Sunday 28 February 2010

There's Something About Mersea

I haven't been very quiet about my lack of enthusiasm for or aesthetic pleasure derived from this part of England. It's fine, but I don't look around in awe like I have in other places. For one, it lacks mountains, and another, it lacks an abundance of trees. Anna's commented several times that I've probably had enough of the Essex coast by now. Yeah, I pretty much have. I could do with a different type of scenery. That said, I won't refuse a trip to the coast if one is on offer. And I'm not tired of going to Mersea.

One of Anna's favorite places in the world is Mersea. It holds a sentimental value for her as well as an aesthetic one. She's interested in learning more about it, discovering more about her love for her and that is interesting to me. I've been maybe 4 times now. Each time is different.

Mersea isn't anything spectacular, but it interests me. It's regarded as a backwards place by lots of people. Though if you're not from Essex, you may have never heard of it. It's known for its oysters. It's thought to be the landing spot of the Romans many ages ago when they based their British operation in Colchester. The Strood is an old roman road. It's a sort of resort town where people vacation in rented caravans and go to the sea front in summer. It's not my type of place. But I find it interesting that it's history is so often forgotten, it's a forgotten place, and yet, it's sort of a fulcrum for my time here. I've been up the coast from it, down the coast from it, I reside inland from it. I've seen it from Abbotts Hall Farm, from the Dengie Peninsula, from Brandwell, from the Strood. The coast itself sort of wraps around Mersea and I keep ending up there, and am quite happy to keep going back and getting to know different bits of it better, from birding, to eating or walking the edges, to the churches, cafes and harbor. It's a funny little place with a lot of story built up around it, even the stories that fail to mention it.

No comments:

Post a Comment