Leigh-on-Sea Cliff Top and the Thames Estuary Having taken something of a rest day yesterday as I travelled from Manchester to visit my great uncle in Leigh-on-Sea, via a stroll along the Thames in Central London, I decided there was nothing wrong with a few gentle summer evening miles round the locality. I'd already taken quite a long walk this morning, out through the local woods and to an English Heritage site in Hadleigh Country Park, featuring the ruins of Hadleigh Castle. I spent many hours as a small child happily getting dusty and sunburnt up on these hills overlooking the marshland and I think if anyone ever ran a spectral analysis on my soul these are the landscapes they would find composing the foundations of my being.
I find spending time in woodlands and countryside generally very therapeutic and have always been a keen walker. It's always seemed to be such a honest way of interacting with the surroundings. Running, in my experience, just heightens this connection and so I found it very emotionally detoxifying, a perfect remedy to several long months of work stresses and my over ambitious plans that fell flat on Sunday! I did use the Garmin to track my route but I paid no attention whatsoever to pace or milage, simply heading where my feet took me for as many steps as they fancied. I think I can certainly manage another run or two like that while I'm here and with views like these, who wouldn't?!
A Sunny Evening on the Cliff Top
