-- FOUR RIVERS - A PILGRIMAGE - RIVER FOUR - THE RIVER CROUCH --

It's hard to take a shadowless photograph when the sun is directly behind you. Perhaps with hindsight I should have taken the photograph on the other side creating an upside down photo which I could have simply rotated on the computer. But Mr Hindsight is a rum chap especially now that I am 12,000 miles away from the event.

I found the River Crouch more disconnected from the surrounding township than other rivers we visited and it was made obvious to me that to really see and appreciate these areas it is important (if one is a mad keen yachtie) to be able to get onto the river itself in a boat.

There was one place I wanted to visit on the River Crouch in particular which I remember from a photograph in a book I was given for Christmas many years ago. The book was the 'Uffa Fox Book of Sailing'. Reading in this book and in English yachting magazines I heard about  'Cadet Week' sailed from the Burnham on Crouch yacht club. Cadet week looked to me like a great deal of fun as did the little Cadet Class sailing dinghies. This black and white photograph is from the Uffa Fox book.

This yacht club with its industrial look is an example of architectural functionality (some at the time  called it architectural brutalism) that was a feature of the 1950s - 60s. I liked the port holes that look out on the river from the basement level at what must be high tide level.

I found the yacht club pretty impressive close up. It is not unlike the bridge of an oil tanker; and like a good bridge with its various captains, ably assisted by its various crews it has steered the club consistently over the years. Stop banks make sure the surrounding areas don't become flood plains in extreme weather and tidal conditions.

I am not sure what the structure on the roof of the house (above) is. It looks a little bit like a yacht club starting box.

I was itching to get out on the water and take a real good look around.

Nice walks along the river which I wasn't really able to participate in due to my arthritic legs but next time I will do it in a very English way by taking along a Brompton folding bike.

The Yacht club certainly makes an architectural statement.

 Yacht marina a short drive from the yacht club.

On this pilgrimage I was reminded that it is not just the East Coast of England that I would like to visit - it is all of the English coast, because each river, bay, inlet, saltings, harbour and estuary has its own special relationship between sea and shore, each with its own ambience and charm.