UKH

Curious about the logistics.  Is it possible to go to the Heritage Centre and walk back from Fisherman's Head to Great Wakering, assuming one member isn't doing the walk and so can drive back?   Particularly interested if anyone has done it unguided.

No.. but been meaning to do it and not quite getting round to it for AGES. AFAIK???you have to do a there-and-back, which means you need to get your skates on!

Watching this thread great with interest...

Perhaps they have not come back!

Ha!

Perhaps.  I'm a bit torn between expecting it to be a trivial (with modern navigation and decent weather) and so a complete anticlimax, and worrying that I should heed the advice to take a guide (not something I'd normally do for a walk on a public highway).  All overblown hype for a muddy walk, or a genuinely interesting and unique outing?

I'm definitely up for walking it myself, but I'm erring on the side of taking a guide. Navigation using satnav etc is all well and good but how do you know where to walk, do you think that OS map dashed line is the exact and unchanged line to follow, local+recent knowledge maybe invaluable, or it might be just hype.

I sincerely hope your walk is an anticlimax not an epic, because there's so much scope for variation in either direction...

I had to look this one up as I don't recall hearing of the Broomway before. On reflection, I do think I've seen it featured on the telly (Countryfile perhaps?). Anyway, someone was comparing it to the cross sands walks in Morecambe Bay. I have done one of those in the past, guided, and was pretty pleased to be with someone who knew the score. It cost a bit of money but it was a charity thing so going to a good cause - is there something similar for the Broomway? After years of dismissing the Bay crossing as a boring trudge across a flat plain I was pleasantly surprised. Anyone who gets a chance should do one (guided of course). Unguided, you may well get away scot-free but the cost of getting caught out is horrendous.

I've done it. We went with a guide called Brian Dawson who I believe has now stopped doing trips. Tom Bennett appears to have taken on his role. 

The walk itself is a fun day out. On a sunny day the entire wet sand flat becomes highly reflective so it is like walking on a mirage. The distance isn't too far and the surface when we did it was firm, so not too tiring. Beautiful part of the world. Take wellington boots as it is v wet.

I'd recommend a guide. In good conditions the walk is reasonably banal from a risk perspective and I think even in foggy conditions an experienced mountain walker could probably navigate blind and avoid calamity, particularly if GPS-equipped. The guide took the stress out of the day, ensured the local conditions were good (hard to tell exactly how hazy it is on the day without being extremely local). Also good to hear some of the history and stories. It wouldn't be fun on a hazy day I don't think, the view is what makes it a fun day out.

I think you could make it to the museum and back if you moved at a reasonable pace. We were a large group that moved slowly and probably had time. But I'm not an expert on the local conditions and tide heights are very variable in this part of the world. I've been stuck on Osea island for hours before when the tide was supposed to have gone out but hadn't because of an onshore wind...