A towering achievement

On one of our 'Day-Out Thursdays' we went to Walton on the Naze. Every other time we have been, we have arrived at the tower end of town, and the tower has been shut. It has been one of my aims for a long time to visit the tower when it is open.  This time we arrived at the pier end of town, and almost as soon as we did, there was the smell of fish-and-chips. There were lots of teenage children milling about, their shirts had the logo of some academy that I can't remember.

Jo, enjoying a cup of tea

 The colourfully painted tables match the colourfully painted beech huts which have formed an elongated city by the sea.  It's very English seaside.

Beach huts at Walton-on-the-Naze

We walked a little along the promenade a little way and found that some of the huts were not just colourful, but also artistic.  We wondered how much it cost to rent or own a beach hut.

Artistic beach hut

 We walked back across the beach, Jo paddled in the water, which she reported as quite warm.  Then we started the long walk up a fairly gentle incline towards the tower.  For a while the going was flat.  Before the incline started, we could see the target easily, but once we began to climb, the tower disappeared behind buildings and the curve of the hill.

The walk took us a little over 30 minutes, as we arrived a bus stopped and the people who got off showed us the shortcut to the tower that google had missed, so the last 250 meters became about 100 meters.

And there it was, all 8 floors of it, and most definitely open.  

Naze Tower Notice

The Naze tower from the car park

The entrance is a café, the next two floors, accessed by a spiral staircase with enough room for one slim person at a time, have tables and chairs.  Further up, is an art gallery, with some fascinating pieces.  There are also some displays of the archaeology and geology of the area.  We had doubted our ability to get to the top.  "Eleven steps, and you're on the next floor", the lady said.  "Go and try, pay me when you come down if you go far enough"

One floor, eleven steps, move off the staircase, maybe let others pass, have a look at the view from the window.  Repeat. Further up the staircase is offset, and then further up still it spirals the other way.  

fascinating art

construction work

The greatest piece of art is the view from the top.  I posted the video on YouTube, as it is too large to be embedded here.  Please watch the video, but for a smoother, more incredible experience go there yourself.

 

https://youtu.be/q6M86kK8r-g