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Clacton-on-Sea to Walton-on-the-Naze Walk

A short North Sea coastal walk between 2 seaside resorts

Coast Easy Essex Swimming

History

This is a list of previous times this walk has been done by the club (since Jan 2010). For more recent events (since April 2015), full details are shown.

Date Option Post # Weather
Sat, 22-Jun-24 Clacton to Walton on the Naze 3 sunny with a breeze off the sea
Sat, 12-Dec-20 Clacton-on-Sea to Walton-on-the-Naze walk - reverse 2 overcast plus intermittent drizzle
Sat, 29-Jun-19 Clacton-on-Sea to Walton-on-the-Naze 10 sunny 24C with Seabreeze
Sat, 28-Jul-18 Clacton-on-Sea to Walton-on-the-Naze [swimming walk] 11
Sat, 19-Aug-17 Clacton to Walton-on-the-Naze - A breeze along the east coast 11 sunny
Sun, 21-Aug-16 2 – 3.52 Clacton-Walton 3
Wed, 10-Dec-14 Clacton-on-Sea to Walton-on-the-Naze Walk
Sat, 14-Jul-12 Clacton-on-Sea to Walton-on-the-Naze Walk
Wed, 15-Jul-09 Clacton-on-Sea to Walton-on-the-Naze Walk
Wed, 06-Aug-08 Clacton-on-Sea to Walton-on-the-Naze Walk

Saturday 22-Jun-24

DAC
SWC 52 Clacton-on-Sea to Walton-on-the-Naze
Length: 11.5 km (7.1 miles). Toughness: 1/10
Catch the 10:18 from London Liverpool Street arrives Clacton-on-Sea 11:44. Advise buying a return to Walton-on-the-Naze, this being the furthest station.
Return from Walton-on-Naze xx:58 (change at Thorpe-le-Soken arr. xx:10, dep xx:13) arrives Liverpool Street xx:31. Journey time 1h 33m
An easy flat coastal walk with lunch at one of the cafés along the coast or alternatively a slight detour inland to The Oakwood Inn, 175 Frinton Rd, Holland-on-Sea, CO15 5UT. (T:01255 812209)
T=swc.52
  • Fri, 21-Jun-24

    Intend going...

  • Fri, 21-Jun-24

    Is there a number missing before the 7 for distance?

    Could this homage to Nigel Farage be extended to better survey the new political territory of Clacton?

    Austen

  • Fri, 21-Jun-24

    No number missing after the many long solo walks these last few weekends, it'll be good to have a relaxing walk. Long time no see Austen, you can always do a few loops - d

  • Fri, 21-Jun-24

    The walk's Introduction suggests extending it with a loop around the headland to the north of Walton-on-the-Naze, although you might have to check the state of the tide. See the Walk Notes and Map on the Walk 98 page.

  • Sun, 23-Jun-24

    3 on this walk, 1 arriving by train and 2 by car. Perfect day for a coastal walk, sunny with a nice breeze coming in off the sea. We walked along the promenade passing several groups making use of the beach huts,beachfront cafes and sailing clubs. Despite the fine weather there weren't huge crowds which made for a relaxing walk.

    Lunch was taken at Oakwood Inn. All seemed pleased with their lunch choice. (We later saw a new premises Kingscliff hotel which could be worth investigating in future walks)

    The 2 in the car continued a little while after lunch before heading back to see Clacton pier and town centre in more detail. The other walked continued to Walton on the advertised route.

    As for the political activity, we came across some Reform canvassers soon after leaving the train station. Had a friendly chat where they said we can speak our mind now we're out of London... Aside from that not much, aside from several posters and placards for the current Cons MP (confusingly using the sky blue Reform colour).

  • Mon, 24-Jun-24

    3 sunny with a breeze off the sea

Saturday 12-Dec-20

DAC
Clacton-on-Sea to Walton-on-the-Naze walk - reverse
Length: 11.5km (7.2 miles)
Toughness: 1 out of 10
Catch the 10:18 from London Liverpool Street arrives Walton-on-the-Naze 11:49 (change at Thorpe-le-Soken arr. 11:35, dep. 11:37). Return trains from Clacton-on-Sea xx:05

T=3.52

  • Tue, 15-Dec-20

    2 of us proceeded at a fairly fast pace on this invigorating coastside walk. Split for lunch on arrival at Clacton... overcast plus intermittent drizzle along the way.

Saturday 29-Jun-19

HollieB
7.1 miles / 11.5 km
13.4 miles / 21.5 km with extension around the Naze

This is a straighforward coastal walk via Clacton, Frinton and Walton, mostly along the seafront promenade and passing some sandy beaches. The extension round the Naze takes in wilder scenery with crumbling cliffs and a nature reserve.

Trains: Take the 10:21 from London Liverpool Street (10:28 Stratford), arriving at Clacton at 11:44. Return trains from Walton-on-the-Naze at xx:00, change at Thorpe-le-Soken. A return to Clacton should be fine, if not you would only need an extra single from Walton to Thorpe-le-Soken.

