Marsh open to one man and his dogs (From Echo)

Marsh open to one man and his dogs

10:30pm Friday 27th August 2010 in

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A SHORT flight to the south of Basildon crematorium lies heaven. The good news is you don’t need to head up the crematorium chimney to get there.

Instead of dying, just take the footpath on the west side of the cemetery. It ends at a kissing-gate. On the far side, so to speak, the land drops away to Bowers Marshes.

The marshes stretch away to the Thames Estuary, two miles south. East and west they continue almost uninterrupted to the horizon. The skies heave with rare birds. The ground looks as if it has just been painted green by prison chain-gangs. It is a heavenly view.

There is only one group who will find this prospect less than delightful. Bird-watchers may be in paradise, but people-watchers will be in purgatory. Bowers Marshes are user-friendly to every species except humans.

The marshes cover 667 acres, yet the resident human population is nil. Between Southend and Basildon, in one of the most densely populated quarters of the UK, lies an uninhabited wild zone.

It has also been, until now, an unexplored wilderness. Normally, however wild a place may be, there is one species who will penetrate it: The rambler, rucksack on back, cans of Red Bull primed for action, will find a way through. But not on Bowers Marshes.

The area is one of the few places of such size where respectable wildlife has never had the chance to be shocked by the sight of hairy kneecaps on the march.

The reason is the lack of rights of way. The marshes have always been a privately owned, no-go zone. Those who wanted to enjoy them have had to content themselves with standing on top of that slope behind Basildon crematorium.

I found this out the hard way in 2000 while I was preparing a book called Thames Estuary Trail. Bowers Marshes formed a key part of the itinerary as I attempted to circumnavigate the Thames Estuary on foot.

I had barely set foot on Bowers Marshes when I was confronted by Mr and Mrs Frost, who had farmed cattle here since 1952. They stood shoulder to shoulder on the track, blocking access. A delightful elderly couple, they gave me afternoon tea – but they would not give me consent to walk the marshes.

“May I be cursed if I tell a lie, but there is no right of way through this marsh and never has been,” says farmer Frost. “Now have another cup of tea.”

So Bowers Marshes remained a forbidden zone for another decade.

All that changed forever this year, if you can call a 150-year lease forever.

In March, the RSPB announced its acquisition of Bowers Marshes and plans to turn it from well-drained farmland into a wetland reserve.

For more than 800 years, men like farmer Frost have been reclaiming the marshes for agriculture.

Ditch by ditch, embankment by embankment, they pushed back the wetland to its present limits on the Thames shoreline.

Now the process has been put into reverse. The RSPB is spending around £3.5million to return Bowers to something like its pre-medieval landscape. Some farming will continue, but birds are now the bosses.

The fields will be interwoven with reed-beds, water-channels and a shallow lake. RSPB area manager Dave Hedges refers to it as “a giant puddle”.

Crucially, the RSPB also plans to construct four miles of new nature-trails, dotted with hides and viewing-points.

Species expected to frequent the site in far greater numbers than before include spoonbills, shovellers, redshank, widgeon, avocets – and walkers.

The trackway will kick off close to the RSPB’s base in Wat Tyler park. It will pass below the crematorium to meet Church Road.

Dave says: “There will also be access from here and we’re building a new car park at the bottom of Church Road.”

The track will then head south to the Thames, before looping back to the RSPB’s base.

In the process, it will give access to most areas of the marsh.

Construction work began on the reserve on August 19. The process involves shifting around 330,000 cubic metres of soil.

Dave warns: “For now, this is technically a construction site. It’s still not accessible. But you won’t have to wait long.

“We hope to open in March or April next year.”

The RSPB did make a concession, however. I was allowed a taster of what’s to come.

With dogs, basset hound Tessie and corgi-cross Henry, I followed the old farm track at the end of Church Road. We passed the spot where Mr and Mrs Frost had stood shoulder to shoulder.

Back then, Tessie and Henry’s predecessor, Essex Dog, had made herself scarce, hiding in a ditch while the Frosts confronted me.

This time, the dogs bounded out into the marsh, unconcerned. Above, a lark sang. The invisible wall around the marsh had finally been breached. It’s been worth the wait.

l Bowers Marshes is owned by Veolia Environmental Services. It has been granted to the RSPB on a 150-year peppercorn lease. Full details are available at the RSPB’s Discovery Centre in Wat Tyler Park Pitsea.