Upminster to Southend Healthy Ride

NOTE. Please register for the ride on Eventbrite so we can limit numbers, link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/upminster-to-southend-cycle-ride-tickets-1526787856579?aff=oddtdtcreator

The ride starts at Upminster library at 9.30am. We head East into the Essex countryside. Our first stop at 11 miles is Langdon Discovery Centre (Essex Wildlife Trust).  Our second stop at 20 miles is at Hadley Park café.  At 25.5 miles is Southend seafront our destination and our lunch break.  Aim to be at Southend by 12.30. Give ourselves an hour for lunch and set off back at 1.30. Those that want to leave the ride at this point can catch the c2c train from Southend Central back to London. Trains run every 20 minutes.  The journey back traces much of the route outbound but we will have only one stop roughly half way at the Langdon Discovery Centre. We’ll then return to Upminster library after a short break aiming to arrive there about 4.30.

Upminster station is step free. In Zone 6, longish journey on District line (e.g. Monument, 42min, £3.70). Bit quicker on c2c from Fenchurch St, 22min, £3.80). Upminster Library is 400m south of the station, mostly along busy Station Road.  GPX route map:.Upminster_to_Southend_3

Personal memories of Southend from Ride Leader Owen

I remember as a 9 year old boy, a recent immigrant from Hong Kong with virtually no English, being woken up in the middle of a cold winter’s night to go fishing. After wiping the sleep from my eyes I joined my father and our compassionate elderly neighbour, a keen fisherman, to drive down to Southend to fish off the end of the pier.  Still in pitch darkness we dropped lines with about half a dozen hooks on each line into the water. When the tide came in we pulled in our lines and there were two, three, four flat fish on each line.

Fish were plentiful in those days and the town was a major holiday destination. Southend today may not glisten the way it used to but on sunny summer weekends thousands of day trippers still pack the promenades. You hear Chubby Chequer being belted out from arcades along with the ping, ping, ping sound of pinball machines and the occasional crashing of coins as a lucky punter registers a winning line on the fruit machine. You hear choruses of screaming from those on fairground rides. Every kid seems to be holding a candy floss or an ice cream cone and every adult has a big grin on their face.  Best of all is the ubiquitous seductive aroma of fish and chips with lashings of malt vinegar and pickled onions wafting along the seafront.
Southend seafront is still an amazing place to visit. Southend still touches my heart.
What are your memories of Southend? Better still join me on my bike ride from Upminster to Southend and back.

General Information.  

Riders of all ages are welcome on Southwark Healthy Rides but under 18s must be accompanied by a responsible adult. Same for “adults at risk”. Always give way to pedestrians and to other cyclists so all path users feel safe.  If you cannot make a ride, please cancel so that someone else can take the place.   Remember finish times are approximate and it is best not to schedule something immediately after the ride; give yourself an allowance for mechanical or other problems on the ride.

These rides are part of a regular programme of Saturday rides, more information at https://southwarkcyclists.org.uk/healthy-rides/.

Note. Reports of previous rides, often with photos and route maps, are posted to the Southwark Cyclists web site, yearly index at https://southwarkcyclists.org.uk/healthy-rides/.  Future/provisional ride plans can be viewed on our planning spreadsheet.