Lunch: Either stop at the beach cafes along the route, or follow the walk directions inland for a pub lunch at the Oakwood Inn.

Click here for full walk details - this includes information about the extension, but you can also find fuller details here. The tip of the peninsular (Stone Point) will probably be closed due to nesting birds, but the route is still full of interest with a lovely peaceful feel away from the town.
T=swc.52
  • Anonymous
    Thu, 27-Jun-19

    Given the heat wave forecast for Saturday, this walk appears to be well timed!

  • Anonymous
    Sat, 29-Jun-19

    This must be the coolest walk this saturday. sunny 24C with Seabreeze , 10 inluding 2 new walkers who saw our post on Meetup. This was the first time I have been to this part of the country and was pleasantly surprised about how nice the beaches are especially around Frinton-on-Sea. Miles and miles of sea washed sandy beaches and shallow sea water as one local told us - "you need to walk to France before the sea water gets deep...." The most striking thing - it was not busy. Only one swam, pity really as the sea was really warm. Most had picnic at various places, three ate at Cafe 19 in Frinton-on-Sea, and was joined by two others for coffee and ice cream. (Nobody did the detour to the designated lunch pub. It felt pointless to leave the nice beach and cool seabreeze for an inland pub). Four had refreshment in a beach cafe in Walton-on-the-Naze. Two caught 4pm train, at least one on 5pm train and six others on 6pm train. On the train back, I spotted a photo in Bournmouth beach today on BBC news, there were no sea, no sandy beaches, just people.... Phew, I am glad I was in Clacton-on-Sea....

Saturday 28-Jul-18

Walker
Length: 11.5km (7.1 miles): extension to 21.5km (13.4 miles) possible: see ** below
Toughness: 1 out of 10: flat

10.18 train from Liverpool Street (10.25 Stratford) to Clacton, arriving 11.44

Buy a day return to Clacton-on-Sea. Since this is the same price as a day return to Walton-on-the-Naze, it should be accepted from that station too: if not you would only have to pay for the short hop to Thorpe-le-Soken, where the two lines meet.

For walk directions click here. For GPX click here.

I had a special request for this walk and am happy to oblige. It is a very simple walk along the Essex coast, following a seafront promenade for most of the way, though with a stretch of about 3km in the middle when you are walking along the edge of a nature reserve cum country park. That being said, it is surprisingly varied, with Clacton, Frinton and Walton each having a different character. There is a rather magnificent windfarm out to sea.

If you are one of those people that are put off swimming by steeply shelving shingle beaches and not wanting to get out of your depth, this walk is for you - having gently shelving sandy beaches throughout, though with somewhat brown sea water (this is sediment not pollution). That being said, it is high tide around 1pm, so the sand may be covered in the early part of the walk.

Lunch is most easily had at beach cafes in Holland by Sea, just beyond Clacton. But the walk directions contain inland diversions to a couple of pubs if you prefer.

In Walton there are two options for ** EXTENDING THE WALK:

 - One is an interesting 6 mile walk around the Naze, a low-lying peninsula that juts out into the sea and which is a haven for wildlife. For this there are walk directions here and a GPX file here. Note that while Stone Point may still be closed due to nesting birds (it reopens on 1 August), the walk around the peninsula can still be done, as far as I am aware.

- The other possible extension - not mentioned in the walk directions but not to be sniffed at - is to walk the length of Walton pier, the second longest in England. It doesn't look particularly exciting from the land and to get onto to it you have to walk through a ghastly (and mysteriously popular) amusement arcade. But once you are out on the pier proper it is a magnificent parade far out into the water with nice views back on the coast.

Trains back from Walton are on the hour (00 past the hour) until 22.00. This is a shuttle to Thorpe-le-Soken, connecting there to the train from Clacton. Total journey time back to London is 1 hour 37 minutes. T=3.52
  • Mon, 23-Jul-18

    What about from Walton on Naze to ether Clacton on Sea or Jaywick?

  • Tue, 24-Jul-18

    OK. See post!

  • Sun, 29-Jul-18

    11 on this walk. We all agreed at the station it would be nice to detour from the initial instructions to see the centre of Clacton, which we did, and then someone suggested detouring again to see the attractive flower beds, which we did, and then would you Adam and Eve it, someone suggested walking along the coast to see the Martello Tower, which we did, all worth while because it was a very attractive piece of coastline. Anyway, after that we walked back along the promenade to rejoin the walk proper. Sadly a teenage boy had gone missing on Thursday afternoon in the sea off Clacton and several of the group were all too well aware of this fact. There were red flags out all along the coastal walk with nervous looking life guards keeping a look out for anyone else getting into trouble. Despite this, people were venturing into the sea. Two of our group went in and reported very very strong currents pushing them sideways. The group had by this time slit up somewhat with 2 or 3 opting to do the Naze extention while we others chose the pier extension, afterwards we had chips and coffee while looking out wistfully at the sea. An enjoyable day out, sadly reduced this morning by the sad news of the missing teenage boy being found, unfortunately not alive.

