive with families having fun. The Concord Beach Café provided excellent fish and chips and cups of tea; Trevor’s treat in lieu of petrol money.

Replete we sat back to enjoy the view, and with T’s camera on self-timer we hold the moment; the sounds of kids, mums and grandparents drift across our table.

Canvey Island is a self-contained place, and out of the wind, it is warm and lovely as anywhere. We looked across the estuary towards Kent, with its containerships, a Thames barge, and various freighters jockeying for position on the water, this is nevertheless a working river.