London to Southend 2025 - ride report

We met bang on time at 23:40 Friday night near Larry Olivier's statue on the Southbank, there was a roll call of sorts that established we had 36-38 riders on the ride, a great mixture of old, in experience not age, riders and six newbies embarking on their first foray in the wonderful world of FNRttC.

Riding east through the city, past the famous Narrows pub in Wapping now renamed, we regrouped at Stratford. What was noticeable on this ride was the lack of nighttime activity in the bars and clubs - there was none of the usual "enthusiastic" encouragement from late night revellers as is the norm when leaving London.

We rode without incident through the night, past the salubriousness of Ilford, past the famous Seven Kings and then into suburbia proper towards Colliers Row. Up a little hill to Havering-atte-Bower, a quaint name… across the M25 or was it the A12, or both?

The scouts at Doddinghurst put on an excellent spread of sandwiches, cake, fruit and flapjacks, and rested and refreshed we moved off into the brightening night.

Some of us chose to ride through Butsbury Ford, a trickle due to the chronic lack of rain this year, while others walked across the footbridge and accepted the sting of the nettles! 

The dawn chorus started early around 4am and one of the new riders, Mark, through his "bird app" told me that we had heard 17 different species of bird by the time we reached Southend; astounding technology!

We made great progress, and at one stage we were due to make Southend Esplanade around 7am. Way too punctual for a FNRttC effort, so action had to be taken!

We regrouped several times and watched a magnificent sunrise over Hanningfield reservoir and again at Battlesbridge on the River Crouch. Claire has created a photo album that can you, should you wish post your Kodak moments - use this link: https://photos.app.goo.gl/zTmUHBJqJzEbjvhs7

At Hadleigh we were introduced to, arguably, the finest example of a Norman church in not just Essex, but the entire UK. The sun had truly risen as we set off down the A12 to our penultimate point of interest: historic Hadleigh Castle, "the ancient Castle of Acquaintances" mentioned in Debrett’s. This castle was a catalyst in helping to create liaisons that secured the fortunes and power of the nobility and the ruling classes until its ruin in the mid 1500's. We also learnt that Vera Lynn, the English nightingale, was born just across from the Hadleigh Castle viewing area. This was a ride of learning indeed.

Arriving at low tide on the estuary, exposing the magnificent mudflats that hold so much history, a splinter group departed at Leigh to a very posh cafe while the rest of us made our way to 'spoons and a well-deserved breakfast and maybe a pint or two.

So, the scores on the doors are 90 or so kilometres. Not a single mechanical malfunction or making the TEC's tetchy, no one got lost, no one fell off.

Thank you to everyone who came on the ride and especially Ross the “Allupper”, Tim, Vicki, and Nick the TEC's, Anton my co-pilot who really did all the work and to all the waymarkers that make all rides such a success.

We all look forward to seeing you again. To keep up-to-date with what’s going on why not sign up to The Fridays Newsletter?