Saturday 19-Aug-17

Walker
SWC Walk 52 - Clacton-on-sea to Walton-on-the-Naze
Length: 11.7km (7.3 miles) or 20.5km (12.7 miles)
Toughness: 1 out of 10: flat

10.18 train from Liverpool Street (10.25 Stratford) to Clacton, arriving 11.44

Buy a day return to Clacton-on-Sea - £19.60 with a Network Card. Since this is the same price as a day return to Walton-on-the-Naze, it should be accepted from that station too: if not you would only have to pay for the short hop to Thorpe-le-Soken,
where the two lines meet.

For walk directions click here.

This is a very simple walk along the Essex coast, following a seafront promenade for most of the way, though with a stretch of about 3km in the middle when you are walking along the edge of a nature reserve cum country park. That being said, it is surprisingly varied, with Clacton, Frinton and Walton each having a different character. There is a rather magnificent windfarm out to sea.

There are sea bathing possibilities throughout from gently shelving sandy beaches, though with somewhat brown sea water (this is sediment not pollution). The tide will be falling as you walk, with low tide at 16.35.

Lunch is most easily had at beach cafes in Holland by Sea, just beyond Clacton. But the walk directions contain inland diversions to a couple of pubs if you prefer.

In Walton there are two options for extending the walk. One is an interesting 5.7 mile walk around the Naze, a low-lying peninsula that juts out into the sea and which is a haven for wildlife.

The other - not mentioned in the walk directions but not to be sniffed at - is to walk the length of Walton pier, the second longest in England. It doesn't look particularly exciting from the land and to get onto to it you have to walk through a ghastly (and mysteriously popular) amusement arcade. But once you are out on the pier proper it is a magnificent parade far out into the water with nice views back on the coast (see photo).

Trains back from Walton are on the hour (00 past the hour) until 22.00. This is a shuttle to Thorpe-le-Soken, connecting there to the train from Clacton. Total journey time back to London is 1 hour 37 minutes. T=3.52
  • Wed, 16-Aug-17

    If you carry on along the coast, to the Naze headland, you reach Stone Point (a sand spit), which was closed when we were last there (ground nesting bird breeding season).

    It should be open now (from 1st Aug).

    It would be great if someone could continue on to the point, and take some photos. It looks really interesting from the map.

  • Sat, 19-Aug-17

    I would of liked to have done that Walk Today. But I had to go to work Today.

  • Mon, 21-Aug-17

    11 or more and one canine companion, sunny on this hugely enjoyable easy coastal walk. Most of us had lunch and / or a drink at the Oakwood inn - standard pub grub but pleasant service and garden. Afternoon highlights included comfort stops in a thatched cottage converted to public toilets and (for me) Frinton's fine selection of Art Deco houses. Walton is more a "kiss me quick" kind of town. Four of us did the Naze peninsula extension, soon leaving the caravan park and beachcombers behind for an untamed wilderness of great beauty and isolation. I took some photos and will try to upload them onto the SWC Facebook page or some similar place , although I don't have an eye for birds I'm afraid. We were lucky enough to catch the Walton festival on our return and caught the 7pm train with one very tired dog and its loving walker

  • Mon, 21-Aug-17

    PS I wasn't paying attention at the start and the group fragmented further after lunch so perhaps another walker could correct my figures if they're wrong. Thanks

Sunday 21-Aug-16

Sean
Extra Walk 52 – Clacton-on-Sea to Walton-on-the-Naze
Length: 11.3 km (7.0 miles), with optional 9.2 km extension. Toughness: 1/10

10:35 Clacton-on-Sea train from Liverpool Street (Stratford 10:42), arriving Clacton at 12:09. Buy a return to Clacton-on-Sea, although you might be asked to buy a single from Walton-on-the-Naze to Thorpe-le-Soken on the way back.

Trains back from Walton-on-the-Naze are hourly at xx:29 up to 21:29, changing at Thorpe-le-Soken.

Another SWC walk receiving its first Sunday posting. The Walk Notes specify a late start and imply that you should dawdle along the seafront with plenty of breaks for swimming. At some point, though, a sterner hand has intruded and the most recent version urges you to extend the walk past Walton along the Naze Peninsula. There are directions for a full out-and-back circuit, but for a shorter extension you could turn back at some point and simply retrace your steps.

There are plenty of seafront cafés near the start of the walk at Holland-on-Sea, while a short detour inland there would get you a pub lunch at the Oakwood Inn. Alternatively, anyone planning to do the extension could carry on to Walton and find something there before venturing out to the Naze.

You'll need to print this short pdf document. The Extra Walk 98 page has some additional information about the Naze Peninsula. T=swc.52
  • Mon, 29-Aug-16

    "3 on this walk" BB

  • Anonymous
    Tue, 30-Aug-16

    3