There may be only one road on and off Wallasea Island, but there are now more ways to travel it! Visitors to our Wild Coast weekend last September were encouraged to travel in an eco-friendly way, by ferry from Burnham, by community bus from Rochford or by foot from the marina and cycle from Southend. Now, thanks to Essex County Council and partners including Wyvern Community Transport, a new choice of sustainable transport will add to your options when visiting us.
From 1st February, the 174 Crouch Village Link will offer a bus service on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Starting from Rochford station the bus will run to the Burnham ferry at Essex marina, and on request, to the RSPB car park on Wallasea Island. The journey from there runs via The Dome Caravan Village in Hockley,Ashingdon, and via Rochford station on to Prittlewell/Tesco and Southend Central railway station. And all for a flat rate of £2!
Back at the Wild Coast project we will be continuing to look at travel solutions for those wishing to visit us. We hope to encourage visitors travelling from the North to use the ferry, the Lady Essex, from Burnham-on-Crouch, while for cyclists we hope to work with Sustrans to encourage development of cycle routes from the Southend/Rochford area. The new reserve will be a cycle friendly area and we hope to eventually develop facilities for visiting cyclists. Most recently we have been talking to Canoe England and the British Canoe Union about what we can do for canoe and kayak users - but more of that next week!!
I've gone wild on Wallasea!