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Little known but beautiful UK beach island where day trippers regularly get stranded
Mersea Island near Colchester in Essex has been a holiday spot since the Romans populated the UK and is home to one of a small number of red squirrel populations
A beautiful island community that gets cut off from the mainland by the sea is tucked away on England’s east coast.
If you’ve spent much time exploring the east coast of our isles, you may well have ambled down the record breakingly long pier at Southend, sunned yourself on the sands at Lowestoft or gazed up from Queensferry north of Edinburgh at the amazing Fourth Bridge.
One placed you’d be forgiven for missing on your adventures is Mersea Island, a particularly intriguing coastal spot that doesn’t get as much attention as it should, Essex Live reports.
Located not far from Colchester, Mersea is cut off from the mainland by the Blackwater and Colne estuaries and has been attracting holidaymakers since Britain was occupied by the Romans.
Twice each 24 hours, Mersea has a high tide, which sometimes covers the one road on and off the island, preventing anyone from entering or leaving unless they have a boat.
“It’s actually a joy to witness nature making us wait, but don’t be tempted to take on the sea, only too often our emergency services find themselves rescuing unfamiliar drivers from a tide which strands their car,” Visit Mersea Island writes.
When visiting it is important to follow the publicly available tide times and the all-important Strood Cam which shows how high the water level is so you can get off and on.
Whether you’re on Mersea by choice or as a consequence of the tides, there is plenty to do and a number of different beaches from which to enjoy the sparkling sea water.
Mersea beach is covered with stones and shells, and it has an abundance of history. On the eastern shore of the beach are the remains of a World War II pillbox as well as a Tudor fort. It’s also dog friendly, all year round.
The beautiful coastal area is popular among plenty of celebrities, including Denise van Outen and The Only Way Is Essex’s Lydia Bright.
If you’re looking to do some celebrity spotting, then the The Company Shed is the place to be. The independently run seafood restaurant has been visited previously by Denise and offers brilliant views of the seafront, as well as particularly fresh marine fare.
Further up the coast can be found The Victory, a bar with a sprawling pub garden that gives an outdoor stage to crooners on certain sunny days, so you can relax in the open air with a pint and a pleasing tune.
Another great feature of Mersea is that it’s one of the few places in the country where you can still see the charming but tragically endangered red squirrel.
Twenty squirrels were released into the wild on the island since 2012, following a repopulation programme across East Anglia. The island was chosen for re-colonisation as it has no grey squirrels, which can pass a fatal disease to their red relations.
If you’re looking for a seaside experience that has all the same features as somewhere like Southend-on-Sea or Clacton, but without the crowds, then West Mersea Beach on the island might be the ideal spot.
“Wedged between the weathered house boats of Mersea’s mudflats and the marshland causeway, ‘Monkey’ is a cracker of a beach that offers up myriad creeks to meander through as you unearth sun-bleached oyster shells from the caramel sands,” Muddy Stilettos writes.
“Little ones will love the ample crabbing spots too, so bring a net, then head for nearby Company Shed or Oyster Bar for West Mersea’s signature dish: fresh, salty oysters served up with a hit of lemon and lashings of dry white wine.